''Bush vs. Kerry Boxing'' is a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and published by Sorrent for

mobile phones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

. It was released in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

on August 22, 2004. The game allows the player to choose to play as either

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

to fight out the

2004 United States presidential election The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Chene ...

; the candidate chosen must fight through a number of preliminary rounds against the opponent's supporters in order to eventually fight the opposing candidate. ''Bush vs. Kerry Boxing'' garnered mostly positive reviews from critics. As of 2009, ''Bush vs. Kerry Boxing'' has received a 75.5% from

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

Gameplay

''Bush vs. Kerry Boxing'' is for the most part a re-purposing of another Sorrent boxing title, ''Fox Sports Boxing'', with election characters instead of more standard pugilists. The game is a

first person First person or first-person may refer to: * First person (ethnic), indigenous peoples, usually used in the plural * First person, a grammatical person * First person, a gender-neutral, marital-neutral term for titles such as first lady and first ...

game; the game is seen from behind the player's gloves. The game's view is filled by the opponent, as they dodge, punch, and counter against the player. Both the player and the opponent have a stamina meter, which as they perform actions is slowly drained. The character is KO'd after the stamina meter runs out unless the player can press the 0 button on the phone enough times to make a recovery. ''Bush vs. Kerry Boxing'' features many prominent politicians from around the time of the 2004 Presidential election. The game gives the player the choice between playing as

, the two main candidates from the

. The opponents the player faces change depending on which candidate he chooses to fight with; if the player chooses Bush, the player faces Democratic opponents such as John Edwards and

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

, while if the player chooses Kerry, the player faces Republican opponents such as

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Presi ...

and

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

is the game's

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

, and

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...

is the

ring girl Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

. The game contains a national polling system, which tracks online how many times each candidate is beaten by players. The game keeps track of both local and national results.

Reception

''Bush vs. Kerry Boxing'' garnered positive reaction from critics who praised the game's humor and light-hearted approach to the election; it received a 75.5% from

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

's Steve Palley felt that the game struck up a good balance between humor and gameplay.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

's Levi Buchanan thought that the game was a "great goof".

References

{{reflist Satirical video games Political satire video games 2004 video games Boxing video games Mobile games 2004 United States presidential election in popular culture Video games developed in the United Kingdom Cultural depictions of politicians Cultural depictions of George W. Bush Cultural depictions of Hillary Clinton Video games based on real people Video games set in the United States Cultural depictions of Dick Cheney