--- Fist Puncher ---
If you ask most people about some of the best brawler games of all time, many will tell you about games like Final Fight (my personal favorite), Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, River City Ransom, and games like that. Fist Puncher was designed as a throwback to brawler games of old. While also delivering on this front, it does so with modern flair without losing focus of its old school cool.NOTE: There's confusion of the name of the city you are in. Some note it as San Cruces, some as Las Cruces, I even seen Los Cruces. The name of the city in my review is based on what I've seen in the game. And in the game, it's San Cruces. With that said...
The story of "Fist Puncher" revolves around a pageant in the [fictional] city of San Cruces, California. The pageant participants were all kidnapped by The Milkman and his various accomplices. Four individuals swear to go after the Milkman in an attempt to rescue the Fist Puncher pageant participants. Those four? Meet them:
• Dr. Karate - A Chuck Norris-like surgeon who is well-balanced in battle.
• Andre "Steroid" Jackson - an overly powerful, hulking former baseball player.
• The Beekeeper - a mysterious woman who harnesses energy from honey and bees.
• Hella Fistgerald - a tomboyish girl able to convert enemies to allies with a kiss.
With this team, their goal is to rescue all of the Fist Puncher pageant participants while also thwarting The Milkman and his assailants. Doing so will require the player to go through waves of enemies. You can go solo or have as many as four players take on all of those thugs. Collect items along the way to keep yourself in the fight for as long as possible. Defeating the various enemies will allow you to level up your fighter and earn perks towards eventually completing "Fist Puncher." Along the way, you will actually unlock more characters with their own strengths and weaknesses. You may even find a character which will greatly suit your style. One thing to take note of, however, is that when you unlock new characters, you will need to try to upgrade their statistics to make them capable. Every new character starts off at Level 1 and with no experience. You are probably best to spar at the Dojo or play some of the first levels to easily give your character some experience.
The various levels of Fist Puncher feature a handful of enemies. Even though there are a lot of levels, you may find yourself having to return to certain levels just to unlock extra bonuses. The majority of these levels are straightforward with not much complexity in their design. And that's just the way a classic brawler usually is.
When battling waves of enemies in each of the levels, it seems like each level has their own unique set of enemies. It never really seems like you're facing the same-looking set of enemies in different levels. It is this unique balance that makes "Fist Puncher" different as a brawler. If you find yourself in a pinch, look to your character's Special moves to bust through. Make sure to have enough Special energy to execute your Special moves. If upgrading your character, one of the first perks I recommend you get is the Heal upgrade, which allows you to exchange your Special energy for healing. Just make sure to evade your enemies prior to doing this and be sure to attack your enemies to try to rebuild your lost Special energy.
The soundtrack is very cool. You aren't playing "Fist Puncher" for the music and sound, but you do have some pretty cool music to listen to.
As a bonus, you get a few fun facts when you pick up loot in this game. Certain bits of loot offer some interesting facts when you learn about them from the Stats page. The splash screen does say "Team2Bit Educational Software" after all! :)
General Thoughts.
Considering the insanity in "Fist Puncher," the game actually does a great job of capturing that kind of old school brawler feel. It is modern while also being retro. The game has its own character apart from classic brawler series like Final Fight and Streets of Rage. It has elements of classic brawlers, but it doesn't try to clone any classic brawler games. "Fist Puncher" doesn't try to be any other past brawler; it is its own game with its own personality and charm.Now for a full-on review based on what I've played.
--- "Fist Puncher" Review ---
"Fist Puncher" is a brawler game that has a retro feel to it from the action to the art. Its modern feel makes it engaging to play, and its variety of characters and upgrading possibilities will allow you to find a fighter to enjoy bashing in the brains of unruly punks. The game never seems boring or repetitive. It never seems utterly frustrating, also. "Fist Puncher" and its difficulty isn't exactly just right, but there is an even balance that makes it playable for almost any gamer of any level. "Fist Puncher" is a violent game, but it is not overly violent to where this is reserved to a mature set or an adult-only set. "Fist Puncher" establishes itself as a quality brawler while not trying to emulate or pay homage to any brawler series past. It has a character all its own that makes it worth the price to buy the full version. Playing this on my OUYA, it was worth the $9.99 USD to buy to enjoy this game further. I know I have logged at least three hours playing this game.Team2Bit could have weighed "Fist Puncher" down with lots of nonsense. They could have given this game some wonky voice acting (as in a lot more than what little voice acting this game has). They could have made this game prettier graphics and fancier effects. All Team2Bit was about is making this game as classic as possible and not turning it into some newfangled hot mess. If this game were to be expanded in some way, I wouldn't mind a sort of vs. mode to where you take your upgraded characters and put them into some local multiplayer free-for-all.
Yeah- this one will occupy your time. Guaranteed. It is a waste of time playing this game, but it is a great wasting of your time. I rated it 5 out of 5 on my OUYA. I have few, if any complaints. Only complaint I WOULD have is maybe some of the boss battles and some of the stages being a bit tedious.
Even though this game is available for the OUYA (which is what my review is based on), it is also available for other systems and services such as Steam, Desura, GOG.com, and XBOX.
Video Preview and More Information.
Here is the official trailer to "Fist Puncher" below (WARNING: may not be safe for work!):^ "Fist Puncher trailer"
For more information on Team2Bit and their games, visit www.team2bit.com.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and got my perspective on this game. This concludes my review of "Fist Puncher." Now go dole out some justice already. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
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