Retro Gaming Round Up: Greatest Heavyweights of the Ring

Many of you will remember a little game from 1992 called Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing; sure Nintendo had it's Punch Out!! and George Foreman's KO boxing, but if you owned a Sega Genesis it was all about the Holyfield. So, while cleaning out my garage, I found a mysterious box that belonged to my roommate, which low and behold it contained gaming gold!! The original Sega Mega-Drive and Sega Genesis in working condition! From Mortal Kombat to Sonic the Hedgehog, a plethora of childhood memories rushed back and there seemed to be enough entertainment to quench my thirst for retro gaming. But, when I found the spiritual successor to Holyfield's video game debut, titled Greatest Heavyweights of the Ring, only one thought ran through my head... to quote Michael Buffer "Let's get ready to rumble!!"

Now, although I never owned a Genesis, my neighbor did and at an age of 8, it seemed like one of the coolest things on the planet (until I got a Super Nintendo). Playing Holyfield boxing in his musky basement happens to be one of my fondest memories of the Genesis. I couldn't tell you if critics thought it was a great game back then, but to me it was the closest I could get to the ring. I guess my nostalgia could have skewed my memory of the game, but I had to see if it still felt the same.

So, I jumped right in and started pummeling the NPC's. It all was what I could remember with a fighting system reminiscant of a digital "Rock'em Sock'em Robots". One thing I noticed after a couple fights was the technical aspect of the gameplay hidden behind the simple controls; where Muhammad Ali was a little faster and threw lots of Jabs, Rocky Marciano was a brawler going for the big hits. It was nice to see that not every fighter felt the same. The Sound & Graphics were crispy on my HDTV (smirk), but hey thats why its retro. After a couple hours fatigue was beginning to set in. Not that I was physically tired, but I had become desensitized to the wonder games like this brought me. Instead, if the NPC made it to round 5, I found myself becoming bored. A game that I once played on and off for hours on end had become tedious. With only 3 real punches per boxer and limited movement and guarding, I realized that somethings will never be the same. Since playing boxing games like Fight Night, from a technical aspect, this game cannot provide my brain entertainment for more than a couple matches. I am not unhappy with my latest experience in retro gaming. I am more disappointed in the realization that my expectations can never be met by playing this game, since I am not the 8 year old in my neighbors musky basement anymore.