A very long time in the past, a Shaun of a time long gone reviewed a recreation from one other Shaun of a time long gone. That recreation was known as Shoot the Moon (Free), and it was a triumph of straightforward gameplay married with a slick presentation to create an enthralling and enjoyable recreation. Within the years since then, each Shauns have been busy with numerous issues, however destiny has seen match to discover a purpose for the lives of the Shauns to cross but once more. I’m Shaun Musgrave, and I’m right here to assessment Shaun Coleman’s cleverly-titled Punch Kick Duck (Free).
Punch Kick Duck is one other motion recreation, however this time as a substitute of taking over the shoot-em-up style, the developer has supplied his tackle one other standard style from the nice previous days of the arcades: the single-plane beat-em-up. Suppose Irem’s Kung Fu Grasp, and also you’ll be on the correct web page. You information your duck (or different character, extra on that later) throughout every stage, combating off the varied enemies that assail you. You’ve got however three strikes in your arsenal. Effectively, you’ve learn the title so you’ll be able to most likely take a guess which strikes they’re. You’ve received a excessive punch, a mid-level kick, and a ducking sweep.
It’s all relatively easy at first. A bunny approaches and also you give it a punch. A pig rolls up and also you give it a kick. A lanky weasel approaches and also you give it a sweep. They present up in teams, however so long as you retain your wits about you it isn’t an excessive amount of to handle. Oh, and there’s a bear chasing you. You possibly can’t do a lot with him, so finest to choose up your ft if you aren’t combating so to keep forward of him. Attain the steps and also you’re dwelling free to maneuver on to the subsequent flooring. Don’t neglect to choose up the cash the enemies drop when you’re at it. Extra on these later, too.
As you progress up the flooring, issues get extra difficult. A number of the enemies are pushing carts at you. Others toss bottles. You possibly can cope with all of this stuff utilizing your similar set of strikes, however you’ll should be taught which of them are finest for which state of affairs and when to make use of them. It’s such a easy system at its core, however because of the number of enemies and interactions it all the time feels recent. You’ll get a special association of enemies every time you play, and there are a number of issue settings that blend issues up much more. The problem by no means feels unfair, and when you learn to play effectively sufficient you’ll be able to simply get by means of flooring unscathed.
Okay, let’s discuss cash and characters. The cash enemies drop can be utilized for a number of various things, however probably the most enjoyable you’ll be able to have with them is in utilizing them to unlock new characters. There aren’t a ton of characters right here, and that is smart. Every one is rigorously created and appears as pure in-game because the titular duck. It’ll take a variety of enjoying to unlock all of them, so that you’ll have one thing to goal at for fairly some time. Every time you unlock one, you get somewhat animation of the character popping out of a bundle. Very satisfying stuff. The gameplay doesn’t change, however it’s enjoyable to alter issues up visually. You may also use cash to proceed when you’re defeated mid-stage. That’s much less enjoyable, however you are able to do it when you like.
So how does it monetize? The bottom recreation is free, and also you’ll have to look at some advertisements at times if you wish to maintain issues that approach. When you’re uninterested in the obligatory advertisements, you’ll be able to drop a candy two bucks on an IAP to take away them. If you wish to spend extra money, you should purchase a few further characters a la carte for a couple of bucks apiece. There are additionally voluntary advertisements that can earn you some further cash, and that’s not a nasty concept if you wish to velocity up the character unlocks and don’t thoughts watching them. All fairly cheap stuff, significantly by trendy requirements.
Let’s discuss in regards to the presentation, as a result of it’s completely dynamite. The sport seems to be and sounds improbable, and it’s interesting each when it comes to artwork model and technical prowess. Shaun Coleman’s panache for pleasing, personable character designs helped make Shoot the Moon stand out and it’s on even higher show right here. You might mistake it for a cartoon, and I like it. Oh, and you may play in portrait or panorama orientation, and the sport is simply as viable to play both approach.
The one draw back to the sport is a traditional one for beat-em-ups. When you actually hunker down and settle in for a long-term session, you would possibly discover it getting somewhat repetitive after some time. As somebody who loves the style, it’s not often a problem for me with good ones, and I do assume Punch Kick Duck is likely one of the good ones. However I do know some folks aren’t as eager on the fixed slugfests with enemies and their limitless twin brothers and sisters, and if that’s you then you definitely would possibly find yourself bouncing off of this recreation. The excellent news is that it’s free to strive in any case, so… you understand, give it a strive.
Punch Kick Duck is a blast to play, and a beautiful deal with for the eyes and ears. It’s nice to see Shaun Coleman tackle one other style and put his distinctive spin on it, and the outcomes are pretty much as good as I may have hoped. I hope our paths intertwine once more in one other ten years so I can see what he does with the single-screen platformer style or one thing. For now, I’ll simply maintain having fun with this nice slice of beat-em-up motion. Maybe you ought to, too.
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