AKB: Underdog

(FULL DEMO NOW AVAILABLE)
In a far off past, the tension between the Humans and Animal races was at an all time high. While the issue of equality was claimed to have been solved, both races were waiting for any spark to start an all out civil war, and would find that spark in the universally adored pastime event: Boxing!
Play as Bullen Beisser, a rough new comer to the AKB League just looking for some good fights. Punch your way through 13 matches against some rather strange yet intimidating foes, with your sights set on being crowned "The King of the Ring". Unknown to Bullen, the world's racial conflict would soon all upon his shoulders, and the victories he achieved would quickly become a turning point of history. But, even so, through all the titles of hero and villain you are involuntarily given, your desire to fight must stay strong. Human or Animal, it doesn't matter what you are, you know in your heart that you have what it takes to become #1.

AKB (Animal Kingdom Boxing) is a boxing game inspired heavily by the Punch-Out!! series and Wade Hixon's Counter Punch, created with the intention of filling the hole of retro boxing games that's been missing for nearly 10 years. However, instead of cultural stereotypes, you fight animal stereotypes, myths, and folklore (that also are sometimes cultural stereoypes). Even though it's what one would call a "Punch-Out!! Clone", AKB boasts new gameplay mechanics and features, as well as combines the best of what made the Punch-Out series shine, such as:
-Ring Rotation when dodging, making the background and strategy against certain opponents more lively
-POW and Flurry Punches: Allows players to both use the Star Punch mechanic from Punch-Out!! NES/Wii, as well as the Flurry of punches from Super Punch-Out!!
-Counter Punches: Do a heavy hook or uppercut by pressing the action button while dodging or ducking. It's a more powerful punch, but may leave you open to attack!
-Stamina Bars: Similar to the hearts in NES and Wii, but in a more streamlined way! Your opponent now ALSO has a stamina bar, meaning you can't expect to get them dizzy just from one punch. There's many ways to drain the stamina bar, and this will be a major factor when fighting certain opponents.
-More Rounds, More Recovery: In real life, boxing has more than just 3 rounds, so depending on what circuit you're at a fight can last anywhere from 4-12 rounds! Both you and your opponent recover 1 knockdown when a new round begins, so don't rely too hard on waiting out the clock! Knock em' out!!
-Secret Fights and New Game+: There's more to be done after you beat the game, don't just settle for the crown, keep on fighting and looking for new opponents!

AKB: Underdog is actually a prequel to a game that was supposed to be in development titled "AKB: Southpaw", a game that shared the same gameplay but with visuals closer to Super Punch-Out, Punch-Out Wii, and Wade Hixon's Counter Punch. Southpaw's development was put on hold due to the Clickteam Fusion 2.5 engine not being able to handle the size of the animations made for the game, and thus is going through an engine change or will be be scaled down. In the meantime, I'm making Underdog to get the AKB experience in your hands, and tell a story I had originally intended to keep away for a while.

AKB: Underdog is windowed to be released Spring of 2019, with AKB: Southpaw coming within the next year or so. #action #retro #sports #other #arcade #strategy