s&box

Final round

Risen mode – the final round now offers it and you turn it on. Finish the game and it's yours for every round, with a key to toggle it
The stands empty out – the crowd leaves during the final round

Visuals

Hand-animated punches – the hook, the straight, the charged punch and the combo are animated by hand now

Bosses

Names – meet the Retriever Seal, Queen Mermati, Officer Javier Miguel and Orca Nostra. For thirteen rounds they were just Foca, Manati, Lobo marino and Orca

Gameplay

Final round

Sardine school – opens with 164,500 instead of 282,000, since only bosses from the last lap add to it now

Gameplay

Framerate – the game ran at 36 FPS from round 5 onward, on every PC. The sea is now read once per frame instead of ~46,000 times: 29.3 ms per frame down to 18.6
Guarding – no longer freezes the game on every hit. Getting hit freezes half as long; the parry still freezes longest
Sardine jump – ring sardines leap to where you were standing and land there. They don't steer in the air, so moving makes them miss
Standing still – punching in place no longer swats every sardine mid-jump
Combo – takes 20% less time from the first kick to the last spin
Dash – covers twice the distance. It was a step; now it gets you out
Charged punch – 65 to 81 damage. The big, still bet should pay like one

Visuals

Chicken under the school – the outline that shows the chicken when it's covered now lights up for sardines
Camera – no longer clips into a boss that falls close to it (the orca mostly just vanished)

Bosses

Rounds 9–12 – bosses that arrive already risen had 41% of a normal fight's health. They now come with all of it, fought in their aggressive phase
Queen Mermati – keeps you at more than twice the distance (60 to 130) and sings from there. Getting close to her is now the fight. Try it and tell us
Queen Mermati – sings sooner over a smaller area, and gets back up with more health
Retriever Seal – her pounce reaches twice as far and is now her favourite move. She also slides twice as far when hit and gets back up in half the time
Orca Nostra – no longer gets knocked back by your hits at all
Thinking – Queen Mermati, Officer Javier Miguel and Orca Nostra decide their next move a fifth to a quarter faster
Special attacks – bosses pick them about twice as often
Orca Nostra's torpedo – comes twice as often and can start right on top of you. Not a bug. It's Orca Nostra. Same goes for Officer Javier Miguel's tackle

Gameplay

Between bosses – the sardine school no longer bites in the gap between one boss dying and the next one landing

UI

UI

Gameplay

Parry - feels dull: it shakes the screen like a normal block and has no effect of its own. Next on the list
Risen entrance – a boss that arrives risen gets literally risen from the floor

The sea answers