Ready 2 Rumble Boxing | September 13, 2000
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing is a boxing video game developed by Midway Studios San Diego and published by Midway in September 1999 for the Dreamcast. Ports for Nintendo 64 and PlayStation were developed by Point of View and released in November 1999, alongside a separate version for Game Boy Color developed by Crawfish Interactive. The success of the Dreamcast version led to it becoming one of the few Sega All Stars titles.
The game features many characters with colorful personalities, like Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series (e.g., Afro Thunder, Boris "The Bear" Knokimov, etc.). However, unlike Punch-Out!!, the game is in 3D, allowing for more control over one's character in the ring. Also, unlike Punch-Out!!, players can choose whichever boxer they want from a wide selection of characters.
Throughout the fights, there is a special RUMBLE meter that fills up one or two letters at a time until the word "RUMBLE" is spelled out at the bottom of the screen. Letters are obtained by landing hard punches, with most actions yielding one letter, though some particularly strong punches may yield more. Once the meter is full, the player can power up and activate a special combo called "Rumble Flurry" by pressing a button combination. Each character has their own unique "flurry" consisting of a series of punches that deal a large amount of damage if landed successfully.
One unique graphic feature of the game is the gradual bruising players experience as the fight progresses (such as hematomas and swellings). This feature is present in all fifth-generation versions and, while not entirely new (it was seen before in SNK’s 1992 game Art of Fighting), it garnered high praise from reviewers for the added fun factor.
The Game Boy Color version was one of the few games for the system to feature built-in rumble.
The Dreamcast, PlayStation, and Nintendo 64 versions each have an exclusive boxer: Jimmy Blood, Gino Stiletto, and J.R. Flurry, respectively.
Ring announcer Michael Buffer appears in the game as himself.
