Leftovers KO! Review: Hunger Pains And Gains

Leftovers KO!: love the visuals; illustrations, animations, and font choices, enjoy the music and hilarious sound effects of being clocked in the Chevy Chase, HATE the difficulty. Difficulty levels may be subjective, but this is brutal.

Let’s put it another way: the model here is Punch-Out!!. If you wear big underpants (and they fit), then knock yourself out and dive straight in without breaking a sweat. If you’re the type that felt the original NES game was comparable to going up against the real Mike Tyson, armed with only your left testicle, then perhaps you should avoid this.

Yet another Feardemic title – the third in a month (see Garten of Banban 0 and Missing Banban) – I ignored the Punch-Out!! mechanics and intrigued why the publisher backed this one, as their catalogue is predominantly horror-based. More importantly, it’s official: this is my first Nintendo Switch 2 review, though Mario Kart World is the first game I’ve played. Review?

Leftovers KO! Review (Switch 2)

Leftovers KO! is playable on both the Switch and Switch 2, similar to those PS4 games that happen to work on the PS5. It’s not next-gen by any standards, but the opening intro and Foley-inspired cabbage-punching effects had the whole family fixed, having just spent a couple of hours playing Taiko no Tasujin before that.

Leftovers KO! isn’t a scary game, so the kids didn’t crap themselves, but everyone was a little disgusted with the opening sequence, fighting a mouldy, angry burger. I loved it. Taking place within the kitchen, this 6ft beefcake beats seven bells out of your character and, as described, follows the Punch-Out!! model, if you don’t block or evade, you’ll be out in no time.

You have to get your timing precise by anticipating jabs and swings. While you can dodge the first, it’s best to soak up with a block and assume the position for a haymaker by dodging to the side, then emptying one into the ol’ breadbasket. Getting your timing right really means everything. If you unleash a power shot after a counter, you do significant damage.

Didn’t Stand A Chance

Emphasis must also be placed on prioritising. When you have fast food mutants sucker punching you at any given moment, the last thing you want to do is take a call from your girlfriend, who is about to explain the mechanics mid-fight. I’d finally ‘mastered’ the technique and knocked the bastard down, only for him to get back up and launch four consecutive shots after putting the phone down, meaning the match had to start again.

This time, the phone was left as is, as I’m in a fight and doing well. I knock him down again and again; then he starts pasting back and forth on the lino. All of a sudden (in hindsight, predictable), he knocks me out, and we’re back to the start. Leftovers KO! is relentless, as further down the line, you have to rely on star power shots to win the match, irrespective of how light you are on your feet.

If there were an easier mode just to get acquainted with the game, that would be wunderbar. Sure, there’s a rather amusing training mode where you’ll constantly get thwacked again, but it marginally helps with timing, but no other features or difficulty settings. Leftovers KO! has the best icons for the language settings, with a burger to represent English, a baguette for French, sushi for Japanese, and so on. The missus is Japanese and laughed hard; she represents the whole of Japan, and it’s not offensive but rather hilarious. Fact.

Leftovers KO! Review Summary

As for the actual game of boxing? Bloody hard. Yes, if you’re a purist and love the Punch-Out!! style of play, then Leftovers KO! gets the formula right, except for some slow response times. I’d love to see an update for baby mode so that a few more people can enjoy it, as it’s clearly a skill issue.