Unstoppable Fist

The act of hitting an object that's careening towards the center of the screen isn't complex in any way, but it can be fun. Quite a bit of fun, actually. And the option to choose from three different difficulties makes it possible for players with a fairly wide range of skill levels to partake.

In a perverse way I learned to embrace the "unfairness" as part of the game's arcade charm, but more casual players will certainly find these balancing issues to be small slaps in the face.

A throwback to 80s action movies and arcade gaming when the test of a man was how high a score you could achieve by punching things. Simple arcade fun.

As the difficulty gradually ramps up the longer players survive. Death is frequent, but the menus quickly bring you right back into the action for a constant stream of telling yourself 'just one more try'. Unstoppable Fist is aptly named, as once you get started it's a hard one to put down.

A quirky, lovingly retro throwback to old school coin-op days, but hampered by unresponsive controls that make the challenge level even higher.

So is Unstoppable Fist worth a purchase? Yes, especially if you're a fan of those brawlers from back in the day. The game's enemies are a bit cheap (we would nix two-hit baddies altogether), but you'll make serious headway on Easy and Medium. On top of that, the outstanding presentation (the soundtrack is free, by the way) makes spending that $0.99 a smart decision.

Sometimes you need to punch something, and Unstoppable Fist is good for those times. Five or ten minutes of being down chickens and scorpions can cure any woe, especially if you let yourself sink into the absurdity of it all. But for longer-term excitement, you should probably look elsewhere. There's only so far a dude standing on a trashcan can go.

While it's reasonably entertaining in the easier levels, Unstoppable Fist is too quick to swamp you when you up the difficulty, and its control scheme just can't cope.