Developer: Point of View Publisher: Midway Home Entertainment
Released: November 16, 1999 Rated: T 6/10
Though it was primarily envisioned as a Dreamcast title, having been released for the system’s 9/9/99 launch date, it’s not difficult to see Ready 2 Rumble Boxing occupying the hole left in the gaming landscape by the absence of a Punch-Out title on the N64. Starring a cavalcade of cartoonish stereotypes in boxing gloves alongside an equally cartoonish ring announcer, Ready 2 Rumble is an unabashedly arcade-centric boxing title that ends up sharing a lot more DNA with Mortal Kombat than it does Knockout Kings. Whether or not this is a positive will depend on your tolerance for slapstick as well as your interest in boxing as a whole, but ultimately, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing is a lot of pizzazz and of-the-times comedy surrounding an, at best, middling bit of pugilism.
Much like you’d see in a regular head-to-head fighter, R2R’s gameplay comes down to the six main buttons on the face of the N64 controller, with the C buttons for combinations of high and low and left and right punches, and A and B for high and low guard/dodging. Each of the game’s 17 characters has a few combos to learn and throw at your opponent, but the feeling and benefit of simply landing a good, heavy punch on your opponent is what each fight will largely boil down to. This is especially true when those solid blows award you a letter in the “RUMBLE” meter at the bottom of the screen, allowing your boxer to send themselves into overdrive and gain extra power on their punches. The boxing framework largely enters in with the goal being to gain a TKO with three knockdowns in a match or just keeping your opponent on the mat past the 10 count. Players who get knocked down can mash buttons to get up faster, and playing defensively to get to the end of a round can reward you with a little more health to give you some breathing room, although your opponent also gains some health back as well, of course.
In spite of the mostly-negative nature by which most of the gimmicks have aged, there’s at least a sense that the characters and overall sense of design was, at one point, a pretty big strength for Ready 2 Rumble, and worth Midway hanging their hat on back in 1999. While even the best-aged characters are still pretty hit-and-miss in how their personalities have aged, such as the series’ poster boy, New York stringbean dancer Afro Thunder, or “blast from the past” Big Willy Johnson, the variety is really solid across a generously sized roster. On the other hand, it’s unfortunate that besides the Michael Buffer licensing and voice recording, and the funkadelic main menu theme, other areas of presentation have clearly not been given the same focus as the character roster. And of course, even if you like the ideas of certain characters, you might still be turned off by the overall art style, which is often a little too far into the territories of the grotesque and misshapen, a look that would actually be maintained, albeit toned down to much more palatable levels in future Midway titles, including their early-2000s sports titles.
If there’s one thing worth coming back to in Ready 2 Rumble Boxing long term, it’s that in spite of only two game modes, the Championship Mode is surprisingly interesting and deep, as opposed to the straightforward Arcade Mode. Similar to the calendar-based, day-to-day management of other sports titles, you’ll find yourself training up individual roster members to take on tougher opponents and participate in higher-class circuits for cash and titles. Though they can be tough to get a grip on, the individual training mini-games create a more diverse and rewarding gameplay loop than simply taking on fight after fight with the standard power, speed, and stamina of the characters. Even though it’s still largely predicated on an otherwise uninspiring bit of fighting once you’re in the ring, it’s easy to see getting hooked and lost in the uphill battle of training up the entire locker room into truly intimidating fighters and unlocking the last few characters out of the cast.
Ready 2 Rumble is nothing if not a time capsule of the late-’90s, for better or worse. It packs a classic Midway-branded mix of questionable humor (that actually bears a closer resemblance to Punch-Out than almost anything else in the game) and an unspectacular fighting game sold more heavily on its style and license than anything else. And while the N64 port isn’t technically the flagship, it’s still more or less the complete package on cartridge and a solid version to pick up if the concept is enough to spark an interest. Just don’t expect it to hit all the right notes based on the cover if you’re just looking for a good fighting game or a good boxing game.
Additional Information
Saves: Controller Pak
Compatible With: Rumble Pak
Players: 1-2
Print Guides: Prima, BradyGames
Aggregate Critical Reception (GameRankings): 77.61%, based on 18 reviews
Other Releases: EU, December 1, 2000
JP, January 21, 2001
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