By Midway for Dreamcast

The original Ready 2 Rumble was one of the better launch titles for Dreamcast. Great animations, charismatic characters and simple controls made Midway’s latest extreme sports title the best boxing game since Super Punch-Out. The sequel’s available now, so…. "Leeeeeeeeeet’s get ready to Reeeeeevvvvieeew!"

Graphically, Round 2 is markedly improved over its predecessor. Animations are smoother, the pugilists are more detailed, and the backgrounds are of a higher quality.

The game plays very much like the original, if a tad slower. There are still character-specific combos and the R-U-M-B-L-E meter is still in full effect, only this time around you can build it up to three levels, each with its own devastating combo. At level three, the special attack sends the victim flying out of the ring for an automatic K.O. – kind of like the boxing version of a fatality.

The biggest improvement over the original, though, is in the number of available boxers. There are more than twice as many, with most of the original cast returning along with loads of new faces. Some of the more notable new contenders are a skinny Canadian punk, a Texas cowboy and a robotic boxing machine with a speed bag for a head. And yes, both Michael Jackson and Shaquille O’Neal are playable characters.

Ready 2 Rumble Round 2 is one of the best looking games on the Dreamcast right now. The character animation is excellent, and they are all loaded with personality. Each character has four unique taunts, different introduction speeches, and numerous victory poses. They also have three different animations for using the RUMBLE meter, one for each level.

The original R2R’s biggest flaw was that it had so few boxers, and the sequel cures that with a total of 24 characters, although only eight are playable at the start; the others are unlocked by beating the game. Luckily, Midway had pity on those of us who enjoy games like this mainly for multiplayer, and they made unlocking the hidden characters a snap – you can set the difficulty to easy, play to one knockdown and walk through the arcade mode to unlock a new character with each play through.

Multiplayer is really where it’s at, though, as after beating the game enough times to unlock everybody, there’s not a whole lot of incentive to play through it again, and sparring with another human is much, much more enjoyable than a computer-controlled opponent.

The game also has a championship mode, similar to the original, where you take a boxer through a career, from a lowly unknown to the reigning champ. Between scheduled bouts you get to play some entertaining training mini-games, which are almost all fun and entertaining, and which boost the stats of your boxer. With the money earned from winning prizefights, you can buy vitamin supplements to further enhance your character. This mode adds some replay to the game, although most gamers will tire of the repetitive nature of the mini-games quickly.

As long as you have some friends who are willing to play R2R Round 2 with you, this game is a must buy. It’s loaded with humorous moments and personality, and while it is just another button-masher at heart, it’s a damn good one, and worthy of your time.

Sound: 9 (Boxer voices are great, and the impact of blows can almost be felt)

Gameplay: 7 (It’s very good for a boxing game… but it’s still a boxing game – button mashing madness, anyone?)

Replay: 8 (There is a lot of stuff packed away into this game – 16 hidden characters, new costumes to unlock, special holiday costumes for certain characters, a lengthy and well thought out career mode. If you have the fortitude to wait through the slightly lengthy load times and unlock everything, it’ll take a long time.)

Overall: 8 (This is a major upgrade from the first R2R. There are three times as many boxers, better gameplay and loads of hidden stuff. One of the best multiplayer games available for Dreamcast)