''Barry McGuigan World Championship Boxing'' is a British video game released in 1985 for the
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the S ...
,
Commodore 64,
Thomson MO5
The Thomson MO5 is a home computer introduced in France in June 1984 to compete against systems such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. It had a release price of 2390 FF.
At the same time, Thomson also released the up-market Thomson TO7/ ...
and
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer.
Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
by the Gamestar branch of
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
and later re-released by
Mastertronic
Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was one of the largest software publishers in the UK, achieved by ...
. It was titled ''Star Rank Boxing'' in the US (following the Gamestar naming convention: ''Star League Baseball'', ''
Starbowl Football
''Starbowl Football'' is a 1982 sports video game published by Gamestar for the Atari 8-bit family. An earlier version of the game was sold by Arcade Plus as ''Arcade Pro Football''.
Gameplay
''Starbowl Football'' is a game in which four pass p ...
'').
Gameplay
1 player
The player controls a boxer as he boxes his way to the top, earning
purse money along the way, progressing up the world rankings until he fights
Barry McGuigan
Finbar Patrick McGuigan MBE (born 28 February 1961) is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer. Born in Clones, Ireland, McGuigan was nicknamed ''The Clones Cyclone'' and held the WBA and lineal featherweight titles from 198 ...
himself. Players can
create a boxer and customize his style, race, hair and shorts. The player could also choose his next opponent, either at the same ranking, below or above, each with their own lead up time to the fight. The longer the player had until the fight the more time could be spent in the gym, allocating training weeks to the following activities: Weights, sparring, road work, heavy bag or light bag.
Each of these activities had a benefit on the boxer's stamina, strength and endurance. Roadwork, for example, helped with endurance, whilst weights and heavy bag helped with strength.
Before deciding which opponent to fight, a summary is shown of each detailing his attributes. The player can then decide whether take the opponent on. Picking an opponent who is above the player's boxer in the rankings will progress him quicker up the rankings and earn him more money. However, this is risky as higher-ranked fighters are stronger. Some opponents can be beaten quite quickly, whilst others require several rounds of boxing to defeat.
Whilst boxing the following moves can be employed: Cross, block, body punch, jab, hook and uppercut. At the end of each round a summary is given of points scored and the feeling of the audience as to their excitement levels.
2 player
Each player can choose a boxer from the 20 available, and take part in a 12-round match.
Reception
Rick Teverbaugh reviewed the game for ''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through t ...
'', and stated that "My belief in sports games is that if they feel like the sport, they must be pretty good. But if they get personally involved in the game as well, they must be great. Star Rank does both and I have no qualms about calling this a great game."
The game was very well received. ''Crash'' praised the options, graphical detail and animation. ''Sinclair User'' claimed it was "the best boxing game on the market, for realism it knocks the others for six. It's more complex than ''Frank Brunos or ''Rocco''", while ''Your Sinclair'' summarised it as "a top-ten contender in the software boxing championships". Computer Gamer said it was realistic, gripping and long-lasting. The game went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind ''
M.O.V.I.E.''.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuigan
1985 video games
Activision games
Amstrad CPC games
Boxing video games
Commodore 64 games
Mastertronic games
ZX Spectrum games
Cultural depictions of Irish men
Cultural depictions of boxers
Video games based on real people
Video games developed in the United States