How to play RealSports Boxing online
All punches are thrown by holding the button and pushing the joystick at the same time. Without the button, the joystick simply moves your boxer.
- Move around the ring: arrow keys
- Jab: hold Space and press the arrow towards your opponent
- Cover up: hold Space and press the arrow away from your opponent
- Body blow: hold Space and press the down arrow
- Payoff punch: hold Space and press the up arrow
- Player 2: T/F/G/H to move, A as the button
- One or two players: F11 (the console’s Select switch)
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Stronger or weaker computer opponent: F4 toggles the left difficulty switch
Gameplay
Before the fight you choose your boxer: move the joystick until the one you want blinks, then press the button. The four contenders are Iron Fists, Jabbin’ Jack, Lefty O’Leary and Macho Man. Each round runs on a clock shown at the bottom centre of the screen.
Landing punches scores points and builds up your strength bar. The payoff punch is worth the most, then the body blow, then the jab, and a boxer can score at most 99 points in a fight. The yellow part of the bar shows how far ahead you are, and once the lead is big enough the bar starts to blink: that is your chance to knock the other boxer down. A downed boxer who still has enough strength gets up at the count of nine. You can also win by technical knockout by landing 12 punches in a row while your opponent fails to punch back, get away or cover up. If nobody is knocked out after seven rounds, the boxer with more points wins on a decision.
The four boxers and tips
- Iron Fists has weak ribs. Stand toe to toe and use body blows.
- Jabbin’ Jack has a glass jaw. Get above him in the ring and hit him with a payoff punch.
- Lefty O’Leary has a weak stomach. Get below him and throw a low body blow.
- Macho Man is the toughest, but a payoff punch thrown toe to toe will put him down.
Two simple habits help: cover up as soon as you take a few punches in a row, so the run never becomes a technical knockout, and save your best punch for the moment your strength bar starts to blink. While you learn, leave the left difficulty switch on B for a weaker computer boxer.
History
Atari launched the RealSports range in the early 1980s, and after Jack Tramiel took over the company in 1984 the brand was mostly dropped. RealSports Boxing was one of the exceptions. It was Atari’s first boxing game for a home system, written from scratch rather than adapted from another version. The finished NTSC and PAL versions are dated August and September 1987, and the game came out in December. It appeared prominently in the advertising for the Atari 2600 Jr. console, yet it seems to have had a more limited distribution than other titles of the time, and collectors now rate it as scarce. DeMeo later reused its program as the basis for Absolute Entertainment’s Title Match Pro Wrestling.
Similar games to play next
- Boxing – Activision’s 1980 boxing match, seen from above
- Title Match Pro Wrestling – the wrestling game built on this game’s code
- Pete Rose Baseball – another late sports game designed by Alex DeMeo
- RealSports Tennis – another entry in Atari’s RealSports series
- K.O. Cruiser – a modern homebrew boxing game with six opponents