SOUTHPAW

Arcade pixel boxing: ten opponents, a gym, and a wrestling bowl and a sumo ring besides.

SOUTHPAW All games

SOUTHPAW

Arcade pixel boxing: ten opponents, a gym, and a wrestling bowl and a sumo ring besides.

Ten fighters stand between you and the belt, and every one of them has a strength and a hole you can find - one drops his guard after a flurry, one taunts, one takes body shots badly. The ring is drawn three-quarters on, so you step across it as well as along it, and a punch only lands if you are lined up with him. Hold SPACE and every punch goes to the body, under a high guard. Mash and he will learn it: he covers the spot you keep hitting and counters the gap in your rhythm. Winning pays points to spend in the gym, and the locker room is where you choose what you look like. SPECIAL MODES add a wrestling bowl with ropes to bounce off and a sumo ring where the health bar is your balance.

What is in it: Cartoon pixel-art boxing, plus wrestling and sumo. Fighters are knocked down; no blood. More for parents

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Controls

  • A D / W Sstep along and across the ring
  • ← ↑ → ↓jab · cross · hook · uppercut
  • Hold Spacepunches go to the body
  • Shiftguard high
  • Shift + Spaceguard low
  • Q / Eslip · duck
  • Fstar punch
  • Escpause
If he keeps blocking high, hold SPACE and go to the body - and if you are guarding high yourself, expect him to wait half a second and go low.

Tags

How to play

SOUTHPAW is side-on pixel boxing on the keyboard. Move with W A S D; W and S step you up and back across the ring. Punches only land when you are lined up with the other fighter, so stepping off his line is a defence and cutting him off is an attack. The arrows punch: left jab, up cross, right hook, down uppercut. Hold Space and every punch goes to the body.

A fight is three one-minute rounds. Between rounds both fighters get back some health and all their stamina. Three knockdowns is a TKO. Otherwise three judges score each round ten-point must: it goes to whoever did more damage, and a knockdown costs a point. When you are down, mash the arrows to beat the count; each knockdown takes more mashing than the last.

Campaign is a ladder of ten boxers across six arenas, from a Bronx basement gym to a sold-out world title, each unlocked by beating the one before. Wins earn EP to spend in the Gym on eleven stats. Free play lets you fight anyone in any arena over 1, 3 or 5 rounds, and the Locker room sets your look. There are two other sports: Wrestling in the Slambowl, one fall, won by a three-count pin, and Sumo in Ryogoku Hall, best of three bouts, where balance is your health bar.

Tips and strategy

  • Fight the scouting report. The weaknesses are real numbers: Tommy Ruiz takes 45 per cent more to the body, Ivan Petrov 60 per cent more from uppercuts, Brutus Okafor 50 per cent more downstairs. They only show on the ladder once you have fought that man.
  • Chain your punches. A punch that connects cancels into the next, so tap a rhythm. Each punch after the first in a chain hits a little harder, and named combos like the ONE-TWO, THE FULL FOUR and THE DIG fill your star meter.
  • Save the star punch. You hold up to three stars. F throws the STAR PUNCH for 26 base damage, the biggest shot in the game, at no stamina cost.
  • Pick the right dodge. Q slips, beating straights, uppercuts and overhands. E ducks, beating straights and hooks. Hit a man who is winding up and it lands as a COUNTER for 35 per cent more.
  • Watch your gas. Punches cost stamina, and a tired fighter is slower and weaker. Blocked punches drain the blocker too, and a guard with nothing behind it breaks. Body shots drain stamina hard, which is why the body pays late.
  • Block with the right guard. Shift guards high; Shift with Space or the down arrow guards low. You cannot punch while blocking.
  • Do not lean on one punch. The AI learns what you repeat, and Kenji Mori learns it twice as fast as anyone.

What's in it

  • Ten campaign boxers: Tommy Ruiz, Big Lou Baker, Mickey Chen, Dolores Vance, Ivan Petrov, Marcus Hale, Lucky Leo Santos, Kenji Mori, Brutus Okafor and the unbeaten King Carter.
  • Six arenas, each with a belt: The Pit, Rosewood Rec, Pier 9, Lucky 7 Casino, Chinatown Roof and The Garden.
  • Four wrestlers (El Relampago, The Bulldozer, Diamond Dana, Kingpin) and four rikishi (Kazan, Takanoyama, Hayate, and the yokozuna Fujikaze).
  • Eight punches and sixteen named combos. Wrestling adds chops, boots, lariats, dropkicks, suplexes, slams, DDTs, the Irish whip and the powerbomb.
  • Eleven gym stats from 0 to 10: power, hand speed, footwork, health, stamina, chin, dodging and four blocking skills.

Questions

How do I earn EP?

A campaign win pays 4 EP, plus one per step up the ladder, 3 for a knockout, 3 for a clean fight (no knockdowns, over half your health left) and 5 for taking a belt the first time. A rematch pays a third, a campaign loss still pays 1, and a free play win pays 2, or 3 by knockout.

What does the gym cost?

Each level costs one more EP than the last: level 1 is 1 EP, level 10 is 10. You start with 3 EP, and RESPEC refunds everything you have spent.

Does it save?

Yes. Your EP, gym levels, ladder progress, record and look are kept in your browser.

Can I play online or on a phone?

Online play is not available in the browser version on this site; every other mode is. SOUTHPAW needs a keyboard and has no touch controls.

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