Evander Holyfield Real Deal Boxing
Reviewed by Inkhands
Evander Holyfield Real Deal Boxing is a very fun boxing game
to play. I happen to like boxing games and this one is a
pretty good one. You don't get to fight as Holyfield, but
you do get to go one on one against him. The ability to play
as Holyfield, would have been nice, but this still has some
good modes to keep nearly any boxing fan occupied for a while.
You have an exhibition mode that allows you to play against
the computer, another person, or watch the computer play the
computer. There is a main options screen that allows you to
adjust the view or configure the buttons. This screen also
allows you to choose the number of rounds in a match from
either one round to twelve. You can also choose how many
minutes per round from one minute to four.
You can create your own boxer in this game. You give him a
name. You decide how he looks by choosing from about seven
faces, eight skin colors, and nine hair colors. The hair
ranges from the normal black, to shades of brown, to yellow,
which is supposed to be blonde, but it is very yellow. You
can also decide what color you want his trunks to be. Then
you set up his physical attributes. Decide how much power,
speed, and stamina he has. Also, decide his ability to
recover from a knockdown.
Then you select his mental attributes. This allows you to
decide what type of boxer he is. Whether he's a dancer, a
dodger, a brawler, or a boxer. You select his favorite type
of right punch, whether it would be a straight to the head,
a hook, a jab, or a cross. You select his favorite type of
left punch as well, from the same choices. Also included in
the mental attributes is his level of killer instinct. You
can give him low, medium, or high killer instinct.
Once you create this boxer you will receive a password. You
can have him take part in the exhibition mode, or you can
send him into tournament mode. The same fourteen opponents
are in both modes. In exhibition, you can select any of the
fourteen to fight. In tournament mode you have to advance
first. You are only able to select one of three boxers to be
your first match. Evander Holyfield will be the final bout.
The other boxers are all made up characters with names such
as Glass Jaw King, Sherlock Kovacks, Hurricane Hank, and
Kidd Dynamite.
At the end of rounds you can see who won the round and how
many points each boxer earned that round. At the end of the
match you can see how many punches were thrown and how many
actually landed. You earn points to improve the skills of
your boxer, whether you win or lose. You will see a screen
and it will show your current abilities in speed, power,
recovery, and stamina. You are given twelve choices and you
can see what each of the choice will improve.
Some of them improve three of the four abilities evenly.
Others will improve only two, with one being improved more
than other. To check what will improve what, just look for
the arrows next to the meters on that particular ability. A
large red arrow indicates it will be improved more than one
with a small red arrow. Two small arrows mean it will be
even. So does three small arrows.
During the actual fight, you use the directional pad to
decide if it's going to be a punch to the stomach or a punch
to the head. One button throws a left and the other throws a
right. If you are knocked down, of course you have to
attempt to get back up. You have ten seconds, of course. As
you are trying to get back up you can watch the power meter
on your opponent move up. You are told to push button one
and then button two, but then back to one. As you do this
your own power meter moves up. Control in this game really
isn't very good. It's hard to actually land any punches.
Your opponents block very well. Also, recovering from a
knockdown is nearly impossible due to the annoying press
button one and press button two commands.
The challenge comes from actually being able to land a few
punches. It is actually very hard to hit your opponent and
it does take a lot of strategy. This makes winning any
matches difficult. However the good thing is you will still
earn ability points even if you lose. This allows you to
keep fighting and improving your boxer's skills. As you
advance his attributes you can actually see the improvement
in your matches, because your boxer will be landing more
punches, and these punches will be more powerful. Challenge
is about medium in this game.
Visually this game is very basic, but I suppose that is to
be expected. The crowd has a lot of green hats and a lot of
blonde girls. At the top of the screen you see the time
remaining in the round, your health bar, and your opponent's
health bar. The ring is very small, but you really don't see
much of the ring due to the perspective the game uses. The
view is first person. You never see your own boxer. All you
see is his red gloves. You don't even see his arms, just his
red gloves floating around.
You see all of your opponent and for the most part they look
detailed and very realistic. They all look very different
and have very different looking faces. One of the nice
things about the graphics, is when you are knocked down. The
view is still in first person. Everything looks sideways,
because that would be how it is if you were in fact lying
down. You can see the referee standing over you and
counting. Occasionally you can see your glove in front of
your face. While the graphics are basic, they are still very
good for the most part.
The sound effects are very low quality in this game. It
sounds like an Atari game. I've heard much better sound on
other GameGear games. You get beeps when a punch is thrown
and boops when they land. The bell dings at the beginning
and end of the rounds. The music in this game sounds more
like something out of a horror movie than a boxing game.
It's not too chilling though, it's just not exactly happy
music either. It's more like the boxer is really going to
beat you up in this match type of music. Perhaps for that
reason it has the sound of impending doom. Maybe not doom,
but certainly a good clobbering.
Replay value on this game is pretty good. You can create a
few different type of boxers, due to the amount of options
on the create a boxer screen. You can set up brawlers with
high killer instinct and high power. You can set up a dodger
with low killer instinct, high speed, and a right jab. The
choices are very varied and you can create as many as you
want. The password feature lets you continue at any time
with any boxer you have created. The actual matches are fast
paced and very enjoyable. With the varied choice of boxers
to create and the varied choice of fourteen to fight
against, it is certainly possible you will be playing this
game for a while.
Overall, this game has above average graphics, below average
sound, medium challenge, high replay value, but somewhat
poor control. It can be a lot of fun and isn't a frustrating
game. The ability to create players is a nice feature. It's
also nice to be able to improve your boxers, whether you win
or lose the match. The game allows you to customize much of
how it is played. This is a good game and worth playing,
despite the few flaws it does have.
Graphics - 7/10
Sound - 4/10
Control - 5/10
Challenge - 6/10
Appeal - 7/10
Game Play - 8/10
Replay Value - 6/10
Overall - 7/10
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