Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 is the first GBA fighting game, and that's a lot of weight to carry on one's muscular and well-rounded shoulders. But Midway's baby has already been a hit on several systems; it's merged boxing with hilarity and featured wild characters such as Afro Thunder, Mama Tua, and more--all outfitted with power moves and special taunts. The GBA version looks good. It features loads of color, and everything from the taunts to Michael Buffer's famous "Lets get ready to rumble" tagline is intact. Unfortunately, the gameplay isn't. Ready to Rumble 2 for the GBA is a 2-D fighting game, not a 3-D title like the earlier versions. You can move forward and backward, block, and punch. Move while punching and deliver an uppercut or a short jab. There's almost no sense of damage as you hit these poorly animated foes, and this takes all the personality out of the game.
There are 11 characters total, some favorites from the original games and two new unlockable ones, including Michael Buffer as Rumble Man (yawn) and... Michael Jackson? There are four modes of play: arcade style, championship, training, and survival (where you've got to fight each opponent until you go down flat). You can create your own boxer if you like, and participate in a few training rituals, such as using rumble pads, lifting weights, and hitting the speed bag.
What Ready to Rumble 2 amounts to is a perfectly good, and great-looking, Game Boy Color game, but it doesn't do justice to boxing. It isn't nearly as good as Ready to Rumble on other platforms, and it just doesn't fit in with the other, mostly fantastic, GBA launch titles. --Andrew S. Bub
Pros:
- A wide range of combatants
- You can build and train your own bruiser
- Lots of minigames to play
Cons: - Flat, unimaginative combat
- Uninspired and dull gameplay
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