AbstractCaptures most of the over-the-top action found in the N64 version, and the training mini-games help to add a little variety to the gameplay.
ESRB rating
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Violence |
Full descriptionThe first boxing game for the Game Boy Advance, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 offers arcade-style action with a cast of ten colorful characters. Choose from Afro Thunder, Angel Rivera, Jet Chin, Joey T., Johnny Blood, Lulu Valentine, Mama Tua, Robox Rese-4, as well as special characters Michael Jackson and Shaquille O'Neal to best your opponents in three different modes of play.
Arcade mode is a series of one-on-one bouts, while Championship mode takes one character on a journey toward claiming the championship belt. After making it through the training games (which increase a boxer's strength, stamina, and speed), players enter a Title Fight to challenge the reigning champion. After winning the bout, players head to the Prize Fight, allowing them to earn cash used in other areas of the game. The final mode is known as Survival, and involves taking on fighter after fighter while using the same health meter. Since stamina and strength aren't replaced between fights, only the best will survive.
Boxing matches can last from one to nine rounds, with time limits ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes. Players must try to land successful combinations of punches, while at the same time avoiding the blows that may send them tumbling to the mat. Players can perform left and right punches, aiming them using the control pad. They can also block punches as well as evade or duck from opponents. Taunts can also be initiated.
Health and stamina meters appear at the top of the screen for both fighters. Once a boxer's health meter completely diminishes, he or she will fall to the mat and can only be revived by pressing two buttons at the same time. The stamina meter dictates how powerful the punches are. While the meter is drained during fighting, it is restored whenever a player takes a moment to rest.
One of the game's distinguishing features is the Rumble Mode. Players attempt to spell the word "RUMBLE" by earning letters after landing damaging punches or by performing taunts. Once the word is spelled out, pressing the L and R buttons at the same time activates the Rumble Mode. The boxer's gloves will glow and he or she will be able to unleash a Rumble Flurry, a deadly combination of powerful punches, which can either result in a knockout or the opponent flying out of the ring.
The Game Boy Advance version of Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 captures most of the over-the-top action found in the N64 version, and the training mini-games help to add a little variety to the gameplay. From Mama Tua's 400 pounds of fury to Afro Thunder's funky taunts, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 lives up to its rep for absurd arcade action. Midway has proven itself to be a heavyweight when it comes to arcade-style sports games, with heavy-hitting titles like NFL Blitz and NBA Showtime proving that it can walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Now Midway is bringing its popular Ready 2 Rumble franchise to Game Boy Advance, complete with a 3D rotating ring and 11 boxers bursting with attitude.
Editorial reviewSource:
AmazonReady 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 is the first GBA fighting game, and that's a lot of weight to carry on one's muscular and well-rounded shoulders. But Midway's baby has already been a hit on several systems; it's merged boxing with hilarity and featured wild characters such as Afro Thunder, Mama Tua, and more--all outfitted with power moves and special taunts.
The GBA version looks good. It features loads of color, and everything from the taunts to Michael Buffer's famous "Lets get ready to rumble" tagline is intact. Unfortunately, the gameplay isn't. Ready to Rumble 2 for the GBA is a 2-D fighting game, not a 3-D title like the earlier versions. You can move forward and backward, block, and punch. Move while punching and deliver an uppercut or a short jab. There's almost no sense of damage as you hit these poorly animated foes, and this takes all the personality out of the game.
There are 11 characters total, some favorites from the original games and two new unlockable ones, including Michael Buffer as Rumble Man (yawn) and... Michael Jackson? There are four modes of play: arcade style, championship, training, and survival (where you've got to fight each opponent until you go down flat). You can create your own boxer if you like, and participate in a few training rituals, such as using rumble pads, lifting weights, and hitting the speed bag.
What Ready to Rumble 2 amounts to is a perfectly good, and great-looking, Game Boy Color game, but it doesn't do justice to boxing. It isn't nearly as good as Ready to Rumble on other platforms, and it just doesn't fit in with the other, mostly fantastic, GBA launch titles. --Andrew S. Bub
Pros:
- A wide range of combatants
- You can build and train your own bruiser
- Lots of minigames to play
Cons: - Flat, unimaginative combat
- Uninspired and dull gameplay
11 boxers; high AI; awesome graphics; cool sound effects; two-player action
- Portions of content provided by Rovi Data Solutions, Inc. and IGN Entertainment, Inc.