Computer Gamer


Barry McGuigan's World Championship Boxing
By Gamestar
Spectrum 48K/128K

 
Published in Computer Gamer #11

Barry McGuigan's World Championship Boxing

Converted from the C64, Barry McGuigan's World Championship Boxing is one of the better boxing simulations currently on the market. As usual, the aim is to work your way up through the rankings until you are in a position to have a crack at the World Championship itself.

You start off by creating a boxer, choosing his style of boxing (from dancer to slugger) etc. You then get a profile of your boxer showing his strengths and weaknesses. Selecting an opponent must be done from those near you in the rankings. You can opt to start at number 19 amongst the "new pros" or at number 10 as a considerably more difficult. Having studied your opponent's profile, you can accept or refuse the fight.

Next you must train your man. There are between six and twelve weeks before the fight and these can be devoted to five different types of training - road work, light bag, heavy bag, weights and sparring. What training you do affects your stamina, strength, endurance and agility. It would have been nice to see a revised profile at the end of training.

Barry McGuigan World Championship Boxing

Then it's on to the big fight. Although scheduled for 10 or 12 three minute rounds, most tend to finish well inside the distance. Both characters' endurance levels are portrayed throughout the course of the bout and you will need to keep a close eye on these. One annoying feature is that if you knock your opponent down, his endurance leaps right up whilst yours remains sttic. That can't be right!

Punches thrown depend on how close you are to your rival. If you are inside (close to him) you need to press the fire button and select one of four types of punch. If you are outside, you have one defensive manoeuvre and three punches available to you by way of keeping your finger off the button. Movement of both men is controlled by the computer.

This is a very playable game complemented by nice graphics. The fact that Barry McGuigan has just won the sports personality of the year award won't do it any harm either.