DrowZ: You should play Punch Planet

Of the multitude of video game genres out there, fighting games are the most personal. One person picks their character and pits them up against another person's character- it's boxing, but you don't need rock-solid abs and high pain tolerance to be good at it.

There are many competitive video games that fall apart once you try to play them on the same screen - playing Call of Duty becomes a trust experiment when you have to share a screen with your rivals and because of this, many of those genres have an emphasis on online play. Now, you can commit war-crimes with your friends over the internet! Obviously, fighting games can and have done the same, not everyone's available to gather around the couch - it's just that fighting games, in some part, have failed to garner as big of a player base due to a couple of issues, some perceived and some real: Their mechanics are poorly communicated and most perform horribly online.

Not Punch Planet though, this game's one of the best fighting games I've played and it's not even out yet. It's a sci-fi fighting game with a sleek aesthetic that reminds me of some of Genndy Tartakovsky's later work.

Punch Planet is a grounded, one on one fighting game, developed by Sector-K, where the objective is, predictably, to punch your opponent until they can't stand to be punched anymore. It's a lot of fun - if you're looking for a fighting game that feels like Street Fighter with a twist, I suggest you give it a look.

Punch Planet is currently in early access and is available on Steam and Apple Arcade. It runs on GGPO, like Killer Instinct, so you can actually play with people who don't live down the block from you.

That's the review - if you like what you see, give it a look and check out the giveaway I'm doing at the bottom of this post. From here on out I'll be talking about the things that make Punch Planet different in meaningful ways: I'll be talking about the mechanics.

What Punch Planet lacks in numbers it more than makes up with its depth - which makes a cursory glance at the game stunted because on the surface you'll load into the game, go to training mode (or at least you should) and mess around with one of the six currently available characters. Training mode's also not really the type of thing that gets people into fighting games - but if you've even had a cursory interest in the genre I suggest you check Punch Planet's out.

It's a lot to take in, but the most important detail of Punch Planet's training mode is that it shows you the data on every single action in the move, right there on the screen in the form of floating numbers that pop up whenever you connect with the training dummy. As a visual learner, I cannot express how much this has helped me understand these games on a deeper level.

Punch Planet is a game that wants you to know the frame data, with it being covered in situations where your opponent will have a clear advantage of you.  The knockdown system is most similar to Street Fighter 4 - there are two wake-up timings and there are many moves that will remove the choice from your opponent. This would leave you vulnerable to your opponent's offense- but not only do many characters have reversals, they also have a universal parry, performed by tapping forward and both medium buttons.

Like Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike, parrying your opponent's move will see you ignoring it entirely, potentially allowing you to turn the tables on your foe should the move you parried have high enough recovery. Now, those experienced in 3rd Strike should also know that while that game's parry system is often lauded- it forces much of the game to be played around invisible option selects that can completely dominate less knowledgeable players. Punch Planet's parry is a commitment, if your parry fails to connect you'll see your character fumble, leaving you wide open.

Footage from the 11/9/2019 Punch Planet Discord Community Tournament

Punch Planet's parry is also tied to the game's unique time-gauge, the little blue bar that's to the left of your super meter. It slowly charges over time, entirely removed from what is actually happening over the course of the game. Aside from parrying, you can perform universal overheads and what the game calls a "Delayed Time Cancel," or DTC, It's like Guilty Gear's Roman cancels or Street Fighter 4's Focus Attack Cancels, simply tap the button again and if your attack connects with your opponent in any way, you'll cancel it entirely, enabling new ways to convert into damage or offense.

The small cast is also weaved into the mechanics seamlessly- the game's main character, Roy is a zoner with decent normals and an oppressive projectile like Ryu, but unlike Ryu, Roy's projectile is this laser gun has an accompanying stance that will let the player change the timing, making it hard to parry and punish when used well. Cid occupying the second spot on the roster, is a footsies monster with oppressive buttons but linear ways to convert into a knockdown, with DTC, Cid can use many of those big buttons to start an offensive.

The passively regenerating time gauge, in conjunction with your more standard super meter give some matchups these bursts of activity as you and your opponent try to navigate around each other's biggest damage sources while trying to find a way to land your own.

Or you could just pick Maxx and just rush punch your way in from the start, whatever works.

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A bit of a shorter, self indulgent piece this week. Fighting games were on my mind and honestly, I figured that since I should bother to shill this really cool fighting game I've been playing on and off.

If people want, I'll do a big "how to fighting games" post but it probably won't be one of the weeklies.

Also hey, I'm giving out a Steam Key for Punch Planet! Leave a comment on this blogpost to be entered for it (You can't be anonymous). I'll announce the winner in my next post!