A Lesson on How NOT To Revive an Old Game Series

Although the "Ready 2 Rumble" boxing series was never my cup of tea, none of the past series entries have received the type of scathing backlash that the latest Wii release (titled 'Revolution') has.

A series previously owned by Midway (who sold the license for their boxing franchise off after having troubling financial issues) and now the property of Atari, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Revolution was supposed to be a casual-friendly revival for this once moderately popular series. The Ready 2 Rumble name has been out of the loop for nearly eight years, after all (its last appearance being the early GameBoy Advance rendition of Round 2 in Spring 2001), so what better time for a Renaissance-style resurrection than now?

Unfortunately, Ready 2 Rumble Revolution looks as if its not the type of comeback that fans have been looking for. Like a harrowed sports legend past his prime and only dirtying his memory by making a pitiful reappearance, Revolution has received horrendously bad reviews thus far. Game Informer went as far to give it their lowest score possible (an appalling 1 out of 10, something that hasn't been given out to a single title in their publication for ages). Gamespot gave it a slightly higher (but still pitiful) 3.5 out of 10, noting that Revolution had an excellent amount of potential but that the atrocious controls and lame, stereotypical characters ruin the entire game.

From the poor recreation of boxing on Nintendo's original Wii Sports pack-in to Ready 2 Rumble Revolution (as well as the glut of shovel ware boxing titles found on the system in-between those two releases), no developer has gotten this sports genre correct on the Wii yet. This is a shame, as the Wii's unique controls could very well make for an engaging boxing experience if done right. Oh well.... maybe EA could release one of their acclaimed Fight Night titles on Nintendo's system in the future, provided it's not one of their dumbed-down "All Play" versions.

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Games That Never Were: Fear and Respect (Xbox 360, Playstation 3)

What do you get when you mix Midway, ‘hood film director John Singleton, Snoop Dogg, and Max Payne? Fear and Respect, the third-person action title that was originally revealed for the Playstation 2 and Xbox in 2004 and then was being re-tooled for the next generation of consoles. However, Midway put this title to rest over two years ago due to a crowded market of urban-themed action games.

This title starred Snoop Dogg and was set in South Los Angeles. John Singleton (of Boyz ‘n the Hood fame) added his talents to this release in terms of direction, and the game play was supposed to be similar to the Max Payne titles.

Beyond starring one of the most successful gangsta rap artists of all time and having a big-time director underneath its belt, Fear and Respect appeared as if it had little to offer compared to the other numerous urban third-person action titles released through the years. No matter how good an album Doggystyle was, I still can’t find myself excited to play as Snoop in a videogame (whether it was in the original True Crime as an unlockable character or in this).

Past entries in this series:

#1 - Capcom Fighting All-Stars
#2 - Frame City Killer
#3 - Vectorman