Producer: Activision
Retail Price: £7.99
Language: Machine code
Author: Gamestar

The title of this game could well lead you to believe that you don the boxing gloves of Barry McGuigan himself and take to the ring. You don't. The idea behind the game is to work your way through the ranks of professional and semi-professional boxers so you can take on the mighty Irishman himself and try to beat him.

When you start the game you are asked to assemble your boxer. This interesting option allows you to add personality and individual style to your combatant. You can select his race, the colour of his shorts and hair, his personality (ranging from 'loudmouth' to 'nice guy') and then the actual type of fighter he is. You have several options: dancer, boxer, mixed, slugger and bulldog. These all give a really individual style, and if you can work out which is the best sort of boxer to build to suit your style of gameplay you gain an edge.

Once you've chosen your boxer, the build-up to the fight begins. First choose the opponent to challenge. Initially, you can only challenge one of two lowest ranked boxers because you're new to the circuit and the big boys aren't interested in small fry. It takes quite a while to build up a reputation and, like anything else in life, you have to fight consistently well if you want to get anywhere in your career.

With an opponent lined up, it's wise to get in a spot of training. You're told what son of fight you'll be having, the boxer's form and how many weeks preparation there is before the fight. Training time has to be allocated to five different routines: road work, light bag, heavy bag, weights and spar time. This isn't to be taken light heartedly- with careful training it's possible to fine-tune your boxer but if you're not careful you could end up giving your boxer massive strength while leaving him with very little stamina.

With training behind you, it's into the ring. Fighting takes place in a packed arena with your boxer viewed from the side in semi 3D. The boxers can move backwards and forwards and have a total of nine moves available to them. Punches and defensive moves are controlled using up/down/left/right, and the four direction keys in conjunction with fire - much the same as in Way of the Exploding Fist. Abandoning the joystick or keyboard puts the boxer into automatic defence mode, which is useful against body blows from the opposing fighter. Punches under your control include jabs, hooks, cross punches, uppercuts, body blows and also a 'guard up' so you can ward off an attacking opponent without getting hurt.

The time, round number, points, endurance and count are all displayed on screen during the bout, with the count coming into action when one of you gets knocked down. Between rounds, you're given an update of your condition and are told how the crowd is reacting, which helps you decide how to fight the next round - you can go for a knockout, fight defensively, tire your opponent or try to gain points.

As you boxer wins fights he moves up the elite ranks of boxing and can challenge stronger opponents (there are nineteen in all), eventually getting to challenge McGuigan himself. Each of the challengers has his own 'personality' and an individual fighting style. Your opponents get progressively tougher and more determined, becoming more strong, skilful and cunning the higher up the echelons you go.

If you want to slug it out with a friend (or enemy) without getting bruised, a two player option allows you to battle it out with a human opponent in a race to the top slot.

COMMENTS

Control keys: definable
Joystick: Kempston, Interface 2 and Protek
Keyboard play: responsive
Use of colour: good, avoids attributes
Graphics: big, detailed and well animated characters and some nice touches
Sound: jolly little jingles and good noises
Skill levels: 19 different boxers
Screens: N/A

There is no shortage of instructions for this program: every aspect of the game is explained down to the very last detail! Both the strategic elements and presentation are very good, but unfortunately I found the game itself to be too hard to play. Unlike programs such as Fist and Kung-Fu, it is very hard to place an accurate hit on your opponent. If you think you'll be able to master it, it may be worth having a go at, but I'm afraid I didn't find it too appealing.

I found Barry McGuigan's Boxing to be a totally absorbing game. For a start it's nice and colourful and unlike Frank Bruno's, you have a good amount of control over your boxer. Before each fight you're given time to train to build up aspects of your character that you may feel are lacking, making the game very realistic to play - if you muck up the training then it's nobody else's fault but your own. The actual fight sequence is well animated and the moves available are well chosen. One regret I had concerned the way the computer controls all left or right movement. Overall, BM's Boxing is a good game and well worth its asking price.

I love fight simulators, and Barry McGuigan's Boxing is the best I've played. It generates a really great atmosphere as you try to battle your way to become the World Champion. The design-a-boxer option is excellent and allows you to build up your very own boxers. The graphics are excellent too, with big, detailed sprites and some nice touches, like cameras flashing in the audience when a boxer is KO'ed. With its masses of options and brilliant game-play this has got to be the best boxing simulation on the market - get it.

£2.99
Mastertronic +

Sadly a bit out of date this, since the objective is to battle your way through professionals and semi-professionals until you can take on Elena for the world title he's now lost. To do better you are able to mix and match your own boxer from a range of options, once you are happy with your creation you go to the training camp - the amount of time allowed varies so make the most of it. In the ring the boxers slug it out over ten three minute rounds, it's a long way to the top of the ladder so get climbing.

Sad to say that I didn't greatly enjoy playing this. In the ring the boxers are limited to a few fairly ineffectual moves, whilst each time I attempted to create a new fighter the outcome of a bout was always the same - the other guy wiped the floor with me. For bored boxing fanatics only.

Then: 88% Now: 54%

Activision
£7.99

Our Enery'd enjoy this one. Activision's made a noble effort at presenting the ignoble sport for the small screen in a game that puts as much emphasis on the pre-fight training as it does on the bruising bout. You play both trainer and boxer. So it's brains as well as brawn that'll decide whether you're champ or chump.

Your first task is to create your own boxer. You have the technology, but do you have the imagination? He can be endowed with all sorts of qualities - not just the obvious ones of stamina and strength but also image and attitude. You can even choose hair colour.

Through the promotor (who will appreciate your rapidly rising winnings) you can choose your opponent - either from the title contenders or the new pro-listings. The further up the listing you go the tougher your fight. Aware of his qualities, you can have up to twelve weeks in the training camp, where you have to choose how much time to spend on each part of your program - light bag, heavy bag, hand bag, weights or whatever.

Let's hope you get it right 'cos now it's the Real Mcoy. A bout can last up to twelve three minute rounds. You're able to use a good number of pugilistic punches and counters - and again you'll have to decide your best strategy - keep your guard up or go for the kill. Beware - three clean blows could mean the end of the bout.

My only minor criticism is the lack of manoeuvrability - the boxers scuttle crabwise about the ring. And where's the skipping rope in the training camp? No wonder these boys aren't so light on their feet! All in all a top-ten contender in the software boxing championships.

Publisher: Activision
Programmer: PAW
Price: £7.99
Memory: 48K
Joystick: Kempston

There's big money in boxing. I know 'cos I've personally beaten the hell out of such bullish boxers as John Kid Kutter, Bashin' Bill Snow and Cannonball Corby.

The boxing circuit consists of nine rising pros and ten contenders. On top of that lot is Barry McGuigan, world champion, with annual earnings of more than $13,000,000 - if you didn't know. To get to McGuigan you must move from 19th position in the rankings to number one; you will then be ready for the title fight.

First you must pick the name of your boxer.

When you've decided, the computer will be presented with a ready-made boxer who can go at the bottom of the list of professionals or contenders, depending on how strong and confident you are.

A status screen about your boxer is put up at the beginning of the game and after every fight. At the top is your boxing style and you are placed into one of eight categories such as Dancer, Slugger, Bulldog and Boxer. The mixed style seems the most ideal, especially with contenders who like to slug it out and the unpredictability of your movements can make more of your punches count.

Before each bout you must train for a specified time - the number of weeks left before the fight. There are five types of workout and you must allocate time proportionally to those exercises.

Each type of training develops an aspect of the boxer's potential. Road work will help build stamina, the light bag will build agility and the weights will increase your strength. In general you should put as many weeks onto the heavy bag, spar time and road work as possible.

To win on a knockout you will need to do some heavy punching around your opponent's head with a couple of jabs to his stomach. The emphasis is on the number of punches which find their mark.

The jab is a quick punch and an efficient point scorer but does not do much damage, unlike the hook which similarly does not take much out of the deliverer but gives the recipient a nasty knock on the jaw.

The uppercut also delivers a blow to the jaw but it is more dangerous than the hook and is a natural follow-through for a knockout. Last, but by no means least, is the cross - a knockout punch of incredible power. It should be used with caution as it is tiring to make.

The other form of attack is aimed at tiring your opponent. Body shots are important in draining his endurance and because of the way in which they are more powerful than the head blows. Unfortunately they drain a lot of your energy, too.

If you decide that defence is better than attack for your boxer - if he has a low strength factor but high agility - you can go for the cover-up or auto-defence. Cover-up happens automatically when you press up on the joystick or keyboard. The boxer's gloves will cover the face stopping any punches from your opponent. You cannot duck and weave when your face is covered and, of course, the rest of your body is exposed.

The simplest form of defence is the auto mode. Just leave the joystick or keyboard alone for a moment and the boxer will go into auto-defence which protects you from body blows. Unlike the cover-up, you will be able to move around the ring, protecting yourself by staying out of reach.

The authors, a new team of programmers, have included some tips for the potential world boxing champion - who says that programmers don't play their own games?

They have discovered two overall strategies which pay off if you can stand up long enough. The first is to try and hurt your opponent to the point of knockout. I found that this strategy loses you endurance points very quickly and dozens of quick punches aren't healthy for the deliverer.

Alternatively, you can try and win on points. Each round has a points rating of one to ten for each of the fighters. If you can capture the points on a majority of rounds you can win without going to the point of knockout.

Barry McGuigan's World Championship Boxing scores as the best boxing game on the market. For realism, it knocks the others for six. It is more complex than Frank Bruno's Boxing and Rocco. Bruno has to win only eight bouts, while Gremlin's Rocco has just three opponents.

The graphics of both games have their fighters head on rather than in profile. McGuigan's game has full figure graphics which are flexible and realistic down to the camera flashguns going off on a knockout.

Knockout, from Alligata, which features full figure graphics, does not contend with Barry McGuigan. The fighters look like stuffed dolls, there is no audience to give the game atmosphere and the ring looks flat and lifelike.

Sports simulations are usually not my scene but Barry McGuigan knocked me flat.

Available on Game, Set and Match compilation
Amstrad, £12.95cs, £17.95dk
C64, £12.95cs, £17.95dk
Spectrum, £12.95cs

Now that Bazza, the Clones Cyclone, has started his comeback, it would be churlish to leave him out of this sports roundup. BMWCB is undoubtedly the best boxing simulation for micros, just beating Frank Bruno for speed, agility and ease of use.

The virtue of the game is that it's much more than a simple fist fight in the ring. First of all you have to create your own boxer, Frankenstein-style, from the attributes available; so you can make him black or white, a hard puncher or an artful dodger. Then you have to train him, building up stamina and skills, leading the right sort of life, and so on. Only then can you start to work your way up the rankings through the 19 computer opponents towards a world title shot. The fights themselves have been designed with equal attention to detail - it's not wild brawling that will see you victorious, but intelligent boxing to your victim's weak points. Overall, it's a very classy program.

Spectrum £2.99, Amstrad £2.99
Mastertronic Plus

Mastertronic Plus is, as you might have cottoned on by now, the label that Mastertronic uses to re-run old full price games at budget price. This kind of equates to hardbacks and paperback in the book world. Titles come out in hardback (full price) then afterwards get released in paperback (budget).

Back in 1985, Activision released this one - a boxing game endorsed by the then famous plucky Irish boxer Barry McGuigan. Both the endorsed and the product have faded a little with time, but if you want a competent cheapie sports sim, with a higher than average strategy bit, then come out fighting to get this one.