It’s been over a year since Punch Club released on Steam and iOS and ever since that time, I’ve never quite found another arcade combat game to fill the void left after I finished it. This week, however, I stumbled upon Shimada Toshihiro’s PPKP (Punch, Punch, Kick, Punch) and though it’s not perfectly comparable to Punch Club , it’s the closest I’ve come to scratching that itch in a while.
PPKP’s premise is fairly simple. You play as an unnamed red haired hero whose town has been destroyed by Monster Corps monsters. In order to begin rebuilding your city, and later other cities ravaged by Monster Corp, your hero must fight a variety of monsters. For each monster you defeat, you earn coins which can be used to buy food, upgrade you hero and teach him new moves.
In addition to fighting monsters, after each round of fighting a meter at your local junk yard will fill up. Once full, players head into the junkyard and do a short 10-second tapping session where they attempt to salvage as many parts from used cards as they can punch out of them in the time given. These parts are used to repair buildings in the city. As building are repaired or upgraded, they unlock various tools for your hero. For example, after each battle round against monsters, your hero must restore his health by purchasing food at the local diner. Each item you buy restores a specific amount of health while also adding stars to your hero’s upgrade meter. When the upgrade meter is full, your hero’s max health, defense and offense increase. When you upgrade the diner, you unlock better and more nutritious foods that provide more benefits for your hero. Meanwhile the local marshal arts dojo offers a variety of different moves your hero can unlock and learn that increase the effectiveness his attacks against various monsters.
Like Punch Club there is an element of the on-going fight, eat, upgrade grind with PPKP , but it’s a satisfying one as you expand to new cities that are in need of your aid or encounter new monsters which require varied skills to defeat. There are two main downsides I’ve found to PPKP . The first is the ads. The game is a free download on the app store and at various intervals you’ll have a banner ad appear on the screen which makes it impossible to see the number of resources you have available. I really wish there was a way to pay a couple dollars to rid yourself of the ads because the only way to clear them is close the game out and reopen it. It’s not a huge barrier to the game’s enjoyment but it does erode my satisfaction somewhat. The second downside is the lack of storyline. One thing that kept the grind in Punch Club from becoming too monotonous is the fact that you had this great story line propelling you forward. While PPKP has a small underlying premise, it would be improved if there was some dialogue or storyline cutscenes added. I’ve spent a few hours in the game and thoroughly enjoyed it, but fear it might have a short lifespan for players without any built in storyline. Still, for a free to play offering, this one is well worth checking out.
KKPK is available to download now on the Apple App Store. Be sure to check it out.
