TV Sports Boxing logo

Mindscape * £14.99

Don't worry, this isn't a 'Messrs Carpenter and Bruno engaged in some chirpy repartee' licence - though at least you might have gained some pleasure out of this bout of boxing if it were.

You have to create a boxer by selecting his physical appearance, style and attribute, and then introduce him to the ring where he'll promptly be killed by some big brute with no brain. Be prepared - however good you think you've made your boxer he'll always get maimed.

The fight begins with an overhead view of the ring, with the two boxers circling each other. As the boxers draw closer together the view switches to a side-on view. Here, your boxer has a hard time touching even the worst opponent, and even when contact is made your boxer makes a far smaller impression than the computer's does.

Although it's well produced (as with all TV Sports products) and features some excellent graphics and sound, this isn't a very good game at all. OK, it does have its good points, but the negative aspects of the game far outweigh them. Anyone who does want to get hold of a decent boxing game should try out 4D Sports Boxing which received a hefty 79 per cent in Issue 30.


KO oder OK?

TV Sports Boxing logo

Als "TV Sports Football" herauskam, war Cinemaware noch eine kleine Firma, die im wesentlichen von der Mundpropaganda lebte - beim Erscheinen von "TV Sports Basketball" befand sich die amerikanische Company am Höhepunkt ihres Schaffens. Und jetzt?

Tja, wie sag ich's bloß den Fans? Aber es hilft ja nichts: Bis jetzt existiert noch kein herausragendes Boxspiel für Amiga-Tysons, weder "Final Blow" noch "4D-Sports Boxing" konnten 100-Prozentig überzeugen - und Cinemawares neue PC-Konvertierung kann das leider auch nicht!

Gerade die optische Präsentation, bisher eigentlich immer ein Pluspunkt der TV-Sports-Reihe, ist diesmal arg "normal" und gar nicht mehr so fernsehnmäßig ausgefallen, wie man sich das erhofft hätte. Werfen wir aber trotzdem erstmal einen Blick auf die vorhandenen Features:

Ganz ähnlich wie bei einem Rollenspiel darf man sich zunächst anhand verschiedener Werte (Alter, Größe, Gewicht, Reichweite, Kampfstil etc.) einen eigenen Boxer zusammenbasteln und ihm anschließend ein individuelles Outfit verpassen (Farbe von Haut, Haar und Hose).

Dann braucht unser Digi-Rocky natürlich auch bestimmte Leistungsdaten für Ausdauer, Beinarbeit, "Killerinstinkt" und spezielle Schlagkombinationen, desweiteren einen Manager und einen Trainer. Sofern genügend Kohle in der Kasse bzw. erkämpft worden ist, kann man seinem Baby noch viel mehr Gutes antun: beispielsweise den alten Trainer feuern und 'nen neuen anstellen, der ihm spezielle Tricks beibringt oder Schaukämpfe bestreiten und eine bessere Trainingsausrüstung anschaffen (wobei es hier auch so witzige Alternativen wie Tabasco-Sauce zur Schärfung des Killerinstinkts gibt!).

In stillen Momenten bildet sich der Box-Promoter von Welt dann mit dem "Boxing Magazine" weiter (weltrekorde, Kampfergebnisse, Veranstaltungspläne, Kleinanzeigen), studiert Statistiken oder erkundet die Eigenarten des nächsten Gegners.

Die Kämpfe selbst kann man alleine oder zu zweit bestreiten und auf Wunsch auch komplett dem Computer überlassen. Den Ring sieht man dabei zunächst aus der Vogelperspektive, für den anschließenden Nahkampf wird dann aber auf die wesentlich realistischere Seitenansicht umgeschaltet. Die Grafik ist an sich nicht schlecht, es wurde sogar ein sehr hübscher "Dreheffekt" eingebaut, insgesamt hätte man sich von Cinemaware aber schon deutlich mehr erwartet.

Beim Sound überzeugt lediglich die Sprachausgabe, Musik und Geräusche sind mittelmäßig bis enttäuschend. Steuerungstechnisch sind ebenfalls keine Offenbarungen zu vermelden, die Maus ist nur teilweise einsetzbar, und die Joystick-Steuerung arbeitet recht zäh.

Das Hauptmanko des Spiels ist aber, daß es gewissermaßen zwischen allen Stühlen sitzt: Für Statistiker gibt es zu wenig Statistiken und für Actionfans zu wenig Action. Da nützen auch die in der Anleitung erklärten Boxregeln nichts mehr - TV Sports Boxing ist ein Schlag unter die Gürtellinie der Fans! (mm)


TV Sports Boxing logo

To some, it's a noble character-building sport, played to gentlemen's rules. To others,it's a barbaric anachronism. To Mindscape, it's a new sports sim.

So how do we go about awarding a percentage to a new game? Do we just print the first number we think of? If not, what things in a game can sway that score up or down? Welcome to a practical guide to scoring. We'll start with just an Amiga, the two TV Sports Boxing disks and a starting average of 50%. (Other magazines might use 70% as their average score but here on AMIGA POWER we use 50%, mad and irrational fools that we are.)

Right. The background is that TVSB is the latest in a series of sport sims from Mindscape, using talking heads in TV studios as graphic interludes. TV Sports Basketball, TV Sports (American) Football... Additional commentary in this review comes from Frank Bruno.

Boxing games are not the best of computer game types. Beat-'em-ups are usually cited as the worst, most mindless, repetitive and dull games you can stick in your floppy drive. Boxing games, like wrestling games, are just beat-'em-ups where you can't go anywhere.

Maybe it's possible to do something original with the genre, but these sort of games usually just involve two characters with big heads facing each other, accompanied by lots of frantic, scarcely thought-about, joystick handling.

A soon as the arcade action part of TVSB hits the screen, it's clear that this is nothing different in that respect. So straight away the game plummets down to 20%, a fair starting point for a single screen beat-'em-up game.

"Not a very good start, Harry, know what I mean? They've got a lot of catching to do to. They can do it, know what I mean"? I really believe they can, know what I mean, Harry?"

There are actually quite a few moves you can perform and a little bit of thought is likely to result in more success than just piling in and waggling like mad, which is a good sign. You can move up and down, step back to let fly with the big punch or go in close and rattle in the short ones. Waggling like mad is still the most enticing option, but the score deservedly rises to 28% on the grounds that there's certain tactical element to the action.


There's a certain tactical element to the action

There are also occasional overhead shots, which pop up every time someone is knocked down, and briefly at other junctures. These are very small with tiny sprites on a tiny screen. A little bit silly really, but harmless. And you can't take points off for harmless silliness, can you?

The 'exhibition mode' was the first option on the main menu and it's that to which we turn first. There's a two player option, so this is one of those games that you can turn to for a tete-a-tete battle when you're tired of tackling the computer opponents. A jump to 35% for that then.

"They're starting to pick up now, Harry. They've landed a couple of good punches. Anything can happen, that's the thing about boxing, Harry. Know what I mean, Harry?"

The one-player option is very limiting in exhibition mode. You select which fighter to be and which fighter the computer will be, then take to the ring. The fighters are ranked according to how tough they are, so you can easily adjust the difficulty of the bout depending on your choice of fighters. Seeing how long it will take till you flatten Baldy Bones isn't the most involving of game objectives. Down the ladder to 29%.

One of the most involving parts is the 'create boxer' section which lets you select the characteristics, abilities and appearance of a boxer. You can then take to the ring with your new creation (or let the computer play as him). An excellent feature which takes the score up to 34%. But it's not a lot of use if all you can do is stage one-off fights.

Fortunately there's also the 'career' mode. This allows you take control of a fighter (one you've created yourself or a ready-grown), making tactical decisions throughout their boxing career. This is great fun, with loads of features: a manager to advise you, a trainer to work you into shape, rankings to climb, performance-aiding substances to buy (all legal, if a bit supernatural) and money to earn. And lots more, including fights to be fought. This adds strategy and role-playing elements to the basic game and lifts TVSB's rating up to a quite creditable 56%.

"You know Harry, the boys done all right. Not the most brilliant of performances, but they had a job to do and they went out there and did it..." Oh sorry, that's Emlyn Hughes.


CHARACTER BUILDING
ONE OF THE MOST INVOLVING PARTS OF TVSB IS THE FEATURE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO 'CONTRUCT' YOUR OWN BOXER. WHETHER YOU'RE IN EXHIBITION MODE OR CAREER MODE, THE METHOD IS THE SAME. HERE'S HOW YOU DO IT...
TV Sports Boxing
You start off with something only a couple of steps away from being a blank page. Type in your boxer's name (perferably something that sounds dead hard) and hometown.
TV Sports Boxing
You then get the opportunity to fiddle about with your character's statistics, picking their age, reach, height, weight, etc.
TV Sports Boxing
Then select their skin colour, trunks colour, haircut and hairstyle (there are four or five of each to choose from). You know, I'm sure I recognise this bloke from somewhere.
TV Sports Boxing
You can then boost the character's skills. Various abilities, from power and speed to the strength of their chin, start on 50 but can be built up to 150. You get 500 points to dole out.
TV Sports Boxing
And finally, there's 40 points to dole out to ability in the different sorts of punch. And that's it. You have now made a wrestler. Well done.