World Championship Boxing Manager 2 Review (Nintendo Switch OLED)

by Jim Smale · Published May 22, 2023 · Updated May 22, 2023

For our World Championship Boxing Manager 2 Review, where the boxing world is at our fingertips in this deeply detailed and outrageously entertaining sports management simulation. Enlist competitive fighters, recruit top-notch staff, and ride the hype train all the way to endorsement city! Watch your fighter rise to the top, or get KO’d trying.

World Championship Boxing Manager 2 Review Pros:

Decent pixel art graphics.
1GB download size.
Own in-game achievements that pop up when earned.
Game settings – camera shake and fog options.
Knowledge is a menu that houses all the info on boxing like gloves and techniques. You get cool art and animated sequences.
Two game modes – story and career.
Career mode is where you start at the bottom and work your way to the top.
Story mode has eight scenarios to choose from.
Boxing manager gameplay.
Cutscenes/interactions are voice and text, and you can auto-scroll or skip them.
In-game cutscenes/interactions.
Fully voiced characters.
A new story game lets you choose from boxers who all have unique stats.
Hire and fire team members to add buffs, and abilities and affect how your boxer is trained.
Multiple choice encounters.
In story mode, you can choose what to do each day from the gym to the clinic and lounging.
Trinkets can be earned from fights and grant bonuses.
Your schedule allows you to book into upcoming tournaments and events and even advertise your own open to all fights.
Advertise events with in-game cash to increase your boxer’s visibility.
The gym lets you do either state or skill training with each session costing energy and adding stress.
You can improve all elements of the facilities.
Working out improves stats and can unlock new more efficient workouts.
The clinic can help lower boxer stress and mend any injuries.
The lounge is where you go to lower stress.
Clock-out can end a day or to a specific date through the calendar.
Decent soundtrack.
All fights are automated.
Between rounds, you can give tactics to your boxer.
Four fight speeds can be changed on the fly.
Uses items to heal wounds or replenish energy in between rounds.
The end-of-match breakdown shows damage, punches were thrown, damage dealt, and rounds.
Boxers have an energy bar showing.
Animated spectators and coaches.
You can win by Knockout or the scorecards.
When winning a championship you can choose to applaud or scold your boxers for an increase or decrease in a state.
In-game stats and records that take all boxers into account.
Combo counters and damage numbers pop up.
Can get very addictive as you do tournament after tournament.
Earn cash from fights.
You can equip only one trinket at a time and each has a rating on how good they are.
End-of-game breakdowns showing any changes in stats.
The training lets you pick activities and show what stats are affected.
Career mode has you choosing your manager and your boxer who you can edit and customize, including renaming.

World Championship Boxing Manager 2 Review Cons:

You only have one scenario available in the story mode at first.
Having to click each event is a pain in the schedule as you have to do so much clicking.
Cannot rebind controls.
Loading times can take a while.
It takes a bit of time to get going with new strategies etc.
Feels very much like luck is the true enemy.
It loses some of the boxing feel as it’s a race to empty the enemy’s health bar and doesn’t have knockdowns and get-ups.
Cold menus with not a lot of music or anything engaging.
For handheld play, it’s not as snappy as you would like.
Cannot pause when in the fights.
No save option in the menus.
The whole applaud or scold options boil down to always doing what is green (good) for your fighter.
Doesn’t offer any online leaderboards.
It’s basically a video game version of Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots.
Trinkets break after five uses.
Not all of it is straightforward like setting up and doing the training.

World Championship Boxing Manager 2:

Official website.

Developer: Mega Cat Studios, Inc.

Publisher: Ziggurat Games

Store Links –

Nintendo

8/10

Graphics - 8/10
7/10

Sound - 7/10
7/10

Accessibility - 7/10
8/10

Length - 8/10
7/10

Fun Factor - 7/10

7.4/10

Summary

Boxing sim games like this are a mixed bag for me because they look cool, but the endless onslaught of menus puts me off. Here we have a game that is more a Rock ’em Sock ’em than anything else for the fighting is just each fighter going toe to toe and it’s a race to wipe out the other boxers’ health bar within the round timer or it goes to the judges. The menus that I dread are still not engaging or fun here but you do have a lot of control on how your boxer progresses. You can set up specific or custom workouts that change stats, and deal with player stress that is acquired from fighting, your interactions with them, and from training. Recruit more boxers and have them compete for your attention. It’s a solid package with a lot going on but it won’t be the game that changes your view on these types of games and is very much a game for the gamers that already like the genre and style. It’s a good one of those and whilst I’m not a huge fan I did enjoy my many hours with it.