4D Sports Boxing
| Developer: DSI | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Mindscape | Sound: |
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| Year: 1991 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Boxing | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 2 simultaneous | Rating: |
6/10 | |
Ah, the early days of polygonal 3D… In a surge of optimism, the developers even called it “4D”!
Your experience with this boxing simulator will vary depending on the system you’re using. On an Amiga 500, it’s an absolute train wreck: sluggish performance, outrageous loading times, and controls that lag—or outright ignore—you. On a souped-up Amiga 1200 with extra memory, possibly outfitted with a hard drive, it’s an entirely different fight, so to speak. The smooth animation (not exactly lightning-fast, but passable) allows you to appreciate the game’s innovative aspects, like multiple camera angles and the surprising first-person view from the ring, a novelty at the time. Add to that the ability to create and customise your boxer, tweak training focus (speed, power, endurance), and climb the rankings step by step, and there’s a certain sense of satisfaction.
Apparently, a wide range of moves is available, opening up different strategies. That didn’t exactly leap out at me…
A review in Amiga Action claims you can just activate auto-punch and walk straight forward to win. I gave it a go, and unfortunately, it’s true—at least up to a fairly advanced stage. I got bored long before reaching that point. Perhaps I should’ve tried the heavyweight division?
In the end, it’s an intriguing 3D experience with credible animations, but hamstrung by its lack of technical depth and pace. The original PC-DOS version, released the same year, is probably faster.
For similar games, you’ve got the obvious choices: Punch-Out (arcade, 1984), Super Punch-Out (arcade, 1984), and their respective adaptations for the NES and Super Nintendo.
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