Why have I not raved about this game yet?

Imagine for a second that someone managed to take everything that was good about Super Punch-out!!, and then add multiple playable characters…. and then finally ADD MULTIPLAYER. In a sense, that’s what you get with Hajime No Ippo on the Gameboy Advance.

Hajime No Ippo starts out with the story of Makunouchi Ippo, as he shifts from getting beat up by bullies to becoming something of a featherweight Tyson wannabe, only nicer. Stylistically he feels like a cross between Winky and Tyson cuz he HITS like Tyson and blocks like Winky. Well anyway, this game features him fighting against the various key boxers in his climb towards the Japan Featherweight belt. Interestingly enough Kobashi is not mentioned or in the game.

Upon starting a fight in this game, the first thing one will notice is that there is no enemy life bar. You’re expected to remember what his life and spirit are during the course of the fight, which already compliments the first person feel. The next thing to notice is the gauge on the left- it’s an indicator of distance between you and your opponent.

Unlike a lot of boxing games where each boxer is essentially a clone of everyone else, to some boxers, they fight more effectively at a certain distance. Date (da-tae) and Sendo prefer to stay exactly at 2, because some of their special moves will not hit at any other range, while Saeki prefers range 3 or 4, Mashiba prefers range 4, and Ippo does best at range 1. The other characters prefer range 2 but can fight a bit closer. Also, each character’s special abilities are truly different. Each one lends to a particular style due to differing amounts of yellow and red damage, and some can really floor another opponent early in the first round while others prefer to annoy and dance for several rounds, allowing damage to accumulate over time.

The controls are pretty simple- forward and backward move a boxer towards and away from opponents. Pressing B by itself will throw a jab, while a direction plus B throws various other punches- straights, hooks, uppercuts, and body shots. Only jabs and hooks can be combined into combinations, so they will undoubtedly be the most common punches seen thrown in any match. The A button dodges punches, and the direction can be combined to dodge in a certain direction, though not all boxers actually have dodges for each direction. Up and A is lean back, often a boxer’s lowest frame count dodge. Holding down the R button while pressing either B or A and a direction will initiate a speical attack or special defense, depending on which button was pressed and whether there is enough spirit to use it.

Let’s talk about the special moves more in-depth for a second. Each character has a spirit bar that starts at 10 for the first round. You build up spirit by punching your opponent (hitting their guard and getting hurt, to a lesser extent). Each special attack is a risky maneuver best thrown at the end of combos (because combos cannot be countered, possibly the only real gameplay flaw) and each attack costs a certain number of bars. For example, Hayami has a special attack that does little damage if it hits an opponent, but if applied to their guard will almost always break it in a singe flurry. Meanwhile, any of Sendo’s furious “Smash” hookercuts will cause immense yellow damage in a flash. They lack the serious damage of Ippo’s trademark liver punch, though. Date even has a blow that can instantly stun an opponent, though it is expensive to throw, it counters any special defense a player might erect to save their boxer from going down because the stun outlasts any effect. Two boxers even have flashy special moves: Ippo’s Dempsey Roll is almost useless due to its long startup time but WILL floor any opponent it connects with, and Shigeta’s taunt lowers the spirit of anyone who allows it to complete. Miyata’s special punches are borderline broken: his Jolt Counter is so powerful it floors an opponent with one shot, even as the FIRST punch Miyata can throw! The downside is that counterpunches cost spirit even when there is nothing to counter and the Jolt has a very small window. Its damage is also proportional to the punch countered, so a countered jab doesn’t do much lasting damage OR recoup much spirit. All fighters have some sort of special uppercut that can tack on extra damage for one spirit bar.

Special defenses run off the same spirit, so one must decide in advance whether to be aggressive or defensive, because there may not be enough spirit to do both. However, a properly applied special defense can save a boxer from kissing the canvas early. Ippo, Sendo, and a few other characters have Guard Cross, which not only instantly mends a broken guard, but makes it invincible for a short period. The other special is autododge, which tends to be superior as the character will dodge punches instead of blocking them for a short period, meaning the attacking opponent won’t get spirit for any attempts to hit you. There is also a larger window of counterattack opportunity. Date is a bit strange in this regard- instead of automatically dodging punches, he will twist his body to absorb about half the damage he would otherwise take. This effect is on ALL punches, even countered shots and punches he could not block due to being open to punches. While it doesn’t mend a broken guard, it does take the sting out an aggressive opponent. Some characters have both defenses, but one generally costs less than the other. Mashiba is strange in this regard- he has NEITHER, instead depending on his elbow jam (technically an offensive move) to keep fighters at bay. All fighters have the ability to use spirit to stand up when their bodies won’t allow it otherwise, but for some this is more expensive than others. Likewise, all fighters have the ability to use spirit to keep themselves on their feet, though again this is extremely expensive and probably not worth it if they have another way to avoid being punched.

The Sparring mode is some of the best I’ve seen in a game, allowing a person to have a quick match against a computer opponent, or check out how much damage a certain punch does on a dummy opponent by switching the second player to controller and the first to none. There are plenty of other togglable options, like timer, down limit, whether to have full spirit or max guard, and round limits. Unfortunately, there are only two venues to fight in.

Small touches like each fighter having a unique theme when fighting against them really add to the character of the game. The concept of mind over matter also adds an extra dimension to boxing, one that tends to be ignored in the bigger, flashier 3D games. Although a great deal of text and speech is in Japanese, there is enough English to get through the menus, understand which fighter is which, and even read the credits.

Overall, I think every boxing fan should check out this game. It is anything but the same old same old seen in most boxing games of the time, plus a great deal of punches and stances seen in the game are based on real life examples!

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