NOW on its third go-round, everybody’s talking about how EA’s Fight Night franchise has indeed redefined the boxing game genre. But because it’s a boxing simulation and tries to approximate the real thing as much as possible, it’s not something that everyone can enjoy right away. It does have a Total Punch Control gameplay system that you need to learn first.
Videogame boxing wasn’t always like this, though. Early boxing games were simply more of the pick-up-and-play, button-mashing arcade types, especially back in the day when Atari consoles ruled our homes. But it wasn’t until Nintendo came out with its Punch-Out!! franchise when the boxing games started to come into their own. With the exception of Mike Tyson who appeared on one Punch-Out!! game for the NES in all his jagged glory, the series featured fictional sluggers with colorful personalities complete with matching swagger and signature moves worthy of the World Wresting Entertainment. Needless to say, Mike Tyson felt very much at home with the likes of Soda Popinski, Bald Bull and Mr. Sandman.
It was a lot of fun while it lasted. Sadly, we haven’t heard from the franchise after the release of Super Punch-Out!! for the Super NES. So when EA Sports failed to score a knockout with its more realistic but less than stellar Knockout Kings and its sequels for both the original PlayStation and the Nintendo 64, Midway answered the bell with their own version of Punch-Out!!, only this time in 3D. In this corner, enter Ready 2 Rumble Boxing.
While versions for other consoles were also released, the definitive version of R2R was for the then awesome 128-bit wonder that would later turn out to be Sega’s last (hardware) hurrah, the Dreamcast. As one of the DC’s launch titles, R2R showed off the console’s graphical capabilities with gorgeous-looking models of the largely cartoonish characters that can you can still marvel at even today. At the same time, it also had many other things going for it, including its engaging gameplay, tight and responsive controls and tongue-in-cheek humor.
With no less than ring announcer Michael Buffer (Mr. “Let’s Get Ready To Rumble” himself) introducing the fighters, the original game has you starting out as an unheralded boxer working your way up to that coveted title shot. You can’t create your own character, though and have to choose from R2R’s roster of fighters that includes the lean and mean and Chris Rock-sounding Afro Thunder from New York to the seemingly Eddie Guerrero-inspired Angel “Raging” Rivera from Mexico to the Dolph Lundgren-deadringer Boris “The Bear” Knokimov from Croatia to even Brazilian hottie Selene Strike.
You start fighting in a near empty arena that gets bigger and more crowded as you rack up more victories until you finally win it all. Form the word RUMBLE as you connect with more powerful punches and you are transformed into an unstoppable force of nature that knocks the other boxer out cold.
That’s about all there is to it in R2R, though. The game is not that hard to beat since it’s pretty much a button-mashing affair. Sure, it has a Championship Mode that’s essentially the same as its Arcade Mode except for some required training mini-games in between matches that aren’t really interesting enough for the most part. Among the unlockables, only four are extra characters and none of them is anything to write home about.
Fortunately, Midway was more than up to the task of improving the game’s shortcomings with the release of Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 two years later. It’s still pretty much the same game, only bigger, better and certainly a lot funnier.
Round 2 brings back the best of the first R2R and adds several more interesting characters (most of them unlockable) to the fold including Afro Thunder’s brother, G.C. Thunder who looks a lot like Prince, punk rock livewire Freak E. Deke (a personal favorite), robot Robox Rese-4, who mimics the moves of other fighters just like Mokujin in the Tekken series and five real life personalities namely basketball superstar Shaquille O’ Neal, the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, then White House tenants Bill and Hillary Clinton and in a surprise Jekyll and Hyde transformation, announcer Michael Buffer himself.
If that’s not enough reason for you to bid for a used DC at Bidshot and eBay and hunt this gem down, then perhaps the three levels of RUMBLE will. Getting the final level of RUMBLE will reward you with the power to deliver a punch strong enough to send, say, Michael Jackson, flying out of the ring. Yes, it’s that satisfying.
For the most part, R2R Round 2 is still an arcade boxing game for the most part and has therefore limited replay value for single players after all the characters have been unlocked. But you can probably say the same thing about other fighting games for that matter. The real strength of games in this genre lies in its multiplayer replay value in Round 2 is pretty high in this area. What this game lacks in depth, it more than makes up for in sheer attitude and laugh-out loud fun. If you have a DC, round up your best buds and schedule a bout with Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2. Your idea of Fight Night may never be the same afterwards.
Editor’s Note: hackenslash contributor Edwin Sallan writes for Manila Bulletin.
