Giant robot. Put these two words together in that order and something deep within the human brain lights up. Put giant robots against each other (after all, what else is in it for them?) and you may find yourself squealing with delight. The game is all about giant mechs punching, kicking, and shooting at each other. We are not talking about wrestler fish with nipples the size of transport trucks.

To understand what "Override 2" is not, it helps to understand what it is. Indeed, being a beat 'em up says a lot about the experience. Given the obvious influences of Japanese movies and TV shows (this sequel puts its heart and soul into a giant metal sleeve in the Ultraman DLC), it's not unreasonable to expect something like an anime beat 'em up. Nevertheless, the speed is far from the lighthearted pace of such games, and while the choice of 20 mecha is a good start, it doesn't come close to the encyclopedic cast of Naruto, for example.

Nor is it a street fighter. Generally speaking, each mecha is limited to four to six special moves and ultimate moves, one of which cannot be smoothly chained to another. A few basic punch and kick combos are possible, but nothing particularly long or flashy. The arms and legs are assigned to separate buttons, making it similar to "Tekken," but without the depth and flexibility of Bandai Namco's legendary series.

The game that seems most similar to "Override 2" is so ...... Override 1". That's right. The first game didn't exactly set the fighting game scene ablaze, but it was full of great ideas that were sure to inspire further development. A story mode to fight off monsters, a balance between quick but weak blows and charged, powerful blows, a cooperative play mode with up to four players controlling the same mecha, a heat meter to prevent button mashing, and so on.

"Override 2" goes on the unpredictable trolley wheels of strange design decisions, the most notable of which is the abandonment of almost everything that made its predecessor interesting and unique. With a little tweaking, the combination of giant monsters and co-op mech piloting could have been the quality Pacific Rim homage the first film was aiming for. Unfortunately, it didn't.

Instead of a story mode, there is an awkward and underwhelming "league" that is a hybrid of online and offline gameplay. In between matches, there is chatter from "agents," and the idea is that the mechs are fighting in some sort of futuristic sport, but it is thoroughly uninteresting and fails to tell a coherent story. If "The League" were ...... that, had it been better, it wouldn't necessarily have been a problem.

Each game mode is presented as its own league. Basically, the idea is to play a series of games in each league and try to move up from F to S. Players can also earn bonuses and in-game currency by achieving arbitrary goals, such as blocking a certain number of hits. This currency is used to unlock and customize mechs for use in the league. However, I don't see much need for customization. I'm not invested enough to care what pictures I use for my avatar, and most of the decorations on my mechs are just to change the color of the arms, legs, etc.

After each match, a randomly selected game mode becomes playable instead of all game modes. Why? I have no idea. Another puzzling decision. It certainly doesn't help in terms of the game's biggest challenge: finding opponents. Every time you start a match in the league, "Override 2" tries to find an online opponent. Despite playing for several days, I only found a human opponent once.

The small number of players at a time may be unavoidable in a niche game, but the subdivision and dispersion of modes may have been unavoidable. There is a quick play option in the main menu to jump into the available games, but I am not sure if this includes league play. Either way, it didn't help.

Once you get past the inexplicable design decisions and inexplicable omissions in the previous title, Override 2 has some decent fighters. The mechas (most of which have been reintroduced almost verbatim from the first film) are all unique and play very differently. You wouldn't expect a robot with a giant CRT monitor on its head to fight the same way as a metal Roman centurion. Anyway, I wouldn't.

Override 2 is a faster-paced fighter than its predecessor, and as a result, it loses a lot of the sense of giant, heavy mecha clashing. As a result, the sense of huge, heavy mechs colliding with each other is almost entirely lost. Combine the extremely limited combo opportunities with special moves that are triggered by pressing only two buttons at a time, and there doesn't seem to be much room for skill. However, if you play through it, you will realize that this is not true.

There is a momentary delay before each special move is activated. As the attacker, you need to make sure you are not left unprotected. As the defender, you can take advantage of that split second to block or reposition yourself for a better counterattack. Even the basic element of throwing the opponent can work to your advantage in ways that other beat 'em ups do not. There are environmental hazards in the arena, and in modes with two or more players, fallen mechs will explode after a while. Timing it to a thrown metallic corpse can provide a satisfying advantage.

My favorite map is Cakeland. Wonderfully silly name. Check. Strawberries big enough to crush a large family. Check. Sections of ground that move up and down. Check this one. These moving platforms add another layer of strategy. They limit when and where certain techniques can be used effectively.

One thing that has been carried over from the first game is the limited-use weapons scattered around the map. This is not as much of an addition as one might expect; in fact, the game is at its best when these are ignored. Guns feel unfair thanks to auto-targeting, and melee weapons tend to be too slow or have an unjustifiably long reach.

Returning to leagues, most modes can be categorized as simple 1vs1, 2vs2, or 1vs1vs1 battles. Control is a four-player mode, where the mech that stays longer inside the shrinking, moving circle wins (as long as it survives). The latter is currently the most challenging mode. With multiple alien mechs chasing you (sadly, none of them are playable), you are asked to do more than usual in the fight for survival.

Indeed, the Xenoswarm challenge serves to highlight the damage that a lack of players is doing to Override 2. The difficulty of this mode stems solely from the fact that there are always more opponents to defeat before the end of the match. In other modes, it is painfully obvious that the AI is not quite up to par. When cranked up to the max, opponents become more aggressive and pay more attention to the randomly placed glowing circles that slowly charge up the Ultimate Meter, but you still don't have to master the system to overcome them. There must be a superior fighter somewhere, but it is hard to spot when you are stuck with a bot opponent who is only making a half-hearted effort.

It's a real shame, because I had a genuine liking for many of the mechs. One of my favorites is the red, returning Metagekkon, which is basically Mechagodzilla. I mean, come on. It's a dinosaur robot. If you don't think that was cool, you're dead to me.

Other mecha are truly irresistible, including a giant robot unicorn (standing on two legs), a break-dancing frog, a mecha that looks like it came straight out of "Power Rangers," and a wrestling fish with star-shaped metal nipples. While it may fall short in a few other areas, "Override 2" gives the mecha enough personality to make them stand out.

There is a solid combat foundation here, and you can see it in the moments of triumph (or, rarely, defeat) when you find the perfect counter to an attack or inadvertently miss. In fact, this is a great family game. The overall simplicity of the game opens the door to experience for people of varying skill levels and familiarity with video game controls (if only for short sessions, if not for long periods of enthusiastic play). Beyond that, it's hard to recommend it at this point. It is far from being a terrible game, but there are no moves that would make it a particularly good one.