In your favorite anime, you know when two characters charge up with bright flashing lights, then fly at each other at super speeds, then fight with the force of planets behind them, often leaving a trail of debris in their wake? Fly Punch Boom! is a fighting game that let’s players carry out these over-the-top anime fantasies through goofy Flash-like animation.
Fly Punch Boom! is totally ridiculous and plays into its absurdness at every moment. Want to smash your opponent in the face with a skyscraper? Go ahead. Want to beat your enemy so hard the world splits in half like a watermelon? No problem. The camera even zooms in and out to create the anime drama you know and love. It is constant, stupid fun that plays better than you think.
Players square off in what seems like a massive open world but is actually restricted by bungie cord boarders – there has to be a way to contain all this super saiyan fighting madness after all. Control is actually very smooth and accurate with the ability to freely fly wherever you want. When a fist-meets-face connection is made, the goal is to activate a power-up meter at the right time to release a maximum punch. At its peak, combat essentially becomes one super fast quick-time event after another, mixing offensive attacks with counterattack block and punches – think rock/paper/scissors. Surprisingly, even though combat is littered with these QTEs, fighting is still frantic and just oh so senselessly ludicrous. Hovering around the stage also feels right, simply using the analog stick to move in the direction of your opponent like a heat seeking missile.
The main element behind the over-the-top fighting are the cartoony visuals. Each animation is more comical than the last and makes the entire presentation ooze with personality. If Fly Punch Boom! was aired on the Cartoon Channel as is, fans wouldn’t really think twice and could think it is just a show all on its own.
Jollypunch Games has created something unique here and Dragon Ball fans will probably appreciate these battles in between their favorite DBZ episodes. From start to finish, the entire experience is never taken seriously and always remains at high octane speed. The preposterous gameplay isn’t perfect as an entire fighting game built around QTEs gets tedious after a while but still retains charm and uniqueness. If possible, play this one for yourself as the weight of each fight will generate a memorable experience and gets even more chaotic during multiplayer sessions.
Also available on PC.
Better Than: pretty much any Godzilla game
Also Try: Azura’s Wrath
Wait For It: a new, good Dragon Ball title
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz