A ‘revolution’, this certainly is not
Format: Wii Dev: AKI Corporation Pub: Atari Out: 20/03/09 Players: 1-2
To say punching people in the face (virtually) can be such an innately pleasurable experience at times it does come as a surprise that Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution removes any of the enjoyment out of this pristine pastime. This game does well to serve as a warning that no matter how fun a concept behind a game, maybe it is almost impossible to enjoy those ideas by utilising controls which respond to neither movements nor requests.
Motion commands imparted unto boxers are rarely followed making matches not only chaotic but exhausting, but at least the winner can rest assured that they had more stamina and/or luck than their competitor. Initial flicks of the Wii controller often won’t register at all, so your boxer will either throw a different, much weaker punch, or simply stand still as if they’ve given up on life! Other instances leave your fighter in the wind-up stance but never striking when the first flick will register but the second will not. This lack of precision is even more infuriating when you’re trying to defend yourself.
With the above in mind, fights are far too chaotic; fights against human opponents are fraught with abysmal controls which leave the only rational approach of waving your arms frantically in any direction in any hope that you can dish out more damage than you take.
Multiplayer is facilitated well with quick match, team and full tournament modes. Arcade and career championship alternate weekend stints on the game with weekday training mini-games – building up your created characters statistics, with the capacity for boxers to be unlocked throughout the game whilst earning and spending cash in order to unlock further character customisations.
Brad Pitt as he appeared in Snatch, Jack Black in a schoolboy uniform, David Beckham with a Mohawk and John Travolta and David Hasselhoff, do make an appearance in the game, although somewhat make it feel like a missed opportunity. The characters likenesses are tolerably comical, but I must admit there is nothing incredibly exciting about making these particular celebrities beat the living daylights out of each other!
Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution does have a half-decent arcade fighter residing somewhere underneath it all. However, even if this is the case, it’ll need to go back to the gym for some serious work before showing its face in the ring again.
Nadya Jaworskyi
[Originally published on Friday, 24 April 2009]
Tags: atari, boxing, fighting, ready 2 rumble
