I am a massive fan of boxing to the point I’ll sacrifice my beauty sleep to see the latest PPV. Whether it’s Tyson Fury cashing in big time even though he repeatedly states he’s retired or Antony Joshua making a bit of a tit of himself, it’s all great fun. I have to admit though, I am a bit more into the brutality of UFC these days but growing up with professional boxers like Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, I still have a deep-rooted love of the sport. Boxing is an absolute grind for the athlete, the training teams and the agents responsible for those who hit the big time.

When I saw World Championship Boxing Manager 2 was arriving on Xbox this week, my interest instantly peaked. There aren’t enough boxing games on any platform these days, so to see one about the management side of boxing was intriguing. Since I haven’t played the first instalment, I was going into this one completely blind. It’s been a long 31 years since the first one launched, so would a new version be a knock-out game?

Introduction

Well, I was actually 6 years old when the first World Championship Boxing Manager launched in 1991. I’m 37 years old now, so the fact a new one has arrived over 30 years later absolutely blows my mind. If you were lucky enough to play the original game then you’ll know for yourself how it played. This is obviously striving to be a modern-day version at an extremely reasonable price point. It’s been knocking around on Windows PC on Steam for a couple of months now and finally gloves up for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The game is also available for Playstation 4|5 and Nintendo Switch. World Championship Boxing Manager 2 expands on the first and dives into a rich narrative-driven Story mode alongside a Career mode with some boxing legends along the way such as Sugar Ray Robinson and Rocky Marciano.

Gameplay

I started my time off with the Story mode which sets you off with a promoter and amateur boxer with the aim of climbing the long and grueling ladder of the boxing world. There are some cutscenes and dialogue between characters during the storyline, but once I got stuck in I got a little lost with things. You’ll have brief nudges in the right direction in how to proceed but ultimately you’ll be in charge of how your boxers exercises and where to focus training to increase certain stats. Be mindful that a heavy session in the gym uses stamina and you’ll need to factor in rest periods leading up to fights or you’ll fall flat on the canvas. Luckily you’ll be shown how much fatigue you’ll incur from each activity you select so that you can plan accordingly.

During the Story mode the repetitive nature of training, resting and fighting is broken up with voice-acting cutscenes which was a nice surprise. During fights and between rounds you can choose your fighting style to be balanced, aggressive, take risks or stay on the back foot and play the defensive stance. As stamina depletes there are a few buffs that you can use to replenish the energy you have lost. It’s all a juggling act to ensure you don’t get sparked out and you keep a great winning streak. You can also choose to speed up the action to fly through matches. Career mode focuses a lot more on a team of fighters, balancing out training time between them and getting money in the bank. It becomes more of a juggling act as you cater to an entire roster of potential stars’ needs and wants.

Graphics & Audio

Visually World Championship Boxing Manager 2 has the pixel art treatment but it is lovingly done to almost echo the values of the original. Browsing through the plethora of menus and features along with being at ringside presented itself almost like a living and breathing comic book on screen. The blend of colours throughout the environments is spot-on and complements the style of the game. I especially enjoyed the range of boxers you could manage, it felt that they all had their own unique personalities along with their appearance. As a stats junkie, I loved that every fight comes with a breakdown of statistics that would usually come across at the end of a real-life boxing match. Sound effects capture the aura and atmosphere of boxing with crown noise, end-of-round bell rings and voice-acted portions here are there. A solid job across the board.

In Conclusion

World Championship Boxing Manager 2 is an excellent salute to a past game gone by. I’ll probably never know how it stacks up against the game that led to this sequel, but I’d say that developer Mega Cat Studios and publisher Ziggurat have done a sterling job. There are elements of the game that will often feel repetitive, but there is enough here to keep you ploughing on for a decent amount of hours. Learning how to manage and adapt your fighters before and after a fight makes it interesting and being in charge of every waking second of your boxer brings great immersion. If you’re into boxing as a sport and fancy the management simulation side of things rather than throwing the punches yourself, then its well worth the low asking price of £12.49/$14.99.