EA Sports picked up and ran with the Ready 2 Rumble concept in Facebreaker a few months ago, so now seems like an appropriate time for the original series to make a comeback. Atari has apparently picked up the franchise rights from Midway, and they're now pushing out Ready 2 Rumble Revolution on the Wii.
The game has the kind of motion-based boxing gameplay you'd expect from, well, a Wii boxing game. Announcer Michael Buffer (the "Let's get ready to rummmmmmmbblllllllllllllllle!!!!!!!!!!!!" guy) is onboard, and all the included characters are patterned after celebrities. The three in my demo resembled Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Hasselhoff, and...Shawn White? Sure!
There's a surprisingly involved character creator in Revolution that lets you pick a nickname that Buffer will verbalize from time to time, as well as fighting styles that influence the sort of animations and special attacks your dude or dudette will have available. You get some goofy results by mixing different body parts, clothing styles, and fighting types (especially between both genders). There are a bunch of motion-based minigames that you can play to buff up your created boxer's stats, too.
Revolution seems about like what you'd expect from a new Ready 2 Rumble game on the Wii. It isn't exactly going to make you put down Fight Night if you're into serious boxing games, but there's comedy value in the Hollywood caricatures and created characters, and the boxing action itself has an amusing party-game feel that might be entertaining at your next drunken gathering.
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