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Welcome
to Game of the Week! Each week there will be a
new featured game on this page. The game may be good,
average or diabolically bad, it really doesn't matter!
Just look at the pics, read the text and enjoy the nostalgia!
:-) Game of the Week! is open to contributions so if you
would like to contribute
a game article for this page you're more than welcome
to! Every article we receive will be considered! |
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Frank
Bruno's Boxing
1985 Elite
Programmed
by Neil A. Bate
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Most
text of the present article comes from the review published
in the eighth issue of the British C64 magazine ZZAP!64
(December 1985). |
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FRANK
BRUNO'S BOXING
Elite,
£9.95 cass, one or two joysticks, keys or joystick
with keys
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Frank Bruno's Boxing is essentially a home computer
version of the arcade favourite Punch Out! The
idea of the game is to beat eight boxers, one after
the other, in an attempt to become the new World Champion.
On beating one fighter you are given a personal code,
unique to your initials, so that the next opponent can
be loaded in from tape.
The
view of the ring is from slightly above and behind your
boxer, none other than Frank Bruno, so you're looking
into the screen with the opponent facing. As a digitised
Frank, one can perform several manoeuvres, such as left
and right head punches, body blows, a Knock Out punch,
ducking, and of course guard up and down. Using these
skills the other fighter has to be knocked down a total
of three times within the given time limit.
Both
boxers have a 'power' bar and each time a successful
punch is landed, the bar increases in length. To get
the power bar to its maximum, successive accurate punches
must land on target. But if you should get hit when
your bar is at the halfway mark, then it depletes --
rapidly! Once it reaches its peak the KO punch, a vicious
right hander, must come into play. If this deadly blow
is accurate a couple of times, then the opponent is
usually floored. If, on the other had, he gets his
bar to maximum, then his next punch has the same effect.
On the first two occasions, when a boxer gets knocked
down he always gets up. But on the third . . . Bocko!
He's down for good!
Most
of the other boxers have a special punch or move pertaining
to their name, and unless this can be avoided, you will
be floored instantly. The first boxer encountered smacks
you viciously round the head with both hands while Fling
Long Chop, the second opponent, drop kicks -- not quite
the Queensbury way! Subsequently the moves and techniques
of each boxer must be learned, if one is to succeed.
Fortunately, there is a 'replay last match' option so
that the last boxer can be tackled again and again,
until you are eventually competent and finally victorious.
If you manage to plow your way through all eight boxers
then a newspaper, with a headline proclaiming you Champion
of the World, is shown.
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Frank Bruno's Boxing
has been long awaited by many since its announcement
some months back. Then, with only Alligata's Knockout
to threaten it in the boxing game field, it would have
taken the market by storm.
Since then both Barry
McGuigan's
and Fight
Night
have been released, and both are much better, with more
depth, better gameplay and graphics. The graphics on
FBB's
are reasonable, but many of the characters have massive
glitches in them, and sometimes they even come apart!
The gameplay is rather limited, with only the eight
boxers to challenge you, and they're not too difficult
to beat either. The control method is pretty tricky
too, especially using two joysticks, or joystick and
keyboard. It would have
been good three or four months ago, but now perhaps
it's a bit too late to make any real impact on the boxing
game market.
.
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When
Frank
Bruno's Boxing
was first promised, there weren't any other boxing
games on the market. Since then however, there
have been three prominent releases (all for different
reasons though!) in the form of Alligata's Knockout,
Activision's Barry
McGuigan
and more recently US Gold's Fight
Night.
With the latter two games to compete against,
I don't think that Frank
Bruno's
stands much of a chance, because, to my mind,
it has an inferior approach and is much less interesting
to play. If this had come out at the same time
as the very popular Spectrum version, then it
would have had a better run. Sorry Elite, but
I'm afraid it's a case of too little too late.
.
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Presentation 91%
Loading the boxers from cassette is a real pain
but the overal presentation is excellent.
Graphics
79%
Big, above average quality sprites
with equally large glitches.
Sound
72%
Nice tunes, but all a little short.
Hookability
78%
Desire to become a champ is high.
Lastability
62%
But it's pretty simple and will
you go back to it after?
Value
For Money 72%
'Punch Out!' is ageing and there
are better boxing games about.
Overall
69%
Three months ago it would have
been the best, now it's a case of try it and see
if you like it.
.
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Htmlized
by Dimitris
Kiminas (14 Dec 2003)
Other
"Games of the Week!"
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