Super FamiComplete #98: TKO Super Championship Boxing

 

 

Title: TKO Super Championship Boxing (NA) Kentou-ou World Champion (JP)

Release Date: 04/28/1992

Developer: Sting

Publisher: Sofel

Here is our third game for the day, and we end with a mediocre boxing game. To be fair, though, we get to see that amazing Japanese box art. 

Background

The developer in this case is Sting Development, a company that actually operated all the way to 2016. They were best known for esoteric RPGs like Yggdra Union, Dokapon Kingdom, and Treasure Hunter G. SOFEL, which stands for SOFTware Engineering Laboratory, is a short lived publisher best known for Wall Street Kid. They still exist to this day, but seem to be focused more on creating RFID chips specifically for libraries (those little chips that go into credit cards, etc). 

Now that dashing gentleman on the front of the Super Famicom box is Jiro Matsushima, who was the 56th bantam weight champion from Japan. Apparently, in the Japanese version, there is a story mode, and you play the career of a boxer that is similar in appearance to good ole' Jiro. 

Gameplay

Now the North American version of the game is pretty bare bones. There is no story mode, just 1 or 2 player exhibition matches, and the ability to fight each of the boxers in order in a "championship" run. You get to choose the boxer you would like to play as, and then your opponent as well. Each boxer has their own strengths and weaknesses: some hit harder, others have the ability to throw more punches before getting tired, and some are faster on their feet. 

Each match plays out in a side view of the ring. You have two meters above your boxer: you have their life/energy meter, as well as their endurance which is measured in boxing gloves. As you throw punches, you lose boxing gloves; I wasn't able to tell, though, if that just signified the number of punches you could make, or the strength of your punches. Overall, though, it is just a simple boxing game where you mash the punch button and try to corner your opponent. 

This game is also really hard. Even though this game is called TKO (a technical knock out which occurs when a boxer hits the mat three times in one round, which indicates that they are getting their ass outclassed and the fight should stop before they get hurt), my poor guy got his face caved in and was KO'd. I tried a couple of different matches against different boxers, and even though the opponents played differently, they all still trounced my boxer thoroughly. 

Music

The music is a solid okay. Give it a listen if you'd like. 

Overall

Boxing, overall, is a tough sport to make an entertaining video game out of while trying to remain true to the sport. Real life boxing is often pretty anti-dramatic, and this game seems to focus on that part of boxing. It is pretty boring.