''Boxing Legends of the Ring'' 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 predetermine ...

video game for the

Mega Drive/Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

and

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in ...

consoles. The boxers are represented by 2D sprites seen from over the shoulder of one of the fighters. The title of the game refers to the famous boxing magazine, ''The Ring'', which the game is licensed to associate itself with. The following famous middleweight boxers are represented in the game:

Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professional ...

Roberto Durán Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as w ...

Thomas Hearns Thomas Hearns (born October 18, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and oversized arms and shoulders allowe ...

James Toney James Nathaniel Toney (born August 24, 1968) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to 1 ...

Marvin Hagler Marvelous Marvin Hagler (born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler; May 23, 1954 – March 13, 2021) was an American professional boxer and film actor. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight divisi ...

, Jake LaMotta,

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regard ...

, and

Rocky Graziano Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing hi ...

. All of the fights in the game take place in the

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casino in the North American version. There are also advertising banners for HBO visible during fights that are not available in the Japanese version. In the Japanese version, the game takes place in a generic boxing ring using the publisher's name in place of the HBO advertisements found in the North American version. A special version was released in Mexico and the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...

called ''Chavez II''; the game exchanged the English language words for Spanish and omitted some vocals.

Gameplay

During fights, it is possible to keep track of the participating boxers' wellbeing by observing the small portraits of the fighters' faces at the top of the screen. As the fighters receive punishment, these portraits show injuries such as cuts and

bruise A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur close ...

s, the severity of which indicate the fighter's

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

(or lack of). There is also a boxing glove shaped meter at the top of the screen, that indicates how much power a boxer has left in his punches (as in a real fight, the more punches boxers throw, the more tired they become, resulting in weaker punches). The fighters' movement about the ring is limited to side-stepping left or right; it is impossible to step back or forward. A variety of punches can be thrown; left

jab A jab is a type of punch used in martial arts. Several variations of the jab exist, but every jab shares these characteristics: while in a fighting stance, the lead fist is thrown straight ahead and the arm is fully extended from the side of ...

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

es to the head,

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

s to the body, and uppercuts to the head (all punches except jabs can be thrown with either hand). It is also possible to throw a limited number of so-called 'super punches', that are essentially either a right cross or a right uppercut, but with extra power. At the start of each round, each boxer is capable of throwing one super-punch at any time, although it becomes possible to throw one more with each knockdown they score against their opponent. Defensive techniques consist of blocking,

dodging Dodging and burning are terms used in photography for a technique used during the printing process to manipulate the exposure of select areas on a photographic print, deviating from the rest of the image's exposure. In a darkroom print from a fil ...

, and

clinching In metalworking, clinching or press-joining is a bulk sheet metal forming process aimed at joining thin metal sheets without additional components, using special tools to plastically form an interlock between two or more sheets. The process is ...

. Each boxer has three attributes: 'power', 'stamina', and 'chin'. There are three different modes: 'exhibition', 'career', and 'battle of the legends'. In 'exhibition' mode, a player can choose to fight as any boxer in the game, against any boxer in the game, against either the console or another player. In 'career' mode, a player creates their own boxer, and fights their way through all the boxers in the game, before fighting for the world title. If the player loses once in 'career' mode, he is given a warning that 'game over' would be given for the second loss; giving the player no alternative but to either use a password or start over again with a new boxer.

Presentation

Each fight is seen from behind and slightly to one side of one of the boxers, so that the player appears to be looking over their shoulder, in the direction of their opponent. In the North American version, the blood is colored red while the Japanese version uses

sweat Perspiration, also known as sweating, is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distrib ...

instead. This is contrary to Nintendo's then-current censorship policy that blood should never be used in their games. Between each round, girls in bikinis announce the next round by showing a number around the ring (and to the player).

Reception

Reviewing the SNES release as ''Chavez II'', '' GamePro'' assessed that while it was not one of the best boxing games for the system, it was a surprisingly strong improvement from the original, with faster controls and sharper, bloodier graphics. They summarized it as "decent". '' Next Generation'' stated that "other than the novely of Spanish text and Chavez on the box, you're just as well off picking up ..''Legends of the Ring''." Super Gamer magazine gave the SNES version a review score of 81% stating: "Huge character graphics get you right into the bone-crunching action. Gameplay is somewhat limited, but there is always plenty of challenge and moves."

Notes

References

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External links

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at

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 ...