The first of many presidential debates, leading to the election next month, kicks off tonight. What can we expect? Probably a lot of verbal attacks more than anything else. A shame, we know, but why not make it a bit more fun? The folks at Vellum Interactive have launched Political Arena, a smartphone game that allows you to choose your favorite candidate and step into a boxing ring to take on members of the opposing political party.

You box your way to the big fight, culminating in a battle between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, while Political Arena keeps track of your win/loss record, KOs, punches thrown, falls, and all other pertinent statistics. So, who can you battle as or against? Aside from the candidates, you also have Joe Biden and Paul Ryan, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Rick Perry…even the Ghost of FDR, among others. There are also in-app purchased that allow you to unlock extra content, with 10% of the proceeds going towards the Victory Fund of the candidate of your choosing.

We tried the game out, and it's definitely a fun boxing game, regardless of the fact that it's based on political candidates. There are surprisingly deep game mechanics and leveling up strategies here. We only wish it were optimized for the iPhone 5 widescreen display.

Political Arena is available for free on the App Store for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, right in time to allow you to deck the candidates in the grill during tonight's kick off of the debates.