This game I owned for the Sega Genesis, only it was called Best of the Best. The name Panza, comes from Andre Panza, a semi-famous kick boxer back then, whose name would have been recognizable by the Latin-American fan. The game had a pretty wide release, since it was available for the Genesis, TG16, Amiga, and PC. In my opinion the game was great, especially since a good kickboxing game, even today is pretty much non-existent.
Before you begin fighting, it’s a good idea to create a fighter with a few choices for the look, nationality, and type in a desired name (you maybe).
This game I owned for the Sega Genesis, only it was called Best of the Best. The name Panza, comes from Andre Panza, a semi-famous kick boxer back then, whose name would have been recognizable by the Latin-American fan. The game had a pretty wide release, since it was available for the Genesis, TG16, Amiga, and PC. In my opinion the game was great, especially since a good kickboxing game, even today is pretty much non-existent.
Before you begin fighting, it’s a good idea to create a fighter with a few choices for the look, nationality, and type in a desired name (you maybe). Once you’re set, you have the option to train, which is a good idea so that you can boost your stats which start
out pretty low. Training consists of a heavy-bag, robotic spot-pads, and sparring. Each section gives you a boost provided you do well in different areas eg. Power. You can train multiple times before a fight, but the max increase in your stats goes down, so that training well twice is good enough, and beyond that not really worth it. The fights have great atmosphere for the time, with counted knockdowns, and a replay feature with camera bulbs flashing. The fighting is done in 2d, but with depth to give a 3d illusion (but there is only linear movement). You are also given feedback for the health of each fighter by big bulbs of light on each side of the screen representing each fighter. Occasionally you fight in an underground place that reminds me of the movie kick boxer and your fighter wears ropes on his hands instead of gloves, and there are no rounds (to the ko) – these are quite tough, but you don’t have to accept these fights. Along the way you fight guys with metals, that turn into to trophies, and then belts and the goal is to become #1 Champ.
If you haven’t played before, the training is great for getting to know the moves which you are completely in control of choosing. The game boasts a large number of techniques which are smartly presented by animations, where you can see six at a time. Imagine six boxes on your screen with the same guy doing different moves in each, from there you choose the moves you want and assign them to different directions, and directions w/ modifier button (at least on genesis). Eg. With the exception of right and left (which move your character) all directions perform a move, and with a button pressed, another move (including right and left) and if I remember down is block. Picking the moves that suit your style is essential, and you’ll want to pick moves that you remember and that are intuitive (eg. Up-right maybe a jump-spinning kick, rather than a sweep). You also have a small selection of ‘super moves’ which are more like hard combinations which are great for going for a flash ko/knockdown, especially when you’re in trouble.
This game is really challenging after the first few opponents, but as a result it is extremely satisfying to pull out a win. I have very fond memories of this game and have played it in emulation form since I’ve got rid of my genesis years ago. It is still a fun game to this day, although a little frustrating because it is very difficult to master. One thing for sure was that this game was well ahead of its time. With very random flash Ko’s and knockdowns, this is stuff that we still don’t have in modern fighting games, at least not as random and believable as this game. There are also variable judge scores, some celebration animations, cool menu music, and a replay feature for each round! The move set is great and will please anyone that likes flashy kicks or knows a little about martial arts kicks. The punches are good too, it’s actually tough narrowing down your move set for a fight because there are too many good moves to choose from. I recommend everyone who has a slight interest in fighting games, especially with a simulation preference to check this out, it’s great fun and will suck you into its world for a while, even with it’s outdated graphics, I’d rather play this than many other modern games.
