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Black and bruised9/3/2023 As players pummel their opponents, a meter of stars builds for every successful punch. In keeping with this frenetic arcade/cartoon angle, Digital Fiction included another key gameplay element to help spruce up the gameplay: the power meter. Though these powerups are rthe key to winning, often times the player with the quickest thumb wins out in the end. Using the power-ups at the right time and with the right strength (there are three levels for each one) is the smartest way to defeat your opponent. Typical strategies involve blocking an oncoming flurry and then retaliating with a flurry of your own, much like in Super Punch-Out. A good knowledge of the combos is your best bet against a true contender. This leads to the strong tendency to wildly mash buttons, and to a degree that's even a decent strategy, but not in the long run. Most characters are so agile and quick that you'll instantly feel an urgency to land more punches than your opponent and faster. The GameCube guys didn't feel it worked very well. As for how effective these combos are, we've come to the conclusion that is, well, debatable. Thankfully, the combo practice mode is well done and should have you tossing flurries of fists in a wildly exaggerated manner in no time. These combos do require some practice and memorization, as they're intuitive and similar to many other fighting games. For example, a double right hook, left jab, and right uppercut chain combo can be done with a series of the face buttons plus modifiers. Instead of simply mashing two buttons simultaneously, a string of buttons must now be entered in succession. One thing that we're thrilled to see is the new combo system that's been seriously tweaked since our last go around in July of 2002. The R1 button can be used as an uppercut modifier, and L1 will put up your defenses. The button configuration is still fairly similar, with any of the face buttons hucking your left and right punches respectively. Basic moves still function much the same as we've experienced in the past. The action is fast, the variety of punches and animations are all well done, and the fundamental arcade boxing engine itself does indeed come close to the excellence achieved by even Punch-Out! so many years before. Gameplay As we've experienced in the past with this title, slipping on the gloves and tossing around our cel-shaded dukes in Black & Bruised is a bout of mixed results. It's nothing big, sure, but such little touches go a long way to keeping things subliminally stimulating, and such little touches work nicely here in Black & Bruised. Perhaps one of the best presentation touches is the good use of voiceovers in the menus, cutscenes, and even the practice tutorial. Digital Fiction even added a few subtle touches that most wouldn't notice for instance, every time you select a player, his or her facial expression randomly changes. Still, it's a motley crew that players should have no problems finding a favorite fighter among for whooping the tar out of the rest.Īs the rest of the package goes, the menus are all clean, bright and full of life and sound. Others such as "Jumping Janet" or "Tiny," the obviously largest boxer in the game, leave more to be desired. Or you've got "Micky McFist," the scrappy Irish brawler with the cloverleaf tattoo on his chest - something of an orange-haired version of Brad Pitt from Snatch. With his lime green pointy stripes, he taunts his opponents via witty quips of burritos and ass-whippings. Take, for instance, our man known as "El Luchador." This masked Spanish fly appears to be the lovechild of a tiger and a melon. Each character practically leaps from the canvas and comes to life with distinctive names, personalities, costumes, fighting styles, background music and voiceovers. It's not hard to visualize the concept art that must have been adoringly sketched and later rubber-stamped by the production team in designing the game. And to a large degree, Digital Fiction succeeded in infusing the title with exactly that: personality, flair and top-notch presentation. It's been said time and again that the cel-shaded look and overabundance of personality found in B&B was influenced from the classic Nintendo Punch-Out! franchise of years past. Presentation From the beginning, Majesco knew that Black & Bruised would be stylish at its core. Simulation and diehard boxing fans? Well, this game is not for you. And in a casual sense, Black and Bruised is a fun party game that casual gamers and first-time players will enjoy. While Black & Bruised is no Super Punch-Out, it's the closest any game has come to emulating it in some time. In its heart of hearts, we believe the team wanted to create a game in that same mold, delivering kooky characters and silly scenarios and making games fun in the old sense of the word. Canadian developer Digital Fiction, however, yearns for those old days.
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