Sprt: Universal Boxing Manager [by Winterwolves]

A boxing manager game is not something that you see every day, in fact, I'm not sure that I've ever seen one at all before this.  Perhaps that is some of the charm of Universal Boxing Manager, presenting to you a game type that you've never seen before.  In this case the game is a pretty good one as well.

Universal Boxing Manager puts you in place as a manager of one to three boxers, based on how old you make yourself when starting the game (you can get up 6 boxers you are).  The older you are, the more boxers you have under you when you start out the game.  Your goal in the game is to try and make your boxers the best out there in their respective divisions.  The way you do this is by buying equipment and staff, as well as using your skills as a manager that you choose when starting the game.  Your skills and your boxer's effort with the training equipment will improve your boxer's abilities so that they are more prepared for the fights that await them.

The fights themselves are one of the more interesting points of the game.  Instead of just sim-ing the boxing match, in UBM you can actually manage the fight.  What this means is that you can choose where the boxer will be trying to throw their punches, whether they will be on the aggressive or the defensive and how you will interact with the boxer (by trying to incite him for example).  Fighting this way I've found I got much better results than when I let the computer sim my fights, but the unfortunate side to doing so (depending on how you look at it) is that fights done in the this fashion take a lot more playing time then just hitting the 'Sim' button. 

A big portion of the game has to do with arranging fights, managing your boxer's contracts and keeping your budget balanced.  Much like the American government, I found myself wanting the best of everything, and so I quickly went bankrupt each of the three times I played through to my demise. 

The graphics in UBM are very solid using what appears to be Poser images throughout to create the many different faces and bodies that are used in the game.  The only really bad piece of art is the woman that announces the rounds, she is frighteningly scary, so be warned.  Though the game lacks music it does have some basic sound effects. 

Overall I was pretty impressed with UBM, I think it is quite a bit stronger in overall play value then the Soccer Manager games that Winterwolves had already released, and those were pretty good.  There is a lot of play in this one, though the difficulty may keep you at bay for a little while trying to survive both budgeting and managing.

Added: May 21st 2004
Reviewer: Russell Carroll
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