Wade Hixton’s Counter Punch appeared out of nowhere on the Gameboy Advance release lists. Just like many games before it, Counter Punch would likely fade into obscurity. One of the main reasons for this is no publicity, and having no known franchise attached to it. However -- unlike these other games -- a buzz began to circulate from gamers about Counter Punch, and when more details about it surfaced, I couldn’t wait to play it.

Features:

Fight 8 opponents in order to earn money to fix your car

Buy special attacks to improve your boxing ability.

A battery backup to save your progress.

The story centers on Wade Hixton (Who else would I be talking about?) as he is traveling in his car when suddenly it breaks down and he is stuck in a strange town named Big Piney. Wade finds out that repairing his car is going to be quite expensive, and his apparent lack of cash is putting him into quite a predicament. Now a normal person would simply have the money wired, take out a loan, or get a friend to help. However this is Wade Hixton we are talking about, and his vocabulary seems to be restricted to phrases like “Hot Dang!” So after a scuffle in a local bar Wade decides to become a boxer, and use the prize money to repair his car, and get out of Big Piney.


Not pimpin'

Once you begin playing Counter Punch you will realize its obvious ties to Nintendo’s own Punch Out! -- You fight each opponent in a pseudo third person view, while Wade himself is semi transparent so you can see the enemy you are boxing. You perform right and left jabs, punches, and even uppercuts as you try to knock out your enemy. The trick is to catch your opponent off guard, and stun them so you can get in some extra shots. But unlike Punch Out, the fights rarely last longer than the first round.

Don’t disregard this game as simply a rip off of another title. The developers added lots of things to make the experience unique. First there is a monetary system. You receive prize money for every time you win a fight. There is no limit to the number of times you can fight any of the oponents, and you still receive money no matter how many times you have defeated them previously. This lends the design more to an RPG like experience. I would often fight the same characters over and over again, just so I could build up my bank account. However no matter how much money you save, the mechanic will still not be able to fix your car until you defeat all your challengers in Big Piney. Something is strange about this town.