Megabyte Punch

In a world were robots try to live in harmony and generally keep an evil-free existence, the main hobby of the metal creatures seems to be violence, given the fact that they are constantly organizing tournaments to decide who's the best fighter out there. Megabyte Punch invites you to be a part of this violent alternate universe and prove yourself in the arena, by obliterating your foes with devastating kicks and blasts.

The game tries to unearth the long-lost beat 'em up formula and emulate titles like Mega Man and Smash Bros, while also improving on it with beautiful new-age graphics and a few other neat ideas that aim to make the gameplay intuitive, challenging, and above all, fun. Miraculously, the developers managed to score a bulls eye and get almost everything right, with just a few minor mistakes that can be easily overlooked.

To start off, you play as a robot that likes to brawl and happens to be quite experienced in the art of kicking butts, which is just as well, considering the fact that the entire gameplay revolves around your ability to fight off various unpleasant enemies. Story-wise, the computer world in which the action takes place is split into multiple villages and factions, some of which are a bit on the evil side. When your village becomes a target for these undesirables, you need to step up and drive them back. However, the plot itself is not really that well explained and it barely affects your experience, since it is all about navigating the levels and beating up everything that crosses your path.

Being a robot means that most of your body parts are detachable and replaceable, which is definitely good news, because this provides you with the opportunity to scavenge components from the foes you defeat, in order to slap them onto you and turn into a real Frankenstein's monster toward the end. Hence, every part you pick up is stored in your inventory and you can quickly switch between them with just a few keystrokes.

Speaking of which, the fighting system itself is very intuitive and fun, since the attacks you can perform are entirely dependent on the components you happen to be equipped with. These can also provide you with special abilities, such as powerful punches, energy blasts and many other useful gimmicks. Kicking the enemies can also send them flying through the air and into the walls, which are liable to crumble and fall, thus making the fighting scenes that much more exciting.

One major flaw of the game is the fact that it does not support online play, although you can enjoy it in co-op and local play. Other than that, Megabyte Punch is a well-refined product with enough depth to be worth multiple replays, not to mention the copious amounts of fun you can have by just taking part in mindless brawls.