Nintendo Switch – Punch Club #173

Ever want to know what a good “Rocky” game would be?

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Punch Club – Nintendo Switch – Released: 5/24/18 – $14.99

Short Review (Review copy provided by TinyBuild)

Punch Club is what a “Rocky” game back in the day should have been but with a Tamagotchi twist. Punch Club is like taking care of a boxer for days on end then put him in a ring with someone and hope for the best. While the bulk of the game can easily be brute forced until the end, that isn’t the goal of the game. The goal to me is have a pleasant mix of figuring out what style best fits you and seeing how it plays out. Do you want to be the one hit wonder or the combo king or a mix of the two? Will you be the boxer that focuses on punching with no blocks or kicking until you get the knockout? There are many ways about going through this game but you have to be careful as it is easy to completely mess up and have to restart. It is very unlikely for this to happen but my first play did quickly end in this happening. Punch Club is an interesting game that requires a lot of attention if you want to complete and sadly sometimes feels like a waste of time. Depending on how you go about the game you could spend several hours to dozens of hours. The game takes it toll quickly after a few hours when you repeat the same daily chores for an hour or two before you can progress. I would give Punch Club, a 7 out of 10!

Love the icon even though it spoils some of the things you will fight:

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Story

The story… it depends on the route you take. While the game has an opening with your father killed and letting you know that you can be better than him and all you have to do is train. You tell yourself you will find the killer and make him pay for what he has done. It doesn’t have anything that pulls you in until you venture out for yourself. There are really three story lines you can go for, one where you become a great boxer, one where you because a batman style super hero, or fall in love with another character in the game. All these story lines mix together if you want to but I found myself just choosing the super hero route since my cat got kidnapped and I wanted to save him.

Gameplay

You are the proud new owner of a boxer so how will you create him? The game revolves around the player taking care of a boxer. You will need to feed him, train him, and make him work to gain money. Fight in fights, decide if he will be the best, or settle for just second place. I found myself in a routine of work one day to gain enough money to buy several food items, work out until I ran out of food, work one day to gain enough money to buy several food items, enter a fight, then repeat. You do this for several hours while the game gives you different objectives. You meet several characters but ultimately you are training to get revenge on the guy who killed your father. There are different methods of getting to that point but focus on becoming a “Champion” the perks from it are far too great to focus on anything else.

Personal Experience

I really enjoyed this game when I wasn’t watching myself train which felt like half of the game. Since nothing is automatic with this you will always pick a machine, train a bit, pick another machine, train a bit, repeat until your character requires food or energy. Then you run out of food so you work to gain money, purchase food, and do it all over again. This was me up until I found out about becoming a “Champion” gained you huge perks. More than enough perks that it meant the game was much easier and the focus on fights became the star of the show. No longer was money an issue, no longer was food an issue but training was still an issue as that still needed to be maintained. The work between workouts wasn’t a chore anymore though. I had already put in around 10 hours when I found out about this since I wanted to become a “super hero”. It is a bit of a pain that the most enjoyable aspect is short and sweet while everything else is boring.

The game has some great humor that is spotted all the time like in the super hero arc you meet characters from Ninja Turtles with different names. In your home gym you have a poster of Stoney, a reference to Rocky, and characters like Ryu and Ken make appearances. It is worth noting that during my first hour of the game, I locked the game. Unable to beat due to running out of food and Mick wouldn’t give me anymore food. Too tired to work, too tired to win any fights, unable to press forward.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed the opening of the game for several hours before I found myself in a routine. When I broke that routine… it always ended up with me working out for several days in a row to regain what I lost. This was the painful part of the game and the area where points had to be taken. There is no easy or quick way to beat this game. You are required to do things that can be brute forced but it requires a ton of time watching your character train. Depending on the path you take things will get much easier but unless you know what path creates though options you will be stuck at home training to finish the game. I would give Punch Club, a 7 out of 10!

My Gameplay Footage:

Will upload when I get back from vacation!

Trailer: