Leftovers KO! Review

At first glance, Leftovers KO! looks like a wonderfully comedic homage to a classic game on the NES, Punch-Out!!. Developer Mountain Man Animation has created a hand-drawn boxing game where the leftovers that our main character, Jay, has forgotten about in the refrigerator come to life. The spoilt food knows that the only place it can go now is the garbage, so it wants revenge.

 After a long day at work, Jay had no energy but was hungry. Like most people, he would order out, but this time he decided to go home first, which was a big mistake. Waiting for him is the mouldy burger, who was ready to brawl with our hapless worker. The only thing Jay can do is try to protect himself from the incoming attacks of this expired food. In a matchup reminiscent of a battle between Little Mac and his opponent in Punch-Out!!, we stand behind Jay as he puts up his dukes. In Round 1, you are facing The Burger, who is mouldy and angry.

The training room not only teaches you the ropes, but you can also visit it before or in between matches to try out new techniques. While practising, I found the D-pad a bit more accurate to use for dodging than the thumbstick for avoiding getting hit. The controls felt pretty similar to what I knew from other boxing titles, so I was ready to jump into the game.

Leftovers KO! features a control scheme very similar to other retro boxing titles you may have played before. On a controller, the left and right directions are to dodge, down is to block, up and punch for an uppercut, punch with the left face button, power punch with the upper face button, and the right and bottom face buttons are listed as “other”. If you are playing on the computer, you can also use a keyboard if you prefer.

During the fight, you can get interrupted by having to answer the phone. To answer, you use the right face button that isn't being used to fight. Sally, on the phone, tells you that you need to save up the stars you earn while fighting the enemy. If you use them after the opponent makes a big attack, you can counter it with the power-punch button. If the timing is right, your power punch will be more effective. These punches can only be thrown when you have stars, so be sure not to waste them.

Control-wise, it’s actually quite difficult to dodge the enemies’ attacks. I assumed the movements would be as precise as they were in Punch-Out!! years ago, but even using the D-pad instead of the thumbstick, I was getting hit a lot. Lose one round, and it's game over; it’s not a three-round fight. You can't just knock your food-themed foe down once or twice; your opponent will get back up with their health bar refilled, whereas you don't get a second chance to get back up.

You have a white bar for your health and a red one for your stamina. If you go crazy punching, Jay will be exhausted, and he’ll move very slowly and will not be able to throw any hits. You can try to rest, but chances are your opponent will take advantage of this fact and come after you with a flurry of punches, taking you down and giving you a game over.

The hand-drawn, cartoony look of the game is refreshing! This game oozes personality, and the soundtrack is decent too, but the sound effects are lacking. When I hit the enemy, the sound that you hear isn’t satisfying, like in the other boxing games where it felt like you really connected, but it’s more like a deflating squeaky toy. When the enemy hit me, it was more of a thud, so it never felt like I was dealing damage.

It’s also frustrating that the stamina bar seems to be connected to the health one. When I get hit a few times, I want to rally and smash the enemy, but when I'm basically out of energy, I’m screwed. Also, requiring that all the enemies be defeated using the stars to perform a power punch when the enemy's health is low sucks. Especially when they give no indication of when the optimal time to throw that punch is.

I really wanted to love this game. The story was fun and silly, the art style was great, and I enjoyed the little animations, like the glass of water moving when someone is hit or condiments falling out of the fridge door. Plus, I typically love boxing games like this. But when all you feel is frustration while playing, it doesn’t really entice you to want to come back for more. It felt quite unfair.

With this level of difficulty, it’s hard to recommend this title. But if you are up for a challenge and don’t mind some frustration, then try it out!