The idea behind the TouchArcade Game of the Week is that every Friday afternoon we post the one game that came out this week that we think is worth giving a special nod to. Now, before anyone goes over-thinking this, it doesn’t necessarily mean our Game of the Week pick is the highest scoring game in a review, the game with the best graphics, or really any other quantifiable “best" thing. Instead, it’s more just us picking out the single game out of the week’s releases that we think is the most noteworthy, surprising, interesting, or really any other hard to describe quality that makes it worth having if you were just going to pick up one.
These picks might be controversial, and that’s OK. If you disagree with what we’ve chosen, let’s try to use the comments of these articles to have conversations about what game is your game of the week and why.
Without further ado…
One Finger Death Punch II
I’ll often see games on other platforms and think to myself “THAT would be PERFECT on mobile!" Such was the case with One Finger Death Punch from Silver Dollar Games, a side-scrolling beat ’em up that originally launched as an Xbox Live Indie Game way back in 2013. Its simplified two-button controls would be exceptionally well-suited to a touchscreen, and in the spring of 2015 the dream finally came true when One Finger Death Punch made its way to iOS and Android. Except the dream was more like a nightmare. Sure, the fantastic and deceptively deep combat and upgrade mechanics made their way intact, but the mobile version of One Finger Death Punch was reworked by publisher Mobirix to feature just about every free to play shenanigan you could think of. Multiple currencies, an energy system, and gacha-based item collection were the order of the day. What a letdown.
Well, it’s been a number of years since then, and a little over a year ago Silver Dollar released a long-awaited sequel to One Finger Death Punch on Steam, and then earlier this year on consoles, which has been wildly acclaimed by the fan base. This week One Finger Death Punch II ($2.99) also made its way to iOS, and just like a plot pulled out of an old kung-fu movie, this is a redemption story. Silver Dollar hooked up with Doublethink Games to create this iOS port, and unlike the fateful release of the original a half a decade ago, this is a fully premium release with nary an in-app purchase, advertisement, or energy system in sight. Hallelujah!
Now, I haven’t played One Finger Death Punch II on other platforms, so it’s hard for me to say for certain how much has made it to the iOS version in terms of content and features. What I CAN say though is that there is A LOT of stuff to do in the iOS version of the game. I was happily plugging along beating each level as the game introduced more and more new mechanics to me, having a total blast. And then I beat level 16 and realized “Holy moly, that was JUST the tutorial!" as an entire world map appeared before me and a massive skill tree unlocked. Based on how many abilities there are to upgrade, and how many segments there are on the entire game map, there is an absolute ton of content to play through here.
One Finger Death Punch II, like its predecessor, is masterful in the way it can layer new mechanics and strategies on top of what is ultimately just a simplistic two-button control system. It will tax your brain and your coordination in the best of ways, and you pretty much always feel like the most bad ass martial arts expert during it all. The action is constantly frantic but never feels out of hand, and the game does a really great job of adapting its speed and difficulty to you based on your performance. The feeling of seeing your skills constantly improving and absolutely nailing a perfect level is unmatched. And again, this is a measly two dollar game with no IAP whatsoever. So even if you might think you’re not a fan of these stickman kung-fu games, you might be pleasantly surprised by the depth and strategy offered by One Finger Death Punch II.
