02.01.04 – Out of the Part Developments has officially released the long awaited Title Bout Championship Boxing, the definitive simulation of professional pugilism. The product is the culmination of literally thirty years of various efforts to portray the sport of boxing via board games and previous computer products. Now through the combined efforts of designers, programmer and graphic artist, Title Bout Championship Boxing produces the flavor, excitement and realism of the Squared Circle. With unerring accuracy, Title Bout allows you to restage historical boxing events, play matchmaker with over 3700 fighter from all eras, and even predict the results of upcoming bouts.
The strength of the game resides in the tremendous depth of its fighter base. Each fighter is rated in over three dozen categories and those conditions are stringently modified by the level of competition faced. Title Bout not only rates typical categories like power, defense and chin, but also pays scrupulous attention to areas like ring generalship, clinching, susceptibility to cuts, endurance and tendency to commit fouls.
Of course, accurately rated fighters are meaningless if a framework in which to use those fighters isn’t present. Title Bout provides the ultimate in flexibility as well. Because all fighters are rated relative to one another, era crossover is possible and produces fascinating “What if” bouts. Match Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Louis or Oscar de la Hoya against Sugar Ray Robinson. Fight the fights that should have happened but didn’t, like Jack Dempsey against Harry Wills.
If “What If” bouts don’t score knockouts with you, then recreate historical fights. Fighters can be set to one of five career stages, allowing you to modify a boxer’s prime ratings automatically to product the exact conditions in a bout. Set Ali at the End of Career stage and Larry Holmes to his prime and watch the drama unfold as the torch is passed once and for all.
In addition to the fighters, referees, corner men, and judges have also been thoroughly researched and rated accordingly. Strict refs will call more fouls, better cut men will reduce swelling and control bleeding more effectively and indecisive judges will score more 10-10 rounds.
Title Bout Championship Boxing offers an unprecedented number of features as well. Fight double elimination tournaments; set up a Fight Card, see the calculated odds and bet on the fights; use the auto-scheduler to fight two fighters against each other 1000 times, walk away and minutes later come back to detailed reports on the outcome of the bouts.
If you like to get more involved, Title Bout puts you in the corner during a fight and lets you not only select round-by-round strategies for your fighter, but also decide to the second how you wish to spend the minute between rounds.
Finally, the number of statistics produced for analysis is staggering, especially considering that the sport does not lend itself to statistics in the way that team sports do. However, Title Bout’s Top Ten lists alone can produce over 1500 different combinations; and in each bout, every punch is tracked, every knockdown for and against recorded, and every type of win and loss compiled. Looking at an individual fighter’s statistics will reveal not only how many knockdowns he’s scored but in what rounds that were scored; the stats will show not only how accurate a puncher the fighter is but the percentage of punches landed against him as well, measuring the fighter’s defense in the process.
The hundreds of features that make Title Bout Championship Boxing the jewel of sports simulations can’t be recounted in a brief press release. The ease of the interface, the sound effects, and the accessibility of all modules in the simulation must be experienced to be appreciated.