Riddick Bowe Boxing

Riddick Bowe Boxing
Main menu screen
Developer(s)	Malibu Interactive[1]
Publisher(s)	JP Micronet[1] NA Extreme Entertainment Group, Inc.[1]
Platform(s)	Super Nintendo Entertainment System[1] Game Boy Game Gear
Release date(s)	JP November 23, 1993[1] NA December 18, 1994[1]
Genre(s)	Fighting Sports[1]
Mode(s)	Single-player[2] (exhibition or career) Two-player[2] (exhibition only)
Rating(s)	ESRB: not rated

Riddick Bowe Boxing (リディック･ボウ ボクシング, Boxing Ridikku Bou^?) was a Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game released in 1993. It was also released for the Nintendo Game Boy and Sega Game Gear consoles. The game is virtually identical to Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing, apart from the fighters included and the style of the graphics.

The game was released in Mexico as Chavez and starred Julio César Chávez instead of Riddick Bowe. It was identical except for the fact that the Spanish language is used instead of English.

Overview

Riddick Bowe Boxing features gameplay that was practically identical to that featured in Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing. The graphics are similar in function; however, they have been completely redrawn in a more cartoon-like style. As Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing, the visuals of a fight are made up of 2D sprite-based boxers and a simple 3D boxing ring. A small overhead map of the ring featuring both fighters' positions is also visible during fights. The game features a career mode in which the player fights their way through all the boxers in the game until facing Bowe himself. The game also features an exhibition mode in which players can play as any boxer and put them in matches against any boxer in the game.^[2]

Using this as a navigation aid, it is possible to move boxers 360 degrees around the ring. However, due to all the boxers' sprites being drawn from one side-on point of view, their lateral movement appears somewhat unusual.

Gameplay

During the fight

During a fight, each boxer has a stamina meter that decreases whenever the player is hit. When the stamina meter reaches zero and the player is punched in the face, the player suffers a knockdown. As well as their main stamina meter they also have a meter for their head and their body, which shows how damaged the corresponding section is.^[2] When the head or body meter reaches zero, that boxer takes much more damage when hit in that area. Large amounts of punishment to the head also result in visible cuts.

If a boxer is knocked down three times in a single round, the fight ends in a TKO. Unlike in real-life boxing matches, a fight never stops for other reasons; a boxer can be pummeled for an entire fight without throwing one punch in return, but unless he is knocked down three times, or he fails to get up in ten seconds after being knocked down, the fight is allowed to continue. One major difference from Greatest Heavyweights is that a fighter can be repeatedly punched in the body and not fall down even if his stamina meter reaches zero. In fact, being pummeled in the body repeatedly eventually makes a boxer's stamina infinite for a short time.

Career mode

During career mode, the player creates his or her own boxer.^[2] Options to edit include name, hair colour, skin colour and shorts colour. Each boxer in the game had three attributes: power, speed and stamina. These attributes all vary widely between the 25 ranked boxers that appear in either career or exhibition mode in addition to 40 other fighters that only appear in career mode.^[3] Riddick Bowe has the highest stats, but starts losing them after losing the championship. Eventually, he retires in the course of the game's career mode, after which only resetting the internal data will bring him back.

During career mode, all of the attributes are increased by using money earned from fights to pay for various activities, including free weights session and a protein diet. As the boxer progressed from match to match, his statistics started to fade. After 35 fights, his hair turned from normal to grey. Finally after 40 fights, the player is forced to retire even if he or she has never beaten the champion.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
Publication	Score
Allgame
GamePro

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Release information". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/data/588613.html. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Game overview". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/riddick-bowe-boxing. Retrieved 2008-11-13. 
3. ^ "Game overview". GameStats. http://www.gamestats.com/objects/008/008262/. Retrieved 2011-08-14.