Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory

Story

Based on the popular Shonen Jump manga Hajime No Ippo, Victorious Boxers follows the trials and tribulations of junior high student Ippo Machanuchi. Machanuchi first learns to box to stand up for himself but is quicklydrawn into the world of japanese amatuer boxing. The game follows several key matches from the anime and manga, giving little exposition in between, chronicaling Ippo's rise in the ranks.
 

Gameplay

The game utilizes the four face buttons on the dual shock to control left and right punches, while the choulder buttons block and modify the punches. There are two ways to incoporate bobbing and weaving in Victorious Boxers. One way was a much touted full analog control that would put the player into bob and weave mode if the stick was pushed lightly. This feature was not always consistant so it was much easier to instead toggle the bob and weave by holding a shoulder button while moving the left analog stick.
 
This made for more tactical matches and the inclusion of a key boxing componant that was, until then, not present in Boxing Games. A similar feature would be used in the seminal Fight Night Round 3 some years later.