Whether you're a fan of Hajime no Ippo, boxing, or you're just looking for a cheap and fun game to play, step right up.
As a boxing game, VB2 is realistic; the power of your punches depend on several variables, such as the angle of your punch, the distance between your fist and your opponent, how much stamina you have, and so forth. Quick boxers who rely on footwork should not be slugging it out with bruisers. Mashing buttons will only hasten your opponent’s K.O. victory. Almost every boxer that appeared in the manga is present and accounted for in VB2, and they retain their unique special attacks and characteristics, save for a few; Arnie “Crocodile” Gregory, for example, does not have his devastating “Bloody Cross” technique. The variety of boxers available means that there’s someone for everyone, whether you prefer quick boxers, brawlers, or southpaws. There are no onscreen life bars, so you don’t know when you will score a knockdown, or if your fighter will be KO’d soon. This is a good thing, because it means anything can happen. The game modes available include story mode, exhibition, and tournament. Story mode attempts to recreate the storylines from the manga, but the end result is less than stellar. Spelling errors abound, and the pacing is very slow. Thankfully, you can fast forward or even skip scenes. Needless to say, one is better off reading the manga or watching the anime than following the story in VB2. Exhibition mode lets you fight a quick bout with a friend or the CPU. You can alter your boxer’s speed, power, or endurance in order to make matches end faster or last longer, and also to allow for handicap matches. Tournament mode is what one would expect; up to sixteen boxers can compete for the number one spot.
In Story mode, you control a boxer named Ippo Makunouchi and fight various boxers from the manga. Occasionally, you get to fight in matches using other boxers, including Ippo’s rival, Ichiro Miyata, and the three senior boxers, Masaru Aoki, Tatsuya Kimura, and Mamoru Takamura. At first, matches will last only four rounds, but as you get more experienced and progress through the game, matches will last longer and the opponents will get tougher. Some matches will really test your skill, as you have to be able to conserve energy, at and at the same time avoid getting pummeled. Mindless actions you perform in the early rounds will result in harsh consequences later. Should you get knocked down, your fighter will automatically get up under his own power. You have no direct control over how fast he gets up. In between rounds, your second—or trainer—will give you feedback on how you’re doing in the match. So, if your second says, “you’re taking too many punches,” then you should be dodging more often. Watch your fighter carefully, because you’ll be able to tell if he’s out of breath. Your second will also say as much, and suggest that you rest in the next round. It’s too bad there’s no facial damage, which was inexplicably removed from the sequel (the first game had this feature).
From an audiovisual standpoint, VB2 is nothing special. The presentation is plain as can be, but one can’t knock the game too much for this, since it’s a budget title. The fighters look like their manga counterparts for the most part, although VB2 is a game that would have benefited greatly from having cel-shaded graphics. The animations fare much better; each punch looks great, as do the dodging and reeling animations. The K.O. animations are appropriately exaggerated, and really give one the feeling that their opponent was hit hard. The music is simply background music, and nothing more. There isn’t much more to say about it.
VB2 has a few problems. There’s no tutorial or training mode of any kind, and that’s bad because the manual is flimsy and doesn’t explain everything there is to know. The difficulty spikes quite early, but this is mostly due to the lack of knowledge of how to play. Once you get to Jason Ozuma, prepare to be stuck fighting him many times while you get used to the controls. Since there’s no facial damage or blood of any kind, there’s no way to end a fight by taking advantage of an opponent who’s been cut. Blocking in VB2 is weird; the way blocking works is you must press the block button the moment a punch connects, almost like performing a parry or reversal in a fighting game. Blocking isn’t worth the trouble it takes to perform, so it’s better to just sway or duck any attacks. Lastly is the game balance, or the lack of it. Some boxers are clearly better than others, with Mamoru Takamura and Ricardo Martinez being at the top. Martinez in particular is what one would call “broken,” since he has no weaknesses and can take down even boxers who are several weight classes above him. On the other hand, the boxers are true to their manga counterparts (Martinez is undefeated with 68 wins!), so perhaps the developers considered the authenticity of a licensed game to be more important than game balance. At least you can modify the boxer’s stats in exhibition matches.
It’s too bad we did not get Victorious Road, the game with the create-a-boxer mode, but we should be glad that we got anything at all, because too many good games stay in Japan. VB2 has something for everyone to like about it. Boxing fans will find a realistic boxing game with actual footwork involved; fans of the anime/manga will like the fact that their favourite boxers have their signature moves and characteristics; and gamers on a budget will not find a better budget game (that isn’t a Greatest Hits title) than VB2.