Boxing is a difficult sport, you have to fight strange animals in sewers, work in fast food restaurants and join dodgy underground fighting clubs. Â Well, that’s according to Lazy Bear Games and Tinybuild’s latest game, Punchclub.
To be fair, the story revolves around our hero’s journey to avenge his father’s death. Â It’s a sort of Batman meets Rocky with a bunch of 80s and 90s nostalgic jokes and references thrown in for good measure.
Starting out on the streets, you soon find your way to a gym and pick up a trainer. Â But while boxing is the main focus, Punchclub throws a lot of other decisions your way. Â Do you buy food in a convenience store or work at a pizza restaurant delivering pizza and getting a discount on your food at the same time, but taking more time out of your training regime?
Stats are a huge part of the game, balancing your stamina and strength against your hunger and a rapidly depleting meter that requires sleep to replenish. Â You can train at a gym or at home, if you splash out on the equipment, and each has its own benefits, but you’ll need to leave enough time to work and earn money in order to buy food. Â During all of this, regular fight fixtures occur and you’ll need to take time out to take part in order to climb the ranks.
The game even tasks you with wooing a girl and keeping her happy by ensuring that you spend enough time with her, despite your hectic training and work schedule. Â Despite all of this, it never feels too overwhelming and there are multiple ways to balance your schedule while advancing enough to make your way into the illegal fight club and to your eventual goal of avenging your father.
The 16-bit style graphics and chip tunes work well here, providing a Megadrive or SNES like feel to the game but twinned with more modern stat-management style gameplay. Â It feels as if the whole game was made with great affection for the sources alluded to and for the story itself, both in terms of the game and the design.
Punch Club may be very stat management heavy, but it’s also a great story-based game and contains many humorous nods to cult classics from the 80’s and 90’s. Â Whether on mobile or Steam, it’s well worth a playthrough.
Punch Club
Pros
- Great story
- Stat management is well handled
- Loads of great nods to the 90s
Cons
- Some grinding required
- Chip tunes can become repetitive
