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Panza Kick Boxing

Panza Kick Boxing[note 1] is a French fighting video game developed by Futura and originally published by Loriciels in 1991. The game is a video game adaptation of Thai kick boxing. It received high critical praise particularly for its graphics and gameplay while receiving minor criticism for its repetitiveness. A sequel with various names to distance from the Panza endorsement, including Best of the Best: Championship Karate in the United States, was released a few years later.

Panza Kick Boxing
Developer(s)Futura
Publisher(s)Loriciels
Platform(s)Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS-DOS, TurboGrafx-16, TurboGrafx CD
ReleaseEarly 1991[1]
Genre(s)Fighting

Plot and gameplay

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The player controls a kick boxer who fights their way up the league table defeating opponents, while their ultimate goal is to challenge the Champion André Panza and take his title. The Gymnasium section allows the player to train their character to improve one of three skills - strength, resistance, and reflex - which will improve their performance in future fights.[2]

The game contains a total of 56 kicks and punches, which players can assign to one of the 8 joystick movements to customise their boxer's fighting style. Moves inspired by real-life kick boxing include long sweeps, short jabs, and crunching kicks.[3]

The two boxers are viewed from ring level, and a referee is present to call 'break' or count you out; each bout takes at least three rounds and each round ends either when a boxer is KO-ed or the timer runs out. A row of lights above the ring are a visual cue to how close the player is to losing, which extinguish as they are hit.[3]

Development and release

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The game was developed by Futura. It was endorsed by French kickboxing then-champion André Panza (fr), who also supplied technical advice.[2] It contains realistic attacking and defensive moves, and around 600 frames of animation.[1]

Panza Kick Boxing was originally published by Loriciels in France in 1991, and subsequently by NEC Technologies in the United States[4][5] and Kixx (the budget range of U.S. Gold) in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy.[6] The game was a new venture for NEC, which has previously built a business off their TV Sports series of events.[7] Additionally, the game was published on the TurboGrafx-16 by Turbo Technologies, a joint venture by NEC and Hudson Soft.[8]

Reception

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ST Action and TurboPlay described it as "tremendous"[29] and "fantastic"[30] respectively, while Amiga Computing deemed it "extremely good".[3] Adam Smith from Rock Paper Shotgun praised the animations for the referee.[31] Games Village called it "one of the best Kickboxing simulators ever produced in history".[32]

Mixed reviews were offered by reviewers like Tony Horgan of Amiga User International who criticised the game's repetitiveness which he argued is standard for this genre.[22]

Italian site Games Village discussed how the "modest...pixel portrait of the solemn André Panza" on the cover juxtaposed the quality of the game in a larger discussion about how "the palatability of a video game is not necessarily linked to the actual value of its gameplay, nor to its technical prowess".[33]

Commenting on the contemporary context in which the game was developed, TurboPlay suggested that with Champions Forever Boxing (1991) and Panza Kick Boxing saturating the TurboGrafx-16 market, it was unlikely for Cinemaware to release their TV Sports Boxing on the platform.[34]

Legacy

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A 1992 sequel was announced in October 1992 tentatively titled Panza Kick Boxing 2.[35] The game, closer in design to a re-release, was published in Japan as The Kick Boxing (Micro World)[36][37] and Super Kickboxing (Electro Brain)[38] as Panza was unknown in the country.[39] This updated version was later imported[40] in the United States by Electro Brain as Best of the Best: Championship Karate in July 1993.[41][42] The game has also been subtitled Panza Gold Edition.[43]

Amiga Joker noted that while the gameplay, graphics, sound and options screen had been updated from the original, "apart from the title there are only a few real innovations", describing it as a "deceptive package".[44] MegaTech suggested the latter title was an effort to tie the game to the 1989 martial arts film Best of the Best.[45] Sega Zone described it as "one of the most differingly-named [sic] games in the history of gaming".[46] The Australian Commodore and Amiga Review noted that while the game is officially a sequel, it's "almost a reproduction".[43]

In contrast to the original, this version received a mixed reception in Europe,[47][48][49][50] and Asia.[51][52][53][54][55][56] However, actor and martial artist Ron Yuan deemed it the "best SNES fighting game from a purely technical martial arts point of view",[57] while Brazilian magazine Ação Games described it as "one of the best games of the genre" and one that fans of Luta Livre would enjoy.[58] Super Action further deemed it "classic kick boxing action".[59]

Notes

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  1. ^ The game is also known as Panza's Kick Boxing, André Panza Kick Boxing or André Panza's Kick Boxing.

References

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  1. ^ a b Webb, Trenton (December 1990). "Panza Kick Boxing preview". Amiga Format (17): 20.
  2. ^ a b Patterson, Mark (January 1991). "Andre Panza's Kick Boxing". CU Amiga: 49.
  3. ^ a b c "Panza Kick Boxing". Amiga Computing (33): 51. February 1991.
  4. ^ "East vs. West: Andre Panza / The Kick Boxing". Gaming After 40. February 4, 2011.
  5. ^ "Andre Panza Kick Boxing manual - NEC". 1991.
  6. ^ "Panza Kick Boxing manual - Kixx". 1991.
  7. ^ "Kick Boxing". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 4, no. 24. July 1991. p. 60.
  8. ^ "TurboGrafx-16". TurboPlay Magazine: 21. 1992.
  9. ^ Kaaa (November 1990). "Panza Kick Boxing". Joystick (in French) (10): 210–211.
  10. ^ Seb (April 1991). "Panza Kick Boxing". Joystick (in French) (15): 105.
  11. ^ Moulinex (December 1990). "Panza Kick Boxing". Joystick (in French) (11): 296.
  12. ^ Seb (December 1990). "Panza Kick Boxing". Joystick (in French) (11): 296.
  13. ^ "Panza Kick Boxing". Génération 4 (in French) (28). December 1990.
  14. ^ Bunker, Alan (July 1992). "Panza Kick Boxing re-release". Amiga Action (34): 91.
  15. ^ "Panza Kick Boxing". Amiga Action (17): 104. February 1991.
  16. ^ Graney, Juris (June 1991). "Panza Kick Boxing". The Australian Commodore and Amiga Review (ACAR). 8 (6): 76.
  17. ^ Lakin, Paul (February 1991). "Panza Kick Boxing". Zero (16): 46.
  18. ^ Patterson, Mark (January 1991). "Panza Kick Boxing". CU Amiga: 49.
  19. ^ Borgmeier, Carsten (January 1991). "Panza Kick Boxing". Amiga Joker (in German) (11): 28.
  20. ^ Hedqvist, Pekka (April 1991). "Panza Kick Boxing". Datormagazin (8): 66.
  21. ^ Thörnqvist, Daniel (April 1993). "Panza Kick Boxing re-release". Datormagazin (in Swedish) (8): 56.
  22. ^ a b Horgan, Tony (January 1991). "Panza Kick Boxing". Amiga User International. 5 (1): 80.
  23. ^ Forster, Winfried (February 1991). "Panza Kick Boxing". Power Play: 126.
  24. ^ Zimmermann, Bernd (January 1991). "Panza Kick Boxing". Aktueller Software Markt (in German): 138.
  25. ^ Kleimann, Manfred (May 1991). "Panza Kick Boxing". Aktueller Software Markt (in German).
  26. ^ "Panza Kick Boxing". Tilt (in French) (89): 77. April 1991.
  27. ^ "Andre Panza Kickboxing". Go (18): 6–7. April 1993.
  28. ^ "Andre Panza's Kick Boxing". Special Program (in Italian). 7 (75): 26–7. April 1991.
  29. ^ "Panza Kick Boxing". ST Action (59): 64.
  30. ^ "Coming Soon... Andre Panza Kick Boxing". TurboPlay (9): 28. October–November 1991.
  31. ^ Smith, Adam (November 8, 2012). "Monster Smash: Beast Boxing Turbo Demo". Rock Paper Shotgun.
  32. ^ Iglio, Gianpaolo (April 24, 2018). "Campioni per caso: i peggiori Testimonial mai visti nei titoli sportivi". Games Village (in Italian).
  33. ^ Iglio, Gianpaolo (April 24, 2018). "Campioni per caso: i peggiori Testimonial mai visti nei titoli sportivi". Games Village (in Italian).
  34. ^ "TV Sports Oddities". TurboPlay (9). October–November 1991.
  35. ^ "Panza Kick Boxing 2 preview". Amiga Power (18): 62. October 1992.
  36. ^ "Game review". Marukatsu Mega Drive (in Japanese): 109. January 1993.
  37. ^ "Game review". Beep! Mega Drive (in Japanese): 21. February 1993.
  38. ^ "Original "Panza Kickboxing" and its copycats". February 26, 2014.
  39. ^ "East vs. West: Andre Panza / The Kick Boxing". Gaming After 40. February 4, 2011.
  40. ^ "The Kick Boxing". SegaPro (28): 50. February 1994.
  41. ^ "Incoming!". Sega Visions: 97. June–July 1993.
  42. ^ "Viewpoint". GameFan. 1 (7): 16. June 1993.
  43. ^ a b Graney, Juris (May 1993). "Best of the Best: Championship Karate". The Australian Commodore and Amiga Review. 10 (5): 75.
  44. ^ Löwenstein, Richard (February 1993). "Best of the Best". Amiga Joker. 2 (93): 96.
  45. ^ Merrett, Steve (December 1993). "The Kick Boxing". MegaTech (24): 68.
  46. ^ "The Kick Boxing". Sega Zone (15): 68. January 1994.
  47. ^ "The Kick Boxing". Mega: 42. February 1994.
  48. ^ "The Kick Boxing". Sega Power (50): 65. January 1994.
  49. ^ Löwenstein, Richard (February 1993). "Best of the Best: Championship Karate". Amiga Joker (in German): 96.
  50. ^ Fuente, Derek dela (February 1993). "Best of the Best: Championship Panza Gold". Svenska Hemdatornytt (in Swedish) (2): 39.
  51. ^ "Game review". Sega Saturn Magazine Japan (in Japanese): 85. September 1995.
  52. ^ "Best of the Best". 72 Igry Dlya Sega MegaDrive (72 Games for Sega Mega Drive) (in Russian): 22. 1996.
  53. ^ "Best of the Best Champion Karate". SEGA 14000 Opisaniy i sekretov (in Russian): 23. 2003.
  54. ^ "Best of the Best: Championship Karate". Igry Sega Luchshiye Iz Luchshikh (in Russian). 1: 383. 2000.
  55. ^ "Best of the Best: Championship Karate". 1700 Igr Dlya Sega (in Russian): 51. March 10, 2003.
  56. ^ "Best of the Beast [sic]: Championship Karate". Entsiklopediya Igr Sega 100000 Sekrety, Kody, Paroli (in Russian): 34. 2005.
  57. ^ Eye Spy (November 1994). "Supreme Warrior Prepares to Fight". GamePro. No. 64. p. 62.
  58. ^ "Best of the Best". Ação Games (in Portuguese): 28.
  59. ^ "Best of the Best Championship Karate". Super Action (24): 76. August 1994.
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