Pato Box

Genre: Boxing / Misc.

Players: 1

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Review:

Pato Box is an odd combination of an old-school Boxing game like the old Punch-Out games, with some over-the shoulder action and exploration in parts. It is a game that is frequently bizarre in its presentation, its story, and its gameplay, and I think it’s a game that different people are going to react to very differently.

This game uses a very distinct black and white cel-shaded art style, with everything presented in a comic fashion. The visuals are all very simplistic, but the game does look memorable, at least.

In addition, the game’s story and characters are… well, bizarre. You play as a boxer who inexplicably has a bird’s head, apparently working for an evil organization with underhanded plans involving setting you up in your latest boxing match. There are evil scientists, robots, a killer chef… so… yeah, don’t expect this game to make much sense.

As for the gameplay, much of the gameplay has you exploring 3D environments from an over-the shoulder perspective, interacting with things mainly by punching them. You’re not really fighting in this mode, just exploring mazelike environs, talking with various characters, and doing tasks that largely involve punching. Yeah, again, weird.

When you do get into a fight, the gameplay changes to be a completely 2D boxing game in the style of the Punch-Out!! series. Players dodge left and right, block, and deliver high and low left and right punches to fight a series of increasingly strange opponents.

Okay, so firstly, the game recommends that players make use of motion controls for the combat in this game. Don’t. As much as motion controls seem like a perfect idea for this sort of game (and Punch-Out!! Wii used similar controls to great effect), given the Switch’s lacking motion controls, the result here is an imprecise, unresponsive mess. Switching to traditional controls greatly improves the experience.

Unfortunately, that experience is still pretty bad, as even with traditional controls, the game is still laggy in a way that makes this game difficult to enjoy. And especially with an action-focused game like this, you really want precise, responsive controls.

In the end, at the very least I can say that I certainly can’t fault Pato Box for originality. A comic-styled black-and-white cel-shaded boxing adventure with a bird-headed protagonist is definitely one of the more unique games I’ve encountered in a while. Unfortunately, not only is this not a game for everyone, but the control issues I encountered make it hard to enjoy even if this game appeals to you. As much as you may want a good boxing game on the Switch, you’re better off looking elsewhere.

tl;dr – Pato Box is an odd Boxing adventure with extremely stylized black-and-white cel-shaded graphics and a bizarre story starring a bird-headed protagonist. While it’s not without its appeal, the game has some pretty frustrating control issues that make it really hard to enjoy.

Grade: D+

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