Can you take your pupils to the top in World Championship Boxing Manager 2 from Ziggurat Interactive and MegaCat Studios? Check our World Championship Boxing Manager 2 review!
Can you take your pupils to the top in World Championship Boxing Manager 2 from Ziggurat Interactive and MegaCat Studios? As the name suggests, this is a game of the sim variety, but the good news is that things have been streamlined to allow you to make the right calls along the way without feeling overwhelmed. You’ll be working on recruiting competitive fighters, the best staff possible, and using all of the equipment and tools at your disposal to have your boxers stand out from the crowd.
You can play World Championship Boxing Manager 2 either in Story Mode or in Career Mode. In Story Mode, you’ll get to learn new gameplay mechanics and elements as you explore a narrative experience. You’ll start with Alex and his journey, which presents a classic underdog story. Can a small-time back-alley promoter take an amateur scrapper to the top? Career Mode will have you starting from the bottom as you bow your way to the top. Do you have what it takes to become the World Champion?
The game follows what World Championship Boxing Manager did way back in 1990. It expands on what the original title did and then some. The visuals have obviously been upgraded considerably, going for a 32-bit look. With hand-drawn pixel graphics, it has an old-school look and feel while featuring some 21st-century quality-of-life improvements that are to be expected for a game that is released in 2023. Oh, and did I mention that the team licensed the participation of boxing legends such as Sugar Ray Robinson and Rocky Marciano
Along with finding which boxers you’ll be giving a shot to, you will also need to hire staff members that can help to make each facility work. This does mean that you’ll have to pay them a monthly wage, so keep that in mind for your budget! You’ll need physical therapists, trainers, medical staff, and even secretaries that can help with a variety of objectives and chores. The good news is that you’ll only need to hire one type of staff member at any given time.
Training your boxers is a must if you want to improve their stats or skills, so you need to schedule them for several gym sessions along the way. Do know that training costs energy and will increase a boxer’s stress, so you’ll have to balance things out to make it all work. On that note, you should make the most of the clinic. At the clinic, you’ll be able to help your boxer with any energy issues. The lounge is where you can schedule therapy sessions so that your boxers can unwind and relax for a bit.
You can improve your office, clinic, lounge, and gym as needed as long as you have the funds required. You can improve your facility to gain access to better upgrades and equipment. Improving your facilities will also improve the efficiency of your staff. Raise the clinic to a silver rank, and you’ll get a treatment bonus for your athletes. Upgrade the lounge and therapies will be more efficient. Improve the gym, and your boxers will get stronger at a faster pace.
How will something like a stat training session go? You can schedule some weightlifting to increase strength, sprinting to boost speed, tennis ball training to increase accuracy, marathon to increase endurance, punch stopper to increase blocking, ladder exercises to improve footwork, or maybe some swimming to boost technique. More exercises can be added as you progress through the game. You’ll also have to schedule some resting days, or else your boxers will be too tired during a match! As for skill training, it will allow you to send a boxer to a week-long training regime with specialized experts. Once that week is over, they’ll hopefully return with a new talent under their belt. You can’t know what skill your boxer will return with, but you can always hope for the best.
Paying your staff their wages is not the only thing you have to worry about. All activities have a cost attached to them. Training your boxer, therapy sessions, a medical check-up all cost money. You’re running a business, after all, so you’ll have to make sure that your boxers have a chance of winning their matches so that you can bring some money in and keep the whole cycle going.
World Championship Boxing Manager 2 is a direct follow-up to the boxing manager experience released back in 1990. Things are more streamlined than with other boxing sims, so you won’t end up feeling overwhelmed. You can play either through Story Mode with preset parameters and facilities as you work on helping your boxers complete their story arc. Career Mode has you starting from the bottom as you make the most of what you learned during your time in Story Mode, which means that it’s going to be a bit more challenging to take on. World Championship Boxing Manager 2 is out on Nintendo Switch with a $14.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This World Championship Boxing Manager 2 review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Ziggurat Interactive.
