The Thrill of the Fight is one of my favorite games in VR, but it can be very difficult at times and losing gets frustrating quickly. Every opponent in the game is a little different, but solid boxing fundamentals can help you get past them all and get a great workout in the process. Here are 10 tips for beating every opponent in Thrill of the Fight.
Tip #1 Pick Your Spots
When playing this game you have to strike a balance between all out non-stop punching and defense. If you don’t stop throwing once in a while, you leave yourself completely open to counter punching. Your opponent will cover up and block 90% of what you throw, meanwhile they’ll hit you with counters and score massive damage. On the other hand, if you hang back and cover up the whole time, you may survive the round, but you won’t score enough points to win the judges.
The trick is controlled aggression. Throw combinations of one to six punches at a time, then step back and put your guard up to keep your opponent from landing counter punches. Be mindful of your own stamina. Three minutes throwing punches is a lot longer than it sounds. Don’t punch yourself out.
Tip #2 Get in Your Stance
There are many different styles of boxing to choose from, but no matter which style you like, do not just stand flat footed in front of the opponent with your hands at your hips. Keep your body on an angle to make yourself a smaller target. If you are right handed, your left hand and foot should be closer to the opponent. If you’re a south paw, switch them. Always keep your hands up in position ready to block. For the high guard stance, think of your hands as earmuffs, then move them slightly forward so they’re covering your face. This position by itself will block many blows without even needing to move.
Tip #3 Find the Weak Points and Pile on Damage
Whenever you land a punch on your opponent, you will see a color flash. Blue is mild damage. Yellow is medium damage and orange is heavy damage. If you are throwing a lot, most punches will be blue, and that is okay, especially on the tougher opponents. That said, yellow and orange punches are more likely to get a knockout and score well with the judges. The key to getting these heavy shots is targeting your opponent’s weak points. Fortunately, the weak points are the same on every opponent, and you can see where they are and practice hitting them with the training dummy in the game. Here’s the list of where the weak points are.
- Left and Right Side of the Head, Just Under the Chin
- Left and Right Side of the Temple
- Gut Punch – Just Above the Abdominal Muscles
- Liver Shot – Right side of the Body
Tip #4 Defense
The most basic tenet of the sweet science is “hit and don’t get hit.” Do not forget the second part. There are basically two ways to avoid taking damage from your opponent’s punches. Dodge them or block them. Blocking is easier. Just keeping your hands up helps a lot with this. After every punch you throw, snap your hands right back into place. Punches can come quickly from your adversary, but if your hands start in the right position, you won’t need to move them much to block the incoming assault. A blocked punch sounds different than one that lands.
Dodging is harder, but better when you pull it off. Do not try to dodge backwards. Instead move your head side to side and duck underneath the punches. Use lateral movement to avoid the body blows. This puts you in the best position to throw counter punches (See Number 8). The best tactic is to try to block and dodge simultaneously because if one defensive tactic fails, the other may not.
Tip #5 Don’t Let Them Swarm You
Keeping the right distance between yourself and your opponents allows you to see your opponents punches coming and place your own punches. There will be times when the other fighter rushes forward and throws a flurry of punches from different angles. The best way to prevent this is with a quick jab followed by lateral movement and body punches. Pop him in the chin as he comes forward. Then step to the side and start hitting him over and over in the body. Remember to aim for the sternum. After a few good shots he’ll have no choice but to step back.
The game does have a clinching mechanic, where you can wrap your arms around your opponent and wait for the referee to break you up. I have not had much success with this. By the time the game recognized the clinch, I had already taken a good amount of damage.
Tip #6 Use a Variety of Punches
Pay attention to where your opponent has his gloves and punch the spots that are not covered. If his hands are high, go to the body. When his hands are low go to the head. If his gloves are covering the side of his head, you can punch straight through and hit him in the face. When he is covering his face, throw a hook around the side and hit him in the temple.
It is best to work behind the jab, a straight punch with your weaker hand. Snap it out to the head or body, whichever is open, then pull it straight back into your guard. This keeps you in the best defensive position to avoid your opponent’s counters. Then follow that jab with a combination of straight punches, hooks, or both. Uppercuts can sometimes be effective when the opponent is close, but if you are in too close it is hard to see what your opponent is doing. Remember to use both hands, go to the body early and often, and mix it up so you are not too predictable.
Tip #7 Create Openings with Feints and Counters
When your opponent throws a punch, they always leave somewhere on their body unguarded. Take advantage of the opportunity. Parry their punch with one glove and throw a punch back with the other. Look out for combinations because there may be more than one punch coming. This means more punches you’ll need to avoid, but it also means more openings.
You will notice that each round becomes a series of quick exchanges. After you or your opponent throws the first punch, you will trade a few blows, then step away and prepare for the next exchange. The fighters in Thrill of the Fight are all programmed to counter punch often, so if you pretend to throw a punch but then stop suddenly, it can trigger your opponent into initiating the exchange. Using feints this way gives you the best opportunity to see your opponents punches coming with your guard already up, enabling you to defend and counter effectively.
Tip #8 Tweak the Settings and Practice
Once you have beaten an opponent on Easy mode, the game allows you to customize fight settings against that opponent. If you are struggling with a particular opponent on the higher difficulties, use these customization options to prepare. For instance, you can set their speed to super slow. Since they are moving so slowly, you get to see every little motion that goes into each punch. Over time, you will learn to recognize the punches earlier and instinctively react to them.
If you find yourself getting knocked out quickly, you can also lower your opponents power, so that you last longer and get a better feel for how to fight them. Plus, going the full twelve rounds is an amazing workout.
Tip #9 Recovering When Hurt
If your screen suddenly turns black and white, that means your opponent has landed a heavy shot and you are close to getting knocked down. Sometimes, in the middle of a fight, your own body might be physically exhausted. This game is a workout after all. In either of these situations the best thing to do is step back and cover up. The black and white screen will pass after a short time and you will regain some of your energy.
That said, if your opponent charges you, and they often will when your are in trouble, you have to throw punches back or else they will keep punching until they land something and put you on your back. Use the techniques described in number five above, to stop them in their tracks.
Tip #10 Get the Knockout
Every opponent in the game has the same tell when they are ready to fall. Their eyes get wide and their mouth hangs open. As best as I can figure, this is the equivalent of the black and white screen on their end. It’s a short window of time, so when you see it, it is time to up the aggression. However, even when they are hurt they are still dangerous. Getting more aggressive does not mean throwing caution to the wind. Protect yourself at all times.
The tougher opponents almost never go down before the third round, but damage is cumulative. Target the areas that are the most damaged. You can tell what those are, just by looking at their face. Over the course of the fight, cuts and bruises develop. The injuries will seem to disappear between rounds, but that damage is still there. The fighters will guard these areas more tightly, but you can get them to move their guard by punching somewhere else. For instance, if one eye has a cut, pepper the opponent with jabs to the body, so that he drops his hands. Then when that eye is unguarded, blast the weak point on the temple with a powerful hook from your dominant hand.
You can find my review of Thrill of the Fight here. Thanks for reading. I hope these tips help.
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