The art of creating an addictive score-attack arcade game has gone deep into the indie dev scene, but what they are brewing is just as potent as ever. Radiangames celebrates its 15-year anniversary with Fireball 2, a so-simple-it-hurts arcade game that is fast, visceral, and tactical too. It is easily one of the best score attack games of 2025 and has the potential to be a cult classic in the making.
The player takes charge of a fireball (funnily enough) but a clouding swarm of enemies, which I refer to as smoke, chases the fireball around ever-changing-sized arenas, determined to snuff you out. You move with the left analogue stick and any face button will boost the fireball around with unlimited boost. Unlimited doesn’t mean without consequence, though, as the more you boost, the more reactive the smoke chases you. You go quicker, so do the enemies.
The fireball is totally defenceless, but there is one thing that you can use to your advantage. Every few seconds, a bomb appears, waiting for you to greet it. If you rush by it closely, but don’t touch it, the bomb detonates with a wide radius, but half its damage. Enemies close to the blast may be killed, but the rest are blasted backwards, and you’ll need to be clear of them when they do, as each touch depletes your health. Bombs can be chained together if their blast arenas overlap, so holding out and dodging enemies until then can be very helpful. Enemies turn to embers when they are killed, which will eventually fill up a bar to trigger a nova. Novas are more powerful bombs that level up your fireball to make it bigger, faster, and stronger. Novas will spin around the arena like tornadoes and if two collide, they’ll form a black hole, sucking in nearby enemies whilst granting you short term invincibility. The game is risk vs reward, but you’ll need to be very skilled to take advantage of the risk because Fireball 2 sends tsunamis of enemies at you to avoid.
The gameplay loop is simple, but it’s fast, flowing, and incredibly satisfying. The particle effects and blast ripples are like watching oddly satisfying videos on repeat. String up combos and the score racks up, but you’ll need to tactically boost and dodge everything for a while to get there. Thankfully, the controls are precise, responsive, and consistent. If you die, it is your fault. I died because I’d run myself into a corner with no way to escape quickly, or I’d left myself overwhelmed by triggering bombs too quickly, not clearing the enemies quickly enough out of desperation. This meant I was ramming into the bombs, causing them to detonate a small but more powerful radius, just to clear a bit of a path to survival. Fireball 2 is an endless game, so you will die, but the score will live on forever. If you have a friend, you can play Fireball 2 in co-op mode, and whilst I haven’t tried it out personally, the developers have stated that the game is not rebalanced for it, and so it is a slightly easier experience.
My only two comments that are minor niggles are that there is no online leaderboard, and there is only one enemy type. The enemies just grow in numbers, and in the secondary Chaos Mode, you leave a constant trail of enemies, meaning you’ll have to keep moving to stay alive. I can forgive that personally, as the game just flows beautifully with what’s here. The omission of online leaderboards for each mode feels a bit strange.
That aside, Fireball 2 is a cult classic score attack challenge in the making. If online leaderboards were added, this would be a god tier quick fire arcade classic. As it stands right now, all the key elements for an engrossing, addictive, and satisfying skill-based challenge are here. Happy 15th birthday, Radiangame!
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