Welcome Time Wasters!
Yet again I have to disappoint this week as I’m not yet ready to review the final chapter of The Last Door. This was a busy week for me and I had to do a lot of running around. To top it all off, the heater broke on the coldest night of the week (-3 degrees was the low). Alia and I survived the cold by sleeping in the living room (which is right next to the kitchen)and turning on the oven with the door open.
But enough about my troubles, you’re here to read about a time waster!
This week I played a side-scrolling beat-em up mixed with an endless runner. I know it sounds like a weird combination, but it worked pretty well.
The game is called Punch Quest and as the name implies, players do a lot of punching. The game works by having players control a muscle-bound character that is running through various settings while beating up endless amounts of demons and such. Players don’t control the characters movement as he run automatically. Instead, players control what kind of attacks the character makes.
Starting off players have two basic attacks, a straight punch and an uppercut. The straight punch is performed by tapping the right side of the screen and the uppercut it tapped by touching the left side of the screen. Tapping the left side of the screen after an uppercut allows players to do a diving punch to the ground. Players can also block enemy attacks by holding down on both sides of the screen.
The basic controls are easy to get use to, but the game doesn’t stop there.
Along the way players will earn money from killing endless amounts of monsters and smashing various pots and other objects. This money can be used to buy upgrades and new moves. These new moves can be executed as part of combos from existing moves. A simple one that is also the first one unlocked requires players to do an uppercut after finishing a straight punch. This will send the character flying into the air and makes it easier to reach certain areas in the game.
One thing I really like about Punch Quest is that it has collision detection between enemies. What I mean by this is that if I punch one enemy and send them flying, they could hit another enemy and damage them. I know this is pretty standard stuff on consoles, but to see it on a mobile game was a pleasant surprise.
Another feature of the game is the ability to ride a dinosaur that breaths lasers. Honestly, it doesn’t add a whole lot to the gameplay, but how could I just pass up the opportunity to talk about a muscle-bound man riding a laser-breathing dinosaur?
Punch Quest is one of those games that emulates old-school graphics. It does this well. The game has a very traditional beat-em up look. I will say that the character had a very standard appearance and that nothing stood out so that I would remember him. On the other hand, Punch Quest was also very action filled and had lots of colorful explosions and such to keep players entertained.
Audio in Punch Quest isn’t bad either. The game has classic-sounding music to accompany its old-school graphics. The two come together to make a great little environment on my phone. Sound effects in Punch Quest are in the same vain as the rest of the game and have a classic feel to them.
Overall I enjoyed my time with Punch Quest. The game brings an interesting twist to the endless running genre by incorporating elements of a side-scrolling beat-em up. The gameplay was really solid and the ability to unlock new attacks and upgrades was a welcome feature. The game also sported some great, classic feeling graphics and audio.
Punch Quest earns 4 GiN Gems out of 5!