Punch Kick Duck review
+ Universal App
FREE! Buy now!

Punch Kick Duck review

Our Review by Campbell Bird on February 9th, 2023
Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: BASIC BRAWLER
Share This:

This arcade brawler presents some simple, challenging fun.

Developer: Shaun Coleman

Price: Free
Version: 1.03
App Reviewed on: iPad Pro

Graphics/Sound Rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar
User Interface Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar
Gameplay Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar
Replay Value Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar

Overall Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar

In a lot of ways, Punch Kick Duck feels like an arcade game ported to mobile. It follows the classic idea of "easy to learn but hard to master" and applies it to a duck that is trying to fight its way through floor after floor of different animal enemies. There's a certain charm to the way this game looks and feels, but it isn't a game that will really stick with you.

3 button fighter

Punch Kick Duck is a game where you play as a duck who has broken out of a holding cell and must battle their way through rabbits, pigs, ferrets, and more in an attempt to escape. The duck automatically marches forward on a given floor, but you can tap and hold to make the duck run and use virtual buttons on the side of the screen to punch, kick, or duck kick to take down enemies standing in your way.

Each enemy requires a certain kind of attack to defeat it. Waist-high pigs, for example, are easy to kick away, while ferret arms are so high up that you can duck kick them as their punches sail over your head. Everyone (yourself included) can be taken out with a single blow, so the game is an exercise in trying to memorize and manage sequences of attacks that can get you through enemies as quickly as possible without getting hit.

Beware the bear

When you complete a floor in Punch Kick Duck, you get scored for your performance before moving right up to the next one to keep advancing. As you climb higher and higher, fights become more and more complicated as well. Enemies start carrying items to throw at you, try to run you over with carts, and there's even a timer that unleashes a bear to chase you if you are taking too long to get to the next set of stairs.

You don't really get additional advantages to help you deal with all of these complications. Your tools stay the same, and it's just up to you to be able to juggle the combinations of attacks to get through enemies while trying to reach the next floor as quickly as possible. As a bit of a cushion, though, players start with ability to take a free hit that doesn't immediately end a run, which you can re-earn by defeating a certain number of enemies in a level. You also gather coins as you play and can spend 40 of them to revive mid-level if you get knocked down.

Tough but fair

It doesn't take long for Punch Kick Duck to get quite demanding by stacking up loads of enemies coming from different directions with all kinds of special attacks. Dealing with these on their own is tough, but even moreso when considering the bear timer. In true arcade fashion, the only way to overcome these things is to just practice and get better at the game.

If playing in its free-to-play state, your various retries get interrupted by ads, which you can disable via a one-time purchase of $ 1.99. There are also additional characters you can unlock to play as, some of which you can only pay for and add additional perks like a coin doubler or discounts on characters unlockable via in-game currency. Overall, it's a pretty tame and unobtrusive monetization model.

The bottom line

It is really satisfying to chain together a ton of attacks and whip through a level in Punch Kick Duck. Doing so is a tough but fair challenges that rewards persistence and practice. There isn't much more to it than that, but for what it is it is well made and fairly monetized.

Share This: