#733 – World Champ

It’s about time.

PLAYERS: 1-2 simultaneous

PUBLISHER: Romstar

DEVELOPER: Pixel

GENRE: Sports

RELEASE DATE: April 1991

I don’t expect much from boxing games that don’t have the words “Punch” and “Out” in the title, but by gum, World Champ has what it takes. Pick from one of three modes to start: Ranking, Versus, and Tournament. Tournament is great when you have a beefed character (i.e. after you’ve spent some hours in Ranking), Versus is great when you have a friend over, but Ranking is where you’ll spend most of your time. Here, you’ll build up the boxer’s four abilities – speed, strength, stamina, and defense – in a pre-round rumble before throwing down in an actual match. After you’ve increased your stats to your liking, get ready for some old-fashioned fisticuffs! A pre-fight screen shows you four moves – Straight Punch, Body Blow, Uppercut, and Sudden Hook – that you assign POW points to. The more matches you win, the more POW points you acquire, the stronger you’ll be. Punching opponents and navigating the ring is smooth and effortless. I did find it easier to bob and weave around my opponent than to stop and hold ‘B’ for defense, though. As you’re fighting, watch out for your Stamina and Spirit meters. The less stamina you have, the quicker you’ll go down (and that shrill, piercing referee voice doesn’t do anyone favors). Your Spirit meter increases with the number of hits you bestow on your opponent, and decreases with hits you receive. When the Spirit meter hits red, any punch will lay your opponent down – though not necessarily knock them out. With twenty increasingly difficult opponents, light RPG elements, tournament modes (up to 8 people passing the controller), and 1-on-1 versus play, World Champ is the second best game about punching on the NES.

B+