Foreman For Real

Lore & Background

Foreman For Real is a boxing video game that follows the arcade style of Punch-Out!!, offering three modes: exhibition, career, and tournament. Players can choose between three rounds (amateur) or twelve rounds (professional). The career mode starts the player at the bottom of world rankings, with wins advancing them until they face George Foreman for the world heavyweight championship belt. Passwords allow careers to be resumed from certain points, and a coach provides advice on opponents' strengths and weaknesses.

Reader's Guide

The game was released in 1995 across multiple platforms, including the Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Critics universally panned it for its simplistic and unexciting gameplay, low production values, and technical flaws. GamePro's Greasy Gus noted the Super NES version had faster gameplay and better graphics than the Genesis version but remained mediocre, with an unresponsive crowd. Tommy Glide of the same magazine criticized the Genesis version's stiff gameplay and poor audio, where music drowned out sound effects and punch noises resembled bad kung fu sounds from 1970s films. Next Generation gave the Genesis version one out of five stars, calling it one of the poorer boxing efforts ever released, with gameplay reduced to blind button mashing. Video Games The Ultimate Gaming Magazine gave the game a 5 out of 10, praising graphics but criticizing playability, speed, and lack of variety, advising readers to instead pick up Electronic Arts' Foes of Ali. The game's legacy is as a poorly received title that failed to build on its predecessor.

Did You Know?

• The game uses digitized sprites to represent the boxers, a common technique for the era, not a proprietary Acclaim technology.
• Two camera views are available during gameplay.
• An AI-controlled judge helps determine the score of each round.
• The crowd shows no reaction to developments in the fight, according to GamePro's review.