Well, it's not EXACTLY the same as Heavyweight Champ - your character's had his head shaved so that he looks like George Foreman - but in every other way this is totally and utterly identical to the Master System game Heavyweight Champ reviewed way back in issue 19. It got 67% then, but that was over a year ago - how does it shape up now on the little hand-held?

Er... oh dear. In the original review Neil and Andy said 'In one player mode you'll have it beaten before the end of the day', and nothing's changed now. George Foreman's KO Boxing provides you with just four opponents to club around the head before you win the world title, and that's a task that you'll complete comfortably inside four or five attempts, maximum. So how come it managed 67%? Well, on the Master System the game boasted a two-player mode which was good fun and extended its life immeasurably. That's present here too, but the crucial difference now is that instead of forking out £25 to play the two-player mode on the Master System, you'll have to pay £60 for two copies of the Game Gear cart and a fiver for a Game Link cable to join 'em up with. Not a very good deal when you look at it like that, is it?

But anyway, just in case you're really masochistic or something and you still want to know what the game's about (and you're too lazy to go and find a back copy of issue 19), I'll give you a quick rundown. You play top fat old baldy George Foreman, you tackle four boxers in a row, you can win by either a knockout (pummel the other guy so much he falls down and can't get up again), a technical knockout (knock the other guy down three times in the same round), or on points. The referee awards between seven and 10 points to each boxer after each of the 10 rounds, and the one with the most points if both boxers are still standing at the end is declared the winner. You have a fabulous arsenal of five (count 'em!) different punches with which to clobber your comrade in combat, plus a 'Superpunch' which acts as a kind or, er, super punch. Unfortunately you only get three of these per bout, but you can buy more with the experience points you get after winning each bout (between two and four depending on how stylishly you win). Alternatively, you can use the points to improve one of your three ratings (punch power, recovery, and footwork).

And, rather horrifically, that's all there is to it. You've got almost as much chance of winning if you just press the joypad and fire buttons completely at random and don't bother watching the screen anyway, so none of it really matters in any case. You'd have to be mad to spend money on this.

GRAPHICS 7

SOUND 5

ADDICTION 4

BRAINPOWER 2

FRUSTRATION LOW

TIME TO COMPLETE A couple of hours

UPPERS

Looks pretty groovy

Realistically tiring over 10 rounds

Good fun with two players...

DOWNERS

...but it's not worth buying two carts and a link cable for.

Incredibly elementary gameplay

Very little skill required

Really repetitive

You'll beat it in no time at all

Not much in the way of frills

...or thrills.

SEGA POWER SAYS

Very uninspired boxing game that you'll get very little play out of for your money. But then, when was a boxing game ever any good anyway?

28%