This past weekend at PAX I played a lot of great games and one of those was Big Boy Boxing. It’s an action packed slapstick boxing game inspired by the classic NES game Punch Out! The art style is bright and colorful, the characters are vibrant and funny, and the game is fast, smooth, punishing but most of all it is FUN! The moment I picked up the controller I knew I was in for a challenge. I unfortunately found out how rusty I am at arcade type fighting games but that didn’t hamper my enjoyment.
In the demo you could select between a whole cast of unique bosses to fight and I chose to go up against Coach Skank. I could not help but laugh as the bell rang and Coach immediately hit me in the face with a wide hook. Skank was a character that swung to the side creating a miss direction and then came forward in a diagonal motion. I pulled back on the stick to lean out of reach and used the triggers to dodge left or right.
Coach Skank missed and backed up to the center with his wide grin and wicked sports shades teasing me. I realized that mashing the X button was landing harmless body shots and pushing forward on the stick I began doing some damage to the head.
After a few blows I stunned him and he turned around hilariously exposing his plumber’s crack. I pressed Y and unleashed a charged uppercut depleting his health only for him to pop back up with a second health bar. Coach Skank beat me a few times before I finally bested him but I enjoyed every attempt. I moved on to face other boxers each with their own unique attacks quickly trying to adjust and protect my three measly hearts.
Soupmasters definitely have a hit on their hands with this simple yet addicting game which also felt very fluid. Fans were lining up to play the demo on the show floor and reluctant to pass the controller. The hand drawn pixel art and retro soundtrack kept me at the booth much longer than I intended. The team is a small one based in Spain and it is always great to see a Latin crew trying to leave a mark on the Steam charts. Make sure you Wishlist this game as it releases later this year!
