''Rugby Challenge'' is a

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

video game, developed by Sidhe and published by

Tru Blu Entertainment Tru Blu Entertainment Pty. Ltd. is an Australian publisher that is a subsidiary of Home Entertainment Suppliers, who distribute their titles. It was founded in 1999. Their debut title was 2003's Sidhe Interactive-developed ''Rugby League'' whi ...

. Rugby Challenge was released on 26 August 2011 in New Zealand for consoles and was released on 2 September for Australia and 8 September for South Africa. The release date for Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge (rest of the world, excluding US/Canada) was 14 October. All NA versions except for PlayStation Vita were released 20 October, Tru Blu handled the PC and PS3 versions with

Mad Catz Mad Catz Global Limited (formerly Mad Catz Interactive, Inc.) is an American Chinese-based company that provides interactive entertainment products marketed under Mad Catz, GameShark (gaming products) and TRITTON (audio products). Mad Catz distr ...

handling the Xbox 360 version. The PlayStation Vita version was released on 27 June 2012. In game Commentary is provided by Grant Nisbett and

Justin Marshall Justin Warren Marshall (born 5 August 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played 81 games for the New Zealand All Blacks between 1995 and 2005. Marshall played for the in the Super 12 from 1996 to 2005, winning the competit ...

. The game is titled ''

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Rugby Challenge'' in New Zealand, ''

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

Rugby Challenge'' in Australia and ''

Jonah Lomu Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. Lomu is considered to have been the first true global superstar of rugby, and consequently had a huge impact on the game. He is widely regarde ...

Rugby Challenge'' in the rest of the world.

Features

''Rugby Challenge'' is based on Sidhe's previous Rugby League games. Features include:

Game modes

*Single Match Mode *Competition Mode *Multi-year Franchise Mode Amongst other things, Rugby Challenge will feature 98 teams, 31 stadia, and 11 competitions as well as extensive Tutorial Mode options available for players new to the sport. The tutorial helps get you up to scratch and various skills, such as running between cones, practicing kicks, and many other drills can be completed. Apart from single and multi-player options, you'll also be able to play up to 13 seasons and attempt a legacy in Franchise Mode. Franchise mode will include both international and representative teams. You will be able to choose a club and an international side to play as during the years. There is a World Championship in Franchise Mode.

Extensive customisation

*Create and/or customise players, teams, and competitions, using the extensive customisation tools to shape the game to your own preferences.

In-Game Rugby Store

*Rugby Challenge also features Rugby Money, which players can use to obtain unlockables. These rewards come from completing various activities, whether running through the tutorials or playing online, and can be spent in the Rugby Store. This is not an online function, but rather an in-game unlockable system.

Licences

''Rugby Challenge'' will feature 94 licensed/unlicensed teams, an additional 4 miscellaneous teams, and 31 stadiums from New Zealand, Australia,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and Europe. Due to rival game,

Rugby World Cup 2011 The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

, the official strip/emblem/stadium/player likenesses of England,

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and the official strip/emblem/stadium of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, Ireland and Italy will not be included within the game. However, due to Top 14, Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect Pro12 licenses the players of these countries will be included within the game (England, France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy). Rugby legend

has also lent his likeness and expertise to the game, the European game will feature him on the cover, and the game will be called Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge.

Stadiums

''Rugby Challenge'' features 14 New Zealand stadiums, 6 Australian stadiums, 5 South African stadiums and 6 European stadiums.

Reception

Rugby Challenge received mixed to positive reviews by critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the PS3 version of the game received a 64/100 rating, while the Xbox 360 was better reviewed, with a 73/100 rating.

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 ...

commented that "inconsistent presentation and licensing issues trip up Rugby Challenge's run for the try line, but enjoyable gameplay and a wealth of modes give it a decent chance at life beyond the World Cup," giving the game a 65 over 100.

Sequels

'' Rugby Challenge 2'' was announced on 20 March 2013, the sequel is set for release midyear 2013 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. It is going to be Rugby Challenge 2: The Lions Tour Edition in most regions, apart from France where it is known as Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge 2, and New Zealand, where it is to be called All Blacks Rugby Challenge 2. The third title in the series, '' Rugby Challenge 3'', developed by

Wicked Witch Software Wicked Witch Software is an Australian video game developer that was founded in 2001 by Daniel Visser, the managing director. Wicked Witch Software has produced 50 or more games across platforms such as Android, iOS, PlayStation, Xbox, Nin ...

, was released on 14 April 2016 in New Zealand, and in Australia on 22 April 2016. It was released for Microsoft Windows on 24 June 2016. A fourth title, Rugby Challenge 4, developed by Sidhe,/ was released 4 August 2020.

References

External links

* {{Rugby Union video games 2011 video games Windows games Sports video games with career mode Video games developed in New Zealand PlayStation 3 games Xbox 360 games PlayStation Vita games Rugby union video games Video games set in Argentina Video games set in Australia Video games set in France Video games set in Ireland Video games set in New Zealand Video games set in South Africa Video games set in the United Kingdom Sidhe (company) games Multiplayer and single-player video games Tru Blu Entertainment games