Real Boxing Critic Reviews

From the boxers’ entrances to the lowered house lights, Vivid Games has done a great job of making Real Boxing feel as authentic as possible. Fans of the sport and simulated fighting aficionados alike will get a lot out of this offering, and with a multiplayer mode bringing even more to the ring, this is a knockout port.

It may not be anything ground-breaking but I feel the title should be regarded as one of the Vita’s best games yet. With vastly improved visuals, animations and control schemes over the mobile version, Real Boxing on the Vita is surely the best version of the game to get.

Not the most original title for a game, but do not let that fool you. This boxing game already appeared on iOS devices with a cheaper price tag, but the Vita version looks much sharper. Too bad the touch screen controls are a bit of a letdown.

From the ‘no pain, no gain’ training mini-games to the upgradable boxer who forges a career by slowly skilling-up in various attributes, the influence of early boxing simulations can be seen all over Vivid Games’ Real Boxing.

Nonetheless, it's still a fun, well-made game that will meet the needs of any boxing enthusiasts who are in the mood for a little on-the-go pugilism.

Real Boxing has a lot of the core fundamentals in place. It has customizable fighters, training mini-games, a career mode and competent multiplayer online matches. Unfortunately, the whole thing is marred by simplistic controls, cheesy animation and computer opponents that don't put up much of a fight. The groundwork is done, but Real Boxing comes up short of the KO!

Manages to be suitably addictive.

For some quick bouts on the go, Real Boxing does an admirable job of capturing the sport and presenting it to the player in an accessible and satisfying way.

A realistic simulation of the sport that offers up an enjoyable boxing experience, and is only let down by lacklustre training modes and touchscreen controls.

It isn’t a perfect encapsulation of the sport, but it is the best one to have appeared on any handheld in recent memory, and one which makes fine use of the Unreal Engine to generate some high-fidelity looks on the Vita’s OLED screen.

Even with its shortcomings Vivid Games has done an admirable job of bringing a somewhat fairly authentic feel to a boxing game for the PS Vita. Sure, it has a few issues but it has enough going for it that most gamers and fans of the sport will like it.

If you're a huge fan of boxing games and have been itching for something to fill that void, Real Boxing may do it for you -- otherwise, just keep waiting.

Without the online multiplayer to sustain the title outside of its short lived single player campaign, there just isn’t that much game here and even though it’s priced well at a modest $9.99, I feel it’s a title for the hardcore boxing game fans that have been waiting for a dose of action on the go and nobody else.

It’s casual in that it’s a fighting game that doesn’t require the memorization of combos.

At a couple of quid less we’d suggest that most people think about giving it a punt (or, indeed, a jab?) but for now this will probably remain in the quite small ‘passionate about boxing, owns a Vita’ niche.

Real Boxing is decent if you don't mind predictable boxing, a shallow creation system, inconsistent controls and an abandoned online community.

Real Boxing’s biggest sin is that it’s just too boring. In fact, it’s not even that real. The game isn’t actually simulationist at all. It’s far more arcade-y than anything else. It’s a lot like a fighting game, except each character has the exact same moveset with slight differences to their strength and HP. This combined with the lack of game modes and customization options, makes the game fall short of other Vita titles.