Game review: Touch KO - iPhone / iPod Touch

I doubt there’s anyone out there who loves video games who doesn’t revel in a good beat-em-up.

Unfortunately for iPhone/iPod Touch gamers, the first year of the App Store has not been a good one for fighting games. It’s hard to think of a single good one.

The few developers brave enough to try and put a decent fighting game on to Apple’s mobile devices have not done a very good job.

Touch KO changes all that.

This is far and away the best boxing game on the platform, as well as the best fighting game overall so far. It is also among the best sports games.

From a technical point of view what developers Adam and Matt Mechtley have achieved is nothing short of brilliant. Touch KO reminds me somewhat of Fight Night Round 3 on the PSP, and that’s a big compliment.

The 3D textured graphics are superb. Everything about the arenas, the crowds and the boxers themselves looks great. The animation of the boxers is very smooth. A lot of detail has been crammed into the game’s very modest 25mb.

The whole presentation of Touch KO is very polished but this would be completely wasted if the controls were no good. The playability of any fighting game hinges on intuitive and responsive controls.

Luckily Touch KO’s controls are very slick, and simple to operate.

The left and right parts of the touch screen correspond to your boxer’s left and right hands. Tap on either side and your boxer will jab with that hand. Press and hold on either side and your boxer will block. Swipe vertically for an uppercut and swipe horizontally for a hook. With some quick tapping it’s easy to land a good combo. The tilt controls are also used to good effect for dodging.

Even though you’re using your fingers rather than your fists to throw and block blows, the controls still feel very instinctive. This is one of the developers’ biggest accomplishments.

While I don’t have any problem with how the controls work, there are a few things missing. Firstly, there is no option for punching to the body. Secondly, you have no control over your boxer’s movement around the ring. Finally, everything is very clean and gentlemanly in the game - there is no option for landing any low blows or taunting your opponent.

The game comes with two modes of play. Quick play throws you into the ring against a random opponent, while career mode challenges you to battle you way up from lowly amateur to title fighter.

Quick play works well in providing a short burst of boxing action when you want it.

Career mode requires more thought. You can select what your boxer looks like from 10 different characters, while you can also choose from various tattoos, gloves, trunks and boots. Many of the items can only be bought when you’ve earned enough winnings from fights.

You can choose whether your boxer will be orthodox of southpaw, and you can select which opponent you want to put him up against in your next fight. Finally, you can pick whether to focus your boxer’s training for each fight on power, stamina or speed. Your fighter’s abilities in each area increase the more you train him.

As good a range of options as this is, it would still be nice to see some extra customisations. I’d like more control over what my boxer looks like. I also feel he lacks a bit of personality from me not being able to assign a signature move or allocate character traits such as temperament or flair.

All the boxers in the game look and act very similar to each other.

As I described earlier the game works very well when you step into the ring. From controls to graphics, the boxing action is great.

Unfortunately in career mode there in one big problem - when you start out the difficulty is set ridiculously low.

My amateur fights didn’t last more than a minute as I found it incredibly easy to floor opponents with just a few punches. They barely put up any resistance.

Fights in the professional class have been tougher, but not by much. I’ve lost a couple of bouts, though more through my carelessness than opponents’ ability. All my victories are still coming in the first round.

I’m hoping as I progress further into the game the difficulty will significantly increase. I’d also like to see more variety in how fights end. So far every single bout has been won or lost by a technical knockout. At the moment career mode is providing a fairly weak and repetitive challenge.

News of the first Touch KO update has already been announced, promising new features and game fixes. An advanced difficulty level has been mentioned – this sounds good, but it’s debatable how many players will stick with the career mode long enough to need an advanced or expert level unless something is done to make the game more challenging and therefore more satisfying from the early stages.

Criticisms aside, Touch KO is a still very good game.

That such an amazing looking game has made it on to the iPhone/iPod is a feat in itself.

There are other notable successes, such as the great controls, and the game is entertaining overall.

This heavyweight title sets a high standard which other fighting games will have to try and match – if they dare to step into the ring.

Touch KO, published by Chillingo, is out in the iTunes App Store.

Verdict: 8 out of 10 – A thumping good boxing sim which despite of a few issues punches the lights out of all other iPhone/iPod fighting games to date