Approximate Release Date: September 1, 1992
Genre: Boxing
Developer: Beam Software
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
George Foreman’s KO Boxing makes a poor showing as the first boxing game on the Super Nintendo.
The frustrating part is that KO Boxing has no right being as bad as it is. It’s a blatant copy of Nintendo’s Punch-Out!! for the NES. The game has the same fight perspective as in Punch-Out!!, the game has left and right punches like in Punch-Out!!, you dodge like in Punch-Out!!, and you have a special attack that you earn with skillful play just like in Punch-Out!!.
So how did Beam Software screw up KO Boxing if it is so derivative?
The stuff they “appropriated” from Nintendo is fine. The game controls fine and the punch-throwing is responsive and fast. But KO Boxing whiffs on balancing the game properly. The first fight is brutally difficult, with the fighter dealing way more damage than you can even hope to do. He has a special attack that is orders of magnitude better than yours, and it’s tough to dodge if you haven’t fully figured out his pattern.
In ten tries I was able to knock him down once. Does this look fun?
I don’t think the fight is impossible to win or anything like that, but it would require dedicating myself to perfecting this single fight and that seems both unnecessary and stupid. And if the first fight is this frustrating, how difficult is the second fight?
George Foreman’s KO Boxing blows, pun intended.
Tomorrow: Park yourself in place for Monopoly!
“I’m just a biiiiiig teddy bear.”