Bundesfighter II Turbo

Lore & Background

The game's playable cast consists of satirical depictions of the leading candidates of the 2017 German federal election. Merkel, then-serving federal chancellor and CDU candidate, is depicted as a lizard person in reference to the Reptilian conspiracy theory, with attacks including tail and tongue hits and specials summoning Helmut Kohl or a wave of refugees. Schulz, the SPD candidate, is portrayed as a muscular, roller-skating saint who fights with a club wrapped in an imperial armband, with a special attack transforming him into the 'MEGA-Schulz hype train'. Wagenknecht of The Left uses a hammer and sickle and a Pioniergruß, and her special attack sprouts a Berlin Wall watchtower marked with a Circle-A. Lindner of the FDP uses golf clubs and champagne bottles, with specials including a selfie stick poke and transformation into a locust. Gauland of the AfD extends his nose like Pinocchio and uses a garden gnome as a projectile, while Özdehardt, a combined character for Alliance 90/The Greens, is stuck in an organic waste bin and can only punch themselves.

Reader's Guide

Bundesfighter II Turbo is significant for its role in challenging Germany's legal treatment of video games regarding the use of unconstitutional symbols. The game's jumping heavy attack for Gauland contorts his body into a swastika shape, leading to a complaint under Section 86a of the German Criminal Code. The public prosecutor's office in Stuttgart refused to investigate, citing the game as art and noting that the 1998 OLG Frankfurt ruling against video games as art was considered outdated in technical literature. This decision, while not setting a new precedent, prompted the USK to update its ruleset on August 9, 2018, allowing case-by-case evaluation of the Sozialadäquanzklausel for video games. The game also highlights the intersection of satire, politics, and public broadcasting funding, as its development was financed by Germany's public-law broadcasting. Its legacy lies in contributing to the legal recognition of video games as a medium capable of artistic and educational exemption from symbol bans.

Did You Know?

• The game's development was financed entirely by Germany's public-law broadcasting, leading some to note it effectively cost the broadcasting fee of €17.50 to play.
• Merkel's special attack summoning Helmut Kohl as an angel falling from heaven was criticized as 'macabre' by Spiegel Netzwelt, as Kohl had died three months before the game's release.
• The public prosecutor's office in Stuttgart refused to investigate the game's swastika-like attack, claiming it was a piece of art and thus exempt from Section 86a.
• The game's only joke character, Özdehardt, combines Cem Özdemir and Katrin Göring-Eckardt stuck together in an organic waste bin.

Origins & Satirical Concept

Bundesfighter II Turbo was born from an unconventional collaboration: Austrian studio Colour Colliders built the title for the German satirical web format Browser Ballet, with funk handling publication in 2017. The game is a deliberate pastiche of Capcom's Street Fighter II Turbo, transplanting the beloved 16-bit fighting-game structure into a political context. Instead of fictional martial artists, the roster features exaggerated caricatures of the principal candidates contesting that year's German federal election, drawn from the CDU, SPD, Left, FDP, AfD, and Alliance 90/Greens. Production was financed entirely through Germany's public-law broadcasting system, meaning the cost was absorbed into the standard €17.50 household broadcasting fee rather than a purchase price. Because it launched as a browser-based title, it sidestepped the USK pre-release rating process entirely—a procedural detail that would later place the game at the centre of a significant legal and cultural controversy. The project occupies a distinctive niche at the crossroads of political comedy, retro game design, and German media regulation.

Gameplay & Character Roster

Mechanically, the game follows the familiar rhythm of a classic two-dimensional fighter: two characters exchange light and heavy strikes, each with jumping and crouching variants, while a power bar gates access to more elaborate special moves. Players may march through a fixed story path of CPU opponents or pit two humans against each other in versus mode. The true novelty lies in the cast. Merkel is rendered as a lizard person, a wink at reptilian conspiracy lore, attacking with tail lashes and tongue flicks. Schulz skates around as a muscular saint, swinging a club wrapped in an imperial armband. Wagenknecht brandishes a hammer and sickle. Lindner wields golf clubs and champagne bottles, his post-fight lines even advertising a Thermomix. Gauland stretches his nose à la Pinocchio and lobbs a garden gnome. The Greens' two candidates are merged into a single gag character trapped inside a compost bin. Every fighter is anchored to a real-world stage, from the Berlin Chancellery to a Frankfurt high-rise rooftop bar.

The Swastika Controversy & Legal Repercussions

The game's most far-reaching consequence stemmed from a single animation frame: the jumping variant of Gauland's heavy attack contorts his limbs into a shape resembling a swastika. Because the title shipped as a browser game without USK pre-approval, the symbol went unflagged at release. A member of the VDVC, the association representing Germany's video-game players, subsequently lodged a complaint with the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office, invoking Section 86a of the Criminal Code, which criminalises the display of symbols belonging to unconstitutional organisations such as the NSDAP. German law, however, carves out an exemption—the Sozialadäquanzklausel—for works whose primary intent is artistic or educational expression. The prosecutor's office ultimately declined to open a case. That decision reignited a national conversation about whether video games can be classified as art under German statute and directly prompted a revision of the USK's ruleset governing unconstitutional symbols in interactive media.

Reception & Cultural Footprint

Reviews were broadly positive, with critics praising the game's wit while acknowledging its niche appeal. Spiegel Netzwelt likened it to a pared-back Street Fighter that was genuinely enjoyable, though they flagged Merkel's special move—summoning the recently deceased Helmut Kohl as a falling angelic projectile—as uncomfortably macabre given his death only three months earlier. Eurogamer suggested the title for anyone craving a dose of entertainment and mild aggression during the election cycle. Quick-Save.de highlighted the irony that a non-monetised game effectively cost players the full broadcasting fee, yet still concluded it delivered a genuine campaign-season experience despite minor control quirks. Ghacks commended the humour while noting its resonance was strongest among players who track German politics. Beyond its reviews, the game became a reference point in ongoing debates about the limits of political satire in interactive media and the legal standing of games as a recognised art form in Germany.