Rough tough boxing with a touch of humour
For a humorous and enjoyable spin on the boxing genre, which is more often than not known for its rather serious attitude, then 4D Sport Boxing is a worthwhile investment of your time. Although it looks a touch dated now, it was revolutionary for its time, thanks to its use of rotoscoping which rendered the boxers' movements in a fairly realistic fashion, while the gameplay itself is fun in a simplistic kind of way. There's not a great deal to the game, with players simply engaging in a series of bouts against an array of fighters with tongue-in-cheek names and with the obvious aim of knocking them to the canvas. It's not all mindless bashing away at the punch button though and to be successful, judicious use of parries and blocks must be made in addition to uppercuts and other such aggressive moves. This gives it a nice sense of depth that elevates the game above being a tedious mash-fest and requires that players actually exercise some thought as they play. You can also train your fighter in between bouts and improve your skills, which adds some further depth to proceedings and the game does a better job of recreating the real feel of a boxing match than perhaps any other game. It's all helped along by the slick and responsive control system, which makes controlling your fighter and pulling off combos a relative breeze, but which still requires skill to do so. The humour too is a nice touch, with things like the fighters' taunts bringing a little smile to your face as you play. If you're looking for a boxing sim, this should be top of the short list.
