Romstar's World Champ
Reviewed by Adam
Not many people have heard of this game, as it was given little or no
fanfare by the powers that be in Nintendo land...probably because Data
East had Ring King, and from what I've played of Ring King, World Champ
does resemble it in terms of gameplay and graphics. If WC were made by
Data East, I'd consider it a sequel.
The music is standard fare, from your typical catchy title screen theme,
to the theme that you hear when they show the boxer's stats right before
the fight begins, to the hardly noticeable theme during gameplay. Digitized
voice is present, as the referee makes his count when a boxer goes down
or declares one person the winner by saying, "Win!" or starting the match
with a "Fight!"
The graphics and gameplay are very reminiscent of Ring King. Both boxers
move around the ring and try to get level with each other to get in punches,
jabs, hooks and uppercuts. If you have a controller with a turbo function,
you can sometimes even line up your opponent and hammer away until
he goes down. On a negative comparison, Ring King had power-ups that
would often appear in the ring...World Champ has no such perks.
One of the annoying features of the game is having to continuously beat
the same opponent in practice rounds in the gym to earn 2 status points
which can go towards speed, stamina, defense and punch categories. This
almost gives an RPG aspect to the game, as you really have to build up
your character. The opponent you face in these practice rounds is always
the lowest ranked guy in whatever division you are currently in. Mighty
Lee is your sparring partner/first opponent in the Welter Weight division.
There is also a Middleweight, Cruiserweight, and of course, Heavyweight
division. Each division has 5 ranked opponents that you must go through
to win the belt. Once you get to the Heavyweight division, you really have
to build up your attributes, so you'll be in the gym a lot more than you'll
want to be earning a measly 2 points per match. When you do manage to
take out a ranked opponent, you go up 2 points in each attribute category
and get a password, which is needed in this game. The password will only
work if you supply your name, which you get to pick when you start.
I really didn't find anything special about this game. It definitely doesn't
compare to Punch-Out!!, which is THE best boxing game for the NES. Most
of your opponents look the same, but have different colored hair and gloves
(sort of like how Soda Popinsky resembles Super Macho Man in a way, or
Don Flamenco looks a bit like Glass Joe). At least the guys in Punch-Out!!
had personality compared to the mooks in this game. The last three guys
you have to fight in World Champ are named Joe Gomez, Mean TJ and Hard
Head. Of course Hard Head's attributes are all cranked to 99, but if you
have the perseverance to fight your sparring partner about 100 times to
build up all your attributes, he shouldn't be a problem. On a positive note,
the ring girl is wearing a cute little bunny outfit, complete with ears and
cotton tail, for anyone who digs that stuff ;)
If you're a boxing fan, you may enjoy this game, as it is only one of 3
boxing games available for the NES (Ring King, Punch-Out!!...someone correct
me if I am forgetting one...is Best of the Best considered a boxing game?).
If you're just a casual player who doesn't get to play that many games,
you might want to opt for something a bit more intriguing. If you see the
game for $3 or so, by all means pick it up, if just to see the ring girl
walk around in that outfit.