Beat on Hard. I found the best strategy to be flanking enemies from a different lane to grab them. If there were other enemies nearby then use the simple throw, otherwise let the grab drop and start a punch combo, followed by the super windup punch (which did amazing damage). Sometimes I could approach straight from the front to go directly for punching, but some enemies had dangerous frontal attacks. Different button combos could change the windup punch into a reverse throw, which was very useful to hit enemies behind you and for the enemies that were immune to the windup punch, but I found it difficult to pull off. There was also an uppercut but I did not figure out how to pull it off. I especially liked how the windup punch sent the enemy flying back as a projectile to hurt other enemies, but it left you exposed to rear attacks. There was also a weak punch that was sometimes done after a grab instead of the throw, and some enemies would fall down in a daze allowing you to swing them around for a big area damage throw. All of these combo moves had invincibility frames, so I timed them to avoid damage when I could. The special spin attack was pretty much useless because it left you dazed for several seconds. It was an ok way to finish off the last enemy, but in any other situation there was a very high chance of getting hurt. I used the ultimate D punch attack at specific times. Once in the 1st stage while fighting 3 heavy guys at once; they were tough because of their jumping belly flop attack that was very difficult to avoid. The kung fu guys in the 2nd stage were annoying but not as bad as the heavies. The 1st 2 bosses were easy because of how vulnerable they were to bring grabbed and windup punched. Stage 3 had entirely new blob or ghost enemies, all of which had special mobility attacks that could be difficult to avoid. The boss was interesting because it did not directly attack and could only be reached by jump kicks and throws; a bit of a change of pace for a beat em up. Stage 4 had those damn flying robots that were the hardest enemy in the game; immune to windup punch and with a charging attack. I used another ultimate fighting 3 of those, and another just before the boss against a lone robot that must have been deliberately programmed to be a mini boss, because the bastard spammed that charge attack over and over. It was harder than every boss fight except the final boss! The giant mech boss was immune to everything except jump kicks, but was easy once I realized he could only hit the lane he was on. The alien enemies in the final stage were not too tough; I actually found the human forms more dangerous with their long range gun. Once, I took too long to kill the aliens and they moulted to regain full hp. I never let that happen again. The final boss was ridiculously hard with an array of cheap, fast, devastating attacks. This was the kind of fight where you had to hope you have enough lives. The only thing that worked on him were grabs, so it was a silly fight where the bigger bad guy who was objectively superior to the hero in every way, was somehow weak to being grabbed and thrown. I never lost any lives until this fight, and it took 3 and heavy save state scumming to win. I used my last 2 ultimates to finish him off, but the damage was pathetic. I did not care for the bonus minigame punch stages. I won them but felt I was missing something.

Despite how absolutely ridiculous the protagonist dressed, I enjoyed the core fighting mechanics more than most beat em ups. It felt like there was a good level of tactics to determine what moves to perform, with more focus on getting up close and personal as opposed to the cheap running attacks many beat em ups have. I also greatly appreciated the lack of time limit, and how entirely new enemies were introduced in every stage, even with new mechanics. Where the game faltered for me was the level design. There was not enough variety in scenery and environmental mechanics, which made the stages drag on a bit.

8.0/10