The 10 Best Boxing Games of All Time

[00:02] heavyweight champion boxer Duke Kilroy returns to London after 8 years in prison on a quest for vengeance against the man responsible for taking comes courtesy of Curtis 50 Cent Jackson. And to commemorate the premiere

[00:16] of Fightland, IGN has put together a list of the 10 best boxing games of all list of the 10 best boxing games of all time, presented by Fightland. Number 10, Arms. Arms is an early Nintendo Switch game that feels like it got left behind.

[00:29] It's a weird take on the boxing genre, part boxing, part sci-fi anime weirdness. If you hadn't already figured out from the name, the characters have crazy arms they use to bludgeon each other in a classic fighting style.

[00:41] They're spring-loaded, like the sort of gag you might see in an old cartoon where a boxing glove springs up from an upturned fedora or from beneath a manhole. Arms is kind of a hidden gem when it comes to Switch games. It's a

[00:53] ton of fun, it's completely goofy, and it's one of a handful of original Switch games with a free Switch to upgrade. It's a serious look at the future of boxing if the sport had evolved only within the confines of cartoons, at

[01:05] least. >> Let's get READY TO RUMBLE! >> LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE! >> NUMBER NINE, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing. >> Much like Arms, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing eschews reality for the cartoony in this

[01:20] pick-up-and-play boxing game from 1999. It channels the charms and personality of the caricatures in the NES release of Punch-Out while adding the simple ability to beat up your friends in this effortlessly simple boxing game.

[01:33] >> SOMEBODY GET A CALL [screaming] THE DOCTOR! >> It's got combos and some level of strategy for those who desire it, but at the end of the day, this is a classic 1v1 boxing game that sheds complexity

[01:46] for the timeless ability of beating the snot out of your buddies all from the snot out of your buddies all from the comfort of your couch. game at its core, the original Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, later renamed

[02:01] Punch-Out featuring Mr. Dream, is the home console version of the arcade game don't think it's too much of a stretch to say the NES version is the one people think of immediately when they think of the Punch-Out franchise. It's a tale as

[02:16] old as time. A scrappy upstart enters the world of professional boxing to rise in the ranks and take on the heavyweight champion of the world. Even decades later, a run-through Punch-Out still delivers on fun and skill. Half the

[02:29] battle, at least at first, is figuring out just how to hit your opponent. As you move up in the ranks, you start to have to figure out how to not get hit yourself. And if you make it to the final match against Tyson or Mr. Dream,

[02:41] well, good luck. I still haven't beaten him, and I've been trying my whole life. cartoony, but there is something to be said about up-and-coming boxers having

[02:56] Much like Duke Kelroy taking on the streets of London and exacting his everything from him. >> I'm relentless. And I'll never stop. >> Number seven, Ready 2 Rumble: Round 2.

[03:10] represent an enormous evolution in the original's impetuously over-the-top brand arcade boxing, it did get to write its own chapter in PlayStation history as a launch title for the PS2 in North America. This made Ready 2 Rumble: Round

[03:25] 2 one of our first tastes of the bleeding edge future that then new PS2 promised us back in 2000. And for that, it will always remain a sentimental favorite. It's still an approachable button masher at heart, but there

[03:39] remains a handful of combos to learn for skilled players who want to dominate their opponents. Ready 2 Rumble: Round 2 added a layered special meter, which, when fully powered up, would knock rivals out of the ring entirely for

[03:51] instant wins. Oh, and it also added Shaq, Bill Clinton, and Michael Jackson. Jackson! >> They call ME THE KING OF POP.

[04:03] >> We still maintain it would have been a lot funnier if he only wore one glove. lot funnier if he only wore one glove. >> [screaming]

[04:17] on the popular anime manga series Hajime no Ippo, Victorious Boxers 2 Fighting Spirit was the reigning king of the video game boxing ring until it was eventually dethroned by EA's Fight Night series. And even then, you're sure to

[04:31] find those who prefer the potent blend of fun anime-inspired boxing action mixed with surprisingly deep boxing mechanics that let you bob and weave to slip punches, utilize signature techniques, and just dart around the

[04:44] ring with satisfying movement. It also has a surprisingly robust story mode that took you pretty much through the entire anime, covering more than 120 episodes worth of fights. Whether you're a boxing fan, a Hajime no Ippo fan, or

[04:59] are on the outskirts looking to get into either of those two things, Victorious Boxers 2 is definitely something that should be on your radar to check out. Number five, Punch-Out Wii. Punch-Out for the Nintendo Wii added exactly what

[05:12] we all wanted from a boxing game, motion controls. It's still a blast to simulate boxing with a traditional controller, but Punch-Out on the Wii felt like exactly what the Wii motion controls were built for. That being said, you can

[05:24] still control it in the traditional way if you prefer. Similar to its predecessors, half the skill is about just figuring out how to land a punch and score a knockdown against a group of ridiculously cartoonish boxers, many of

[05:37] whom are franchise staples like Piston Honda and King Hippo. There are new fighters, too, like Disco Kid. The complexity of the fights has been iterations without making it feel bloated or unapproachable. If you've

[05:51] never experienced Punch-Out for the Wii, it might be time to dust the old console off and set up your motion sensor and grab a copy off eBay. Number four, Undisputed. Undisputed marks the first realistic boxing game on this list with

[06:05] all prior entries leaning into whimsy. The era of Fight Night games had left a void that no other game managed to fill until Undisputed, a game that prides itself on its ability to showcase a convincing simulation of a boxer rising

[06:19] through the ranks of the boxing world via its career mode. Plus, Undisputed's RPG-like approach to crafting boxers allows you to build a fighter to your liking while still dealing with the struggles of being unable to build a

[06:31] perfect fighter. So, your defensive fighter might be able to take a punch and avoid them entirely at the cost of stamina and power. Plus, the career mode also allows you to role-play the circumstances around the fight, like who

[06:44] to fight, earnings received, social media promotion, and so on. Undisputed is very much about understanding your opponent in and outside the ring and managing the politics and [music] PR of your boxing career. A lesson Duke no

[06:58] doubt learned as a young boxer, but a lesson Hall needs to remember as he tries to understand why his [music] career was sabotaged.

[07:23] Punch-Out for the Super NES is the absolute perfection of the original NES version. It makes some big changes to the original systems in place, like throwing rounds completely out of the equation in favor of [music] a single

[07:36] three-minute bout. Counters are also better rewarded and more flexible than in the original, and the super punches are more than just a devastating uppercut like in the first game. But what really makes Super Punch-Out shine

[07:48] above the rest are its gorgeous, gigantic, 16-bit sprites. The art style on an already excellent [music] step forward for the franchise with colorful

[08:00] characters to battle both literally and metaphorically. Don't believe me? Have a look at Mad Clown or Masked Muscle or really any of the fighters. Nintendo's Punch-Out may not have the recognizability of the NES version or

[08:15] the novelty of the Wii version, but it's definitely the best of the series and deserves a spot on any boxing game list. As [music] ridiculous as the whole series is. Number two, Fight Night Round 4. Some Fight Night fans remain

[08:29] dedicated to Fight Night Round 3 as their all-time personal favorite, and it's a fine choice. It was a dazzling debut for the series on the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation. Its fighting was brutal but approachable, and it was a terrific

[08:44] final swing from the then series [music] custodians, EA Chicago. For others, custodians, EA Chicago. For others, however, 2009's Fight Night Round 4 is the king of the ring, and there are several solid reasons why. Developed by

[08:57] EA Canada, Round 4 introduced a deeper physics-based fighting system. In Round 3, basically everything outside of the knockdowns was pre-canned animation, but that wasn't the case in Round 4. Movements were fluid, [music] and no two

[09:11] fights ever really looked the same. Fight Night Round 4 was also the first to feature the greatest fantasy matchup in boxing history, allowing players to finally pit Mike Tyson against Muhammad Ali.

[09:24] Number one, Fight Night Champion. The Fight Night series may [music] be sadly defunct these days, but it remains the gold standard in video game boxing. amongst PlayStation [music] pugilists and Xboxers regarding which Fight Night

[09:39] specifically represents the purity of the sweet science [music] at its absolute best. However, there's little doubt that for a generation weaned on Rocky movies, 2011's Fight Night Champion was a boxing video game

[09:51] experience like no other. It's knockout hook is its titular Champion Mode, a story-driven campaign starring a fighter called Andre Bishop. It weaves typical Fight Night boxing action with a bevy of cutscenes that stitch the whole [music]

[10:05] tale of the tape together. Champion Mode may have simply played the hits, wheeling out the corrupt boxing promoter and a savvier and more sensible daughter, the jealous brother, the arrogant heel, and the old-fashioned

[10:17] trainer in a flat cap, but it completely nailed the execution. After out-strategizing big bad Isaac Frost in the final fight, the final instruction from trainer [music] Gus comes as a truly chest-thumping moment that remains

[10:31] unique in the sports game genre. >> This is your fight. >> This is your fight. >> Now, Andre, take [music] it to him.

[10:52] boxing game in the business, [music] it's one of the most memorable sports of game that makes you [music] love a sport you may have never had interest in. Maybe you too could be the heavyweight champion of the world, but

[11:05] first you'll have to take on Duke Kilroy. And there you have it, IGN's 10 forget a classic that you'd like to fight for? Let us know in the comments. hand-to-hand showdowns, check out the premiere of Fight Land on Stars July

[11:19] 31st. And for more on all things gaming, stay tuned to IGN.