UPDATE: June 23rd, 2009
When we originally reviewed Punk Justice, we felt the game's learning curve was too steep. In version 2.0, the developer has addressed this issue, and then some.
First and foremost, the game now sports three difficulty levels. Easy mode allows beginners to get a feel for the game, while harder difficulties add replay value. This improvement makes the game much more approachable for casual players.
On top of this, the developer added a new survival mode, where you fight until you lose, and changed the campaign mode to incorporate the game's storyline. At certain points in the game, you get a quick comic-styled cutscene which progresses the story. Also, there is now music during fights to help pump you up.
After this substantial update, we can safely recommend this quality arcade fighter.
There are a fair number of fighting games on the App Store such as Smack Boxing and Fist of Fury, but Punk Justice stands apart with plentiful content and well-implemented controls. But beyond the familiar dodging and punching, balance issues and a frustrating level of difficulty may make this game inaccessible to all but the hardiest of fight fans.
Bitch, please!
In Punk Justice, you play as Jed, who spends his time fighting gangs to keep the city’s parks safe. Controls feature two buttons each to punch and dodge, with responsiveness that works better than other games in the genre, although still could use some cleaning up. Opponents also dodge and punch, adding a bit of a challenge. Combat includes special combos, which allow the player to unleash a deadly blow. A power meter helps to cut down on the button mashing, as it depletes every time you attack and replenishes when you stop.
There are two gameplay modes. Campaign runs you through four distinct parks, each with a set of nine enemies. Once you defeat an enemy, he or she is crossed off. On the flipside, losing will bring back one random enemy. The potential to lose quite frequently can be extremely unforgiving at times. Quick Fight mode which allows you to pick the conditions of your fight and play for fun.
Four different fight styles add some variety to really make the game shine. Normal is an all-out brawl. Endurance sets a 30-second time limit to dodge attacks, with Timed requiring you to defeat the enemy in the same amount of time. Double is a combination of the latter two. In the campaign, these come up randomly and you must choose your opponent wisely in order to succeed. Choosing an opponent comes down to a matter of matching up speed vs. power and offense vs. defense. The corresponding ratios incorporate a bit of strategy when determining your opponent.
He's here to rob my train.
Rival gang members are no slouches--Even when fighting the lowest-ranked enemy you must be on your full guard. Newcomers may find themselves struggling to win for a while, and the game's unforgiving nature and steep learning curve will scare away casual gamers quickly. Losing in campaign mode can cripple your progress and punches from enemies are difficult to spot due to unreasonably fast movements. Difficulty can be a good thing, but being too unforgiving is unacceptable when it comes to the average consumer.
Developer wastedyuthe even went so far as to post a strategy guide on his blog on how to beat the fight sequences, which breaks down to the following: If you lean to one side there is a 100 percent chance that the opponent's next punch will go there, so you can easily spot it and dodge it on the other side. Unleashing a combo does require some skill, but there is definitely a sense of button mashing. But it might just be something you need to get used to.
Shortcomings aside, Punk Justice should appeal to fans of the genre. Newcomers and casual gamers should be cautious, though.
9 Comments
Thank you for the excellent constructive criticism Tim. I have already implemented 3 difficulty levels for the next update (2.0)- Easy being a lot more forgiving for casual gamers.
Hello? Why do my comments get deleted. Freedom of speech anyone? Anyone? As you can tell the developer, wastedyuthe, is extremely active and listens to feedback. But I strongly disagree with the review. HOS was short and bad controls and it gets a four. Fieldrunners is hard and it gets a four. I feel this game should get a three but still with a warning about difficulty for begging players. Also please update your review to include the news about the update.
P.S. I'm not saying the reviews bad, fantastic review, I just don't agree with it
Please don't delete this comment to
:(
Don, you are more than welcome to comment, but I will delete anything that's not civil or constructive--ie, "you guys must suck."
i honestly, dont remember saying anything like that. i said, "if anything the game is to easy." but again i do get pretty passionate so i apologize if i did say anything like that because obviously i did not mean it.
i honestly dont feel, imo, that my comment was "un-civil." even my comment for "sparta: lords of war" was deleted. i felt it b rought up a good point with any rating systems. its hard to use a rating system with different authors. a good game short on content like HoS is rated a 4 but a great game with low content like sparta: lords of war is rated a 2. fieldrunners is rated a 4 despite it being difficult and low content. and this site has a tendency to give larger games a higher ranking, most likely because they are good, but still higher. anyways, like i said, fantastic, detailed review but i just dont agree with the statements. But i do see your point as the majority of the gamers are casual gamers and it should appeal somewhat to them
Our stances are: a) relevant to the time at which a game comes out, b) our personal opinions, which tends to not always be what is popular to believe and c) deeply thought-out. Although people may disagree, and by all means can say so in our comments, we will delete any personal attacks on us as reviewers. An example of this was when you stated that we were horrible at iPhone gaming/reviewing (the comment from this review that we deleted). As long as readers abide to the guidelines of being polite and courteous to both our staff and one another, no comments will be deleted. =]
oh that comment. what i meant was "you guys must be horrible at this genre of games" sorry if taken for "you guys suck"
Version 2.0 has now been submitted which includes 3 difficulty settings ('Easy' is VERY forgiving), comic-style intro screens, and a survival mode among other things.
@donb036: Thank you for defending my game, and I hope the update along with its choice of difficulty will at least bump the game up to a 3 when the review is amended. I respect Tims opinion on the difficulty of the game (although I do disagree with "punches from enemies are difficult to spot due to unreasonably fast movements"- I have a YouTube video of the dodging technique you should use where I fight an Endurance match and don't get hit once).
I hope the update will be enough to please everybody.
The graphics whore (that springs up sometimes) in me says - "NO WAY"
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