FRANK BRUNO'S BOXING
THE CLONE THAT REACHED THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT

► THE STORY BEHIND THE GAME

Frank Bruno's Boxing is one of those games where the story behind its development is almost more interesting than the game itself. Elite Systems secured the rights to British boxer Frank Bruno — at the time one of the most popular fighters in the UK — to create this boxing title that was, in truth, a fairly brazen clone of Nintendo's arcade Super Punch-Out!!

The development method was peculiar even by 1985 standards: Elite captured frames from the original arcade and used them as the basis for the game's sprites. Not exactly what we'd call legitimate development today, but it was a more common practice than publishers would publicly admit.

► SCREENSHOT GALLERY

📷 See real screenshots at Lemon64 and MobyGames (links below)

► GAMEPLAY: PURE ARCADE ACTION

The game put you in the boots of Frank Bruno, who had to defeat 8 opponents with different fighting styles to become world champion. The mechanics were simple but addictive: high punches, low punches, dodges, and the key skill of reading your opponent's movements to find the perfect opening.

It wasn't a technical simulator and didn't pretend to be. It was pure arcade, designed for fast, exciting matches. The control combined joystick and keyboard, which didn't suit everyone, and the difficulty could be quite frustrating in the later bouts. Even so, the mechanic of counter-punching at exactly the right moment was addictive enough to keep you trying one more time.

One interesting gameplay detail: to access each new opponent you needed to enter a code linked to your fighter's name. Primitive, yes, but it was the way to protect progress in an era without internal memory.

► GRAPHICS: SIZE ABOVE ALL

For something essentially redrawn from arcade captures, the result was visually striking for 1985. The sprites were enormous by the standards of the era, with reasonably fluid animations and an on-screen presence that home games rarely achieved.

The loading screen had a very British detail: it showed a television with four channel buttons labelled BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and ITV2, exactly like the televisions sold in the UK in the late 1970s. A nod that players of the era would have appreciated.

► SOUND: THE ROCKY THEME ON THE C64

The game included the famous Rocky theme as background music, giving you a considerable adrenaline boost before entering the ring. The sound effects for punches and knockouts did what was needed without standing out particularly, but the SID chip did enough to maintain the atmosphere.