Parents' Guide to The Contender: Fight of the Century

While it has a certain easy appeal, this arcade boxing game is ultimately so simple that it becomes rather redundant and thus dull. In The Contender: Fight of the Century, you step into the ring as a boxer, even if it's one with freakishly long arms in a world where everyone's limbs allow them to reach across an entire boxing ring. Using two buttons to punch straight ahead, and two others to move left and right, you have to beat up your opponent, be they controlled by the computer or another player online. You also have to tap the screen repeatedly if you get knocked down, as well as between rounds to build up your strength.

The problem is that's all you do. You can't block or dance around or float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Sure, you can use the left and right buttons to avoid being hit, and to hit your opponent in the face instead of in the glove. it's funny at first how everyone has super long arms like the boxers in the Nintendo game Arms. But even that game had more to it than this does. In fact, every boxing game ever released -- be it on mobile, console, or in an arcade -- gave virtual pugilists more to do. Which is why The Contender: Fight of the Century just leaves players punch drunk.