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Video Game / Super Punch Patrol

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This is not just a cover. This is exactly how you look like in-game.

Super Punch Patrol is a Beat 'em Up action game released for the Nintendo Switch, created by Bertil Hörberg of Gunman Clive and Mechstermination Force fame and sharing visual similarities in animations to the former. Rendered beautifully in 2D resembling pencil art brought to life, the game recreates the atmosphere of old-timey arcade classics like Final Fight and Streets of Rage, but with Hörberg's trademark sketchbook style.

Set in an unnamed city in the States, corruption is rife under the control of a powerful syndicate called... the Evil Crime Syndicate (yes, for real), led by local mob kingpin Don Diablo. It's up to three heroes - policeman Anders Punch, kickboxer Nils and mercenary Selma - to restore order by punching through as many thugs as possible.


Super Punch Patrol contain examples of:

  • Absurdly Spacious Sewer: One level is set in a huge sewer system that doubles as a hideout for loads of mooks. The stage's boss, Timothy, notably leaps out of the sewage in a diving suit to ambush you, and throughout the battle he will leap in and out of the water periodically until you defeat him.
  • Acrofatic: The Leif-type enemies are absolutely huge, with bulging beer guts and a body that's nearly circular in shape, but they can move really fast, often hopping around to pull a Belly Flop Crushing on you or a Rolling Attack that deals additional damage.
  • Almighty Janitor: Tony, the boss of the nightclub stage, is their janitor, who attacks as you take the fight into a loo. He swings a Broomstick Quarterstaff as his weapon and is a far more competent opponent than the mooks.
  • Auto-Scrolling Level: The chase level where you're on a skateboard pursuing the gangsters runs automatically, with no way for you to slow down to avoid obstacles. You'll need to jump or sidestep to avoid getting hurt.
  • Bar Brawl: The second stage is set in a nightclub owned by the gangsters.
  • Batter Up!: Mooks armed with baseball bats are a recurring threat, but you can frequently collect their dropped bats to beat their skulls in.
  • Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The game's animation is entirely pencil-sketched with the background in grayscale. Enemy mooks and bosses are animated in magenta, your playable heroes are in blue, and objects you can interact with are animated in blue as well.
  • Combat Pragmatist: In his first fight against you, Don Diablo uses a machine gun instead of fighting you up close.
  • Continuity Cameo: In the train, there's a quick shot of a Gunman Clive advert.
  • Conveyor Belt o' Doom: Should you lose a life, you'll be treated to a cutscene with your character tied to one of these, with a circular buzz saw moving towards him / her. Choose to continue and your character breaks free, allowing you to continue with the same character or employ a different one, but run out of continues you'll meet a gruesome end.
  • Dark Action Girl: The Gunbritt, Pink and Maple enemies are all women perfectly capable - and willing - to kick your ass.
  • Expy: A couple that the game's pretty blunt about.
    • Anders is Mike Haggar of Final Fight fame in appearance, having an epic 'stache, and being a badass cop taking matters into his own hands by way of fists. They even share identical default costumes, being holsters without firearms over their bare chests!
    • Nils seems to be Joe Higashi from Fatal Fury, with a different ethnicity. Martial Arts Headband? Check. Goofball persona? Check. Handwraps of Awesome? Check. Has a finishing move consisting of repeated knees to the guts as he holds his enemies in place? Check.
  • Fighting Clown: A literal example with the "Jolly" enemies, Elite Mooks dressed like clowns who actually puts up a far better fight than most low-level enemies. They even have a circus dance as a difficult-to-avoid Spin Attack.
  • Foreshadowing: In the final stage as you make your way to Don Diablo's hideout, you pass a gallery of creepy (and mostly demon-themed) works of art in the background (while you're facing mooks in front), including Flaying of Marsyas, The Nightmare and Saturn Devouring His Son. Which hints that Don Diablo may not be human, after all.
  • Full-Frontal Assault: It's a bit hard to see because of the animation, but one of the mooks in the last stage, David, fights in the nude. He's appropriately named after the David statue in Italy, and disguises himself as a replica of that very statue before suddenly revealing he's human and attacking.
  • Giant Mook: The Rex and Leif enemies are huge, hits like a truck, and tanks more hits before they're defeated.
  • Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: You spend the whole game fighting gangsters, mooks, and criminals which are otherwise human, and when you face their boss, Don Diablo, he seems human enough... that is, after you defeat him, Don Diablo then suddenly turns into horned demon with wings and a skeletal face and tries to devour you.
  • Goofy Suit: The Rex mooks are dressed in T-Rex suits (with a name like that... you were expecting?) 24-7, for reasons never explained.
  • Gratuitous Ninja: There are ninja enemies serving as Elite Mooks in this game randomly showing up halfway through, just because.
  • Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: The Maple mooks are dressed in lavish gowns, high heels, a classy wide-brimmed hat, and can hand your ass back to you if you're not careful (or spank them, see below).
  • Kinky Spanking: Should a Maple enemy get a drop of you, she'll hold you down and proceed to spank your ass. It's as hilarious as it sounds.
  • Locomotive Level: One stage is set in the subway where you board a train, realize it to be owned by the mob, and proceeds to knock out everyone aboard for the rest of the level.
  • Meaningful Name: The game's Final Boss and the leader of the criminals is named Don Diablo, "King Devil", and besides sounding really intimidating befitting a mob leader, he's also revealed to be a demon masquerading as a human.
  • Pipe Pain: Iron pipes are among the most easy-to-get weapons for smashing faces in.
  • Slide Attack: A special move available to all three players, which easily gets them out of a fix and for dodging enemy attacks. The Gustav and Henrik-class mooks have this ability as well, however - be wary when one of them is crouching, he's prepping his slide to trip you over.
  • Shovel Strike: One of the bosses, Russel, uses a shovel larger than your character as a weapon, alternating between smacking you silly with its front or shoveling rocks at your direction.
  • Unique Enemy: The naked David mook is (thankfully!) one-of-a-kind.
  • Weaponized Car: The highway chase scene culminates with the boss fight against Johnny, who pursues you on a weaponized ATV with missile turrets on it's front. You need to destroy Johnny's vehicle with your fists to finish the stage.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Played both ways, in which mooks have plenty of women in their ranks, all which you beat the snot out of in a regular basis. The mooks have no qualms ganging up on you as well, if you're playing as Selma.

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