Revenge of the Boxer: Moscow Criminality

🥊 Well, this is a "fighting" where all the content, including additional "modes", can be fully tried in ~20 min. No tactics, only brute force. Minimum visual variety in the roster (everyone plays the same way anyway) and a hilariously bad campaign. Three types of static attacks, a block, and a fatigue scale (cooldown) that limits actions. Forget about combos, there isn't even a jump. You can fight against a friend or a random CPU, but gamepads aren't supported, as chars only have SIX keys at their disposal (including left / right movement). Points are awarded for spamming hits, but where they go is unclear, since they cannot even be viewed anywhere. The original was sold in 2007 as a full-fledged game, and the devs didn't even bother to patch the game to Full HD for a re-release, not to mention anything else. Review in English, because at least someone from the non-Russian-speaking audience should know what kind of "brainchild" this is.

[b]Revenge Of The Boxer is simply a game that the player naturally adapts to their own style of play. Challenging at times, vicious at others, but mostly incredibly fun. The enjoyable pace makes the hours of play pass by like water, and each path opens up a few more, only to come together again after a fair amount of exploration before the next big reveal.[/b]

Lila Maddyson "The Elephant"

There was a YouTube series called "Rossz PC Játékok" (Bad PC Games), where our good old pal FreddyD reviewed a lot of really bad games. There was one fighting game called Underground Fighting. The dev's (Mad Hog Games) only game. Similar style, unfortunately that game made in 2007 and it was horrible, but at least it was funny in its own way. On the other hand... This one made in 2024, a recent game. It's in the name, Criminality. But against humanity. Yeah, I get it, meant to be trashy. But this much?... Just for fun, I decided to try this game out under my retro XP machine too. Pentium 4, 3GHz, 1GB RAM, Radeon 9600 Pro 128mb. 15+year old machine. Mostly using it to test out old hardware and digitizing VHS tapes. Guess what? Run butter-smooth on it... I don't think that this game is from 2024, feels like a "rebranded game"... Even the engine feels similar to the earlier mentioned Underground Fighting.

Revenge of the Boxer: Moscow Criminality, developed by Alligator Friends Software and published by Strategy First, is a gritty, retro-inspired beat-’em-up that transports players into the harsh underworld of Moscow’s criminal scene. Originally released in the mid-2000s and later reintroduced on Steam, the game embraces an old-school action formula built around straightforward combat, urban environments, and a revenge-driven storyline. While it does not attempt to reinvent the genre, it offers a nostalgic, arcade-style brawling experience that leans heavily into atmosphere and raw momentum. The story centers on a professional boxer whose life is shattered when he is falsely accused of murder. Stripped of his career and freedom, he is thrown into prison for a crime he did not commit. Refusing to accept his fate, he escapes custody and embarks on a violent quest through Moscow’s criminal underworld to clear his name. This simple but effective premise fuels the action from beginning to end. Rather than presenting a deeply layered narrative, the game uses its revenge plot as a catalyst for continuous confrontations with gang members, corrupt figures, and a colorful cast of street-level…

А был ли он вынужден....?