Panda Punch PC Review

2022 has been a great year for retro-inspired games. We have had some hits as well as some misses, but overall, the majority has been enjoyable. Ratalaika Games have been one of the busiest publishers and ending the year they have more game called Panda Punch. It’s a retro platformer which has some puzzles to solve and some combat that is keeping with the style of the era this was inspired by. So, Let’s look below to see if we end the year on a bang or not.

You play as a red panda that I thought was a fox first as I was expecting a really cute Panda or at least Po from Kung Fu Panda. This poor panda has got injured and loses a paw and this is happening during an alien invasion. Luckily his dad has some parts lying around and he manages to give him his paw back which is now bionic and gives our hero new strength. This allows him to destroy the robots, activate switches and move items around the level.

The developers have kept as close to the old-school platformer rules as much as possible, which include all the quirks from those days. The puzzles are pretty easy to solve and the enemies don’t particularly offer any real challenge when engaged in combat. There are a generous helping of checkpoints so dying is not really a big issue as you don’t lose much progress.

The levels are a mundane affair but this is how gaming was back then with platformers so they kept true to the era. You have your typical boss battles to take part in but sadly these don’t offer much in a way of a challenge so they are easy to defeat and move on the next stage. The levels are designed fine, but don’t really standout or offer anything spectacular.

The Pixel style visuals work and offer the experience of retro gaming and the colours are nice, it is just the level look is mundane. The music is annoying after a while as it just repeats throughout and needed more selection to keep it fresh and add immersion. The controls are simple to pick up and this makes the learning curve easy and enjoyable, though it does get more complicated when you unlock new abilities. The game is short and there is limited replayability due to the collecting of powerups.

Final Thoughts

Panda Punch is an ok title. Yes, it captures a lot of the retro era feels but in the modern gaming world this does not work. It is too easy, too short and just offers a mundane experience.