Touch KO Review

The iPhone has some great games in most of the core genres, but it’s not exactly bursting its seams with quality fighters. The device is powerful enough to handle a decent one-on-one brawler, but whether or not the controls are up to the job is another matter entirely. Chillingo seems up to the challenge though, bringing boxing sim Touch KO to the iPhone at a mid-range £1.79 price point. Does it deliver a knockout blow?

The most important aspect of any fighting game is the control system, and considering the iPhone has no buttons it can’t have been easy to come up with something that worked. You’ve got three punch types: jab, hook and uppercut. These are performed by tapping, stroking horizontally or stroking vertically on the side of the screen corresponding to the hand you want to use. Stroke up on the left of the screen and you’ll throw a left uppercut; tap on the right side and you’ll throw a right jab. These can also be chained together in combos, letting you really dish out punishment on your opponent.

These offensive controls work well, but defence isn’t so good. By pressing either side of the screen you’ll raise the corresponding glove to block and a tilt of the device either side will make your boxer dodge. It’s a good enough system, but you have no direct control over the foot movement of your fighter, with the game handling all movement around the ring. This makes the game feel a bit like a slugging match at times, and removes an important aspect of the sport.

Also disappointing is the knockout system. You have two metres that represent energy and stamina. The red energy bar fills as you take damage, preventing the green stamina bar from refilling completely. This is fair enough, but a knockout occurs when your stamina bar is completely gone, meaning you can tire yourself out by throwing punches and then be hit once by your opponent and hit the deck. It just doesn’t feel fair.

A few of these problems would have been forgivable had the career mode been up to par, but it’s blighted by a ridiculously easy difficultly level. Over the course of our first ten career fights we didn’t need a second round once, ending every fight on a Technical knockout after downing our opponent three times within the three-minute round. The upgrade system that simply hands out stat increases without any effort on your part means you can be a devastating powerhouse of a fighter after less than 30 minutes with the game.

Touch KO is a disappointing game, not because it’s terrible, but because it’s not nearly as accomplished as it should have been. Visually it’s excellent, sporting some well modelled fighters, and the offensive control scheme should have served as a foundation for an impressive fighter, but a complete lack of challenge and some iffy defensive controls let it down. The game succeeds as a graphical showcase, but don’t expect to be playing for weeks to come.

Version 1.0 reviewed