Boxing Star
By Paul Semel,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Fun arcade boxing a knockout; objectification is a low blow.
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Boxing Star
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What’s It About?
Like boxing movies, BOXING STAR casts you as an amateur brawler who has to fight his way through the ranks for his shot at the big time. That means starting at the very bottom of your career with street fights before making your way through the ranks, inching ever closer to that title bout. While there's some drama around fights, most of it's just there to motivate you to keep fighting as you go for a title.
Is It Any Good?
With solid controls and a good mix of opponents, this arcade-style boxing game will easily appeal to casual fans of the sweet science. In Boxing Star, you play a wannabe professional boxer who, naturally, has to fight his way to the top. Starting in the streets, and then moving through fight clubs, you have to use a series of taps and swipes to throw jabs and uppercuts. You'll also need to duck and block incoming shots, and occasionally launch a special attack. It's all very arcade-like, and a little cartoonish, which is why this will appeal more to fans of such arcade-like boxing video games as Super Punch-Out!! than hardcore followers of the sport.
It doesn't help that, in some fights, your boxer is far weaker than his opponent, and will only win through sheer luck. Also, there's clearly no balance between how the sexes are represented in the game. There's no option to play as a woman, and the so-called "ring girl" is as scantily clad as she is well-endowed, which seems like blatant objectification. Still, even with these problems, Boxing Star has the tight controls and depth to keep fighters plugging away.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in video games. How is the impact of the violence affected by the cartoonish visuals in Boxing Star? Does it make a difference that you're fighting human opponents instead of aliens or monsters?
Since you can earn in-game currency by playing Boxing Star, does it make sense to spend a lot of real-world money on this game?
What is the message that Boxing Star seems to make about women with the way they're dressed? Does it seem to be one of respect, or objectification?
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPad, Android
- Pricing structure: Free
- Release date: August 6, 2018
- Category: Sports Games
- Topics: Sports and Martial Arts
- Publisher: Four Thirty Three
- Version: 1.1.2
- Minimum software requirements: Requires iOS 8.1 or later; Android 4.4 and up
- Last updated: August 9, 2021
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