Gaming Target - Dreamcast: Ready 2 Rumble Boxing

Written by Matt Swider on June 22, 2000

Review: Midway takes a swing at Mike Tyson's Punch Out

Midway enters the Dreamcast ring with Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, one of three of their launch games on the 9th of September. The graphics of the game look marvelous and the speed was said to be quick and painful. When I finally took the game home along with my Dreamcast, I was in for one of the greatest boxing games of all time. Now, this was real boxing with arcade style of playing. Midway did a fine job on R2R Boxing, making it feel like NFL Blitz in the ring, leaving the game with a few flaws that can easily forgivable.

When considering the visuals, Ready 2 Rumble looks incredible! Each boxer has their own entrances, each funnier than the next and they most look like boxcar boxers. The characters are detailed the most and accurately animated when they get hit. You will spot the many facial reactions that your boxer has, leaving you in hysteria. The game runs at a constant, speedy 60fps, which is rare for a game with so much detail. There a couple of different rings, and you will notice that there are more animated people in the background as you move up closer to the champ. The crowd in R2R actually looks good for once. They aren't blurry like most other games I have seen, and have some short and sweet actions that are really cool. Overall, the graphics in R2R look excellent, and the facial reactions to punches and ring entrances will make you crack up!

The controls are laid out perfectly in R2R for a boxing genre. The Blocking and crouching in the game is really cool, using the two shoulder buttons. There are four punching buttons, each with a specific name. You can use either the analog or the directional pad, although the D-pad is actually the best one to move your boxer around the ring. In practice mode, you follow the pattern they give you for punching the bag. This can be quite challenging, but very fun to master. Even though R2R presents many different types of punches to perform, the controls are easy to pick up, making it easy for ANYONE to jump in the ring and play!

Onto the audio, Ready 2 Rumble presents the atmosphere of a real Boxing arena. You have the managers screaming at you from the ring side, shouting, "Hey, you waiting for me to hit him?" and "Move when he swings at you!" Just having the managers voices would make the sound department great, but things like the crowd and boxers funny comments make the game more enjoyable. You can tell who the crowd wants to win, they are loud and annoying, just like real life! During the entrances, boxers give little comments, making you laugh at whatever they say. At the end after they knock out the opponent, they usually say something even funnier. You hear "O, What Happened?" from a Mexican Boxer looking at the opponent down on the mat. Not only are the sounds realistic, but they WILL make you laugh.

I have to say, I was satisfaction with Ready 2 Rumble, although it didn't have the too much depth throughout. There were Championship and an Arcade mode, basically containing the same gameplay. Arcade is fun to play, but the Championship Mode really stands out in this game. Play a Prize Fight to earn cash, Train Your Boxer, and then onto the winning the belts in the Title Fights. Building up your boxer is Training Mode is nothing to skip in R2R. To Train your boxer, you need money first, which can be earned in some Prize fights. Next you pick a way to train them, with things like a Punching Bag, Weights, or even some energy vitamins. Unlike other games, which you will want to skip training modes, R2R's training is not only fun, but also a key to success with your Boxer!

R2R's replay is one thing that may suffer in the game. Although you will be playing the game for quite a while, you may find yourself taking breaks from boxing, but you will come back later for more of the glory. Training Mode was a real treat for once, instead of being a worthless mode that you skip over.