How to play Fight Night online
Fight Night uses the joystick and one fire button (Z). The direction you push does something different depending on whether the button is held down or not:
- Jab: hold Z and press the up arrow
- Body blow: hold Z and press the down arrow
- Fake jab / fake body blow: hold Z and press left / right
- Guard up / guard down: up / down arrow without the button
- Move left / right: left / right arrow without the button
- Back to the event menu: F2 (Select)
- Restart the current event: F3 (Reset)
- Pause: F4
Both the USA (NTSC) and Europe (PAL) releases are on the site; use the switch above the emulator to change between them.
Gameplay
A match has three rounds of three minutes each. You win by knocking out your opponent with punches to the face and body. If both boxers are still standing at the end, the one with more points takes the decision. Your guard matters: keeping it up reduces the damage from jabs, and keeping it down protects against body blows.
The selection screen offers four events:
- Main Event: fight eleven contenders in a row, each one stronger than the last, on the way to the title.
- Training: practise punching, footwork and timing. In Follow mode the computer calls out moves for you to copy; in Lead mode you choose your own.
- Sparring Match: try out tactics against a computer opponent.
- Tournament: you and a friend put your boxers against each other in a round-robin contest.
The twelve boxers have comic names and ranks, from Dip Stick at number 12, through fighters such as Little Moe, Macho Man, Kid Kastro, Wing Ding and British Bulldog, up to Mike Bison at number 2 and the champion, Bronx Bomber. Each has his own strengths and weaknesses.
Tips
- Learn the two-layer controls in Training first. Mixing up “button held” and “button released” is the most common way to drop your guard by accident.
- Match your guard to the attack. If an opponent keeps jabbing, stay high; if he works the body, drop your guard.
- Use the fakes. A fake jab can pull your opponent’s guard up and open him to a body blow.
- Don’t give up on points. If you can’t land the knockout, a busy, accurate fight can still win the decision.
The story behind Fight Night
The original Fight Night was developed by Sydney Development Corporation and published by Accolade in 1985 for the Apple II, the Commodore 64 and Atari’s 8-bit computers. Those versions let you customise your own boxer. It sold well on the Commodore 64, where it became one of Accolade’s best sellers.
The 7800 version was made by Imagineering for Atari, with a manual dated 1988. It keeps the cast of colourful fighters, though AtariAge points out that the twelve boxers are built on only six different character designs, and that the special punches some boxers have are used only by the computer, not by human players. The British magazine Computer and Video Games rated the 7800 version 80% in 1989.
