Truly a remarkable moment in gaming history
There aren't many, simple games that are analogous to life, but this sir, this masterpiece is one of them.
We're all constantly pushing a rock up a mountain, and it only gets harder as we go further and further up.
I was taken aback when i realized the only way to win is to self invest to again, invest in my strength and self.
Touches on a primal need to survive. Truly remarkable!
Would play again.
I'm so glad someone finally understands.
I love the design of the game.
But straight up- this game is frustrating and difficult on pro mode- it isn't very much like boxing at all in timing and skill, just feels like luck mostly- no way to really balance the sweet science.
I'm not trying to be a stickler- I know this is a flash, but its so frustrating and dumb how- even when an opponent is on his last legs- health bar in the red, knocked down in the two rounds previous at least 3 times between the two, can still manage to get up. That doesn't really happen very often. It makes the game mechanics feel as if they're cheating. I see it happen in boxing from time to time- highlight reels- match of the year...BUT EVERY MATCH IN THIS GAME PULLS THAT ELEMENT. It's just too relentless in that way.
Punches, even when maxed out, still don't feel as if they deal enough damage. The grind of improving one's character often feels unrewarded as some opponents toward the top of the ladder are near impossible to beat. It's hard to imagine any sort of algorithm or timing to the game with such knock out spontaneity. There is SOME strategy, but strats can feel often pushed to the wayside when- A. Although winning in the scorecards- health often in my experience ended up being pretty low- ending with a stamina knock out. Or B. some mystery flash punch comes out of no where- so effective that even with 75% health compared to their 25%, i still manage to get knocked out (sometimes permanently!!!) on the first knock down.
While there is some mercy in the 3 knockdown rule (when applied to your own character) the game feels bugged and uneven in these cases. For example- Some rounds I was able to get up more than 3 times. And while this may feel like another shot at victory, it more times than not, isn't, and almost feels like a pity handicap to your character to give it another go (or torture yourself more. Idk which is more accurate).
Ranking up after consistent wins, like the 2 character jump challenge fight you can get against Tony Andretti??? (I forgot his name) is SUPER rewarding when won, but I think out of the 20 character's I've made, I may have only won against him once. The sham AND shame about that fight is that it draws you in to play it with a promise of a cash reward your character probably won't see again. It's worth it, but for any boxing fan, and in the honor and glory of the sport, a blemish on the record for cash feels like a shameful thing. And its not like anyone is encouraging you to throw the fight in the loose story that is presented.
When I'm on the up and up and I flash knock out someone, (which, in boxing there's only two situations- a hard pushdown- or the one they didn't see coming- and often times, the latter results in a count-out) it doesn't feel rewarding. 75% of the time I can bank on the opponent in Pro mode get back up by 7 or 8- pretty consistently.
Other than that the game looks pretty damn good for flash. The rock-em sock em robot element is fun and addicting. Its just total shit that the game is so fucking difficult with little pattern (minus the Punch Out pattern reading each of the characters have). Maybe that was the point? But all in all if THAT is the case, get rid of the RPG element, because it doesn't feel like there's much reward there. Full chin stats and still getting *flash*punched. Ehh. Just discouraging and frustrating.\
3/5- you made me feel something- unfortunately that feeling was anger more times than not. Good looking game. Good sounding game. But overall defiant in rewards to continue playing.
Thanks for taking the time to write a detailed review. In my opinion the pro mode is actually less about luck than the novice mode, in novice mode if you just spammed upper cut you could probably eventually get to the top just by stuns and flash KOs, in pro mode you get found out very quickly if you don't box smart. I personally think pro mode is all about the timing and skill, especially for the people using the character Tich who is hugely underpowered, the fact that people can win the title with him and defend it agains much more powerful fighters shows me that people are mastering the mechanics. Most of the time when I win the title in pro mode my record is 15 wins 1 loss, 17 wins 2 loss etc, if the game was luck based wouldn't it look more like a coin flip?
The events like people getting back up from a knockdown to win are definitely more frequent in this game than real life, I still find them reasonably rare though. The player and the AI both have the same chances to get up after a knockdown so I don't see it as cheating.
The way your health and recovery is balanced is based on how you upgrade the recovery stats, If you want to have more health by the end of the fight then you want to max that stat out.
I actually really dislike the concept of a single loss being a shameful thing, It leads to boxers having records like 20-0 and they haven't even had a challenge yet. If someone plays this game and quits because they got a loss but wanted a perfect record then I'll gladly say goodbye to them. I want you to work for the title, come back from setbacks etc. This isn't a hero simulator, This is the gritty, brutal, difficult world of boxing.
Anyway, I understand a lot of your points, the game is difficult and often frustrating, I am glad that it made you feel something and ill totally accept anger. You enjoy it more if you look at losses as just part of life in boxing. One of my favourite stories from this game was a guy who struggled away at pro mode and finally won the title at the age of 38 with like 24 wins 12 loss 3 draws. Id much rather hear about that than someone winning the title with 10 wins 0 losses.
Interesting game! Fun puzzle to solve. Also- have a strong appreciation for the heart shape when the numbers add up to 69 haha.
Thanks for the review! And nice catch for the 69 ;)
Age 32, Male
Joined on 4/16/06
Sisyphus 
Big Shot Boxing 
Get1000