Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 is a boxing game for the Dreamcast, Nintendo 64

Nintendo 64

The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...

, PlayStation, PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

, and Game Boy Advance

Game Boy Advance

The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...

 and it is also the sequel

Sequel

A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

 to Ready 2 Rumble Boxing

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing is a boxing game for the Dreamcast, PlayStation, Game Boy Color, and Nintendo 64 and it was released in 1999 by Midway. The success of the Dreamcast version led to it becoming one of the few Sega All Stars titles....

.

Gameplay

Gameplay in the game is similar to that of the previous game. The more big hits the player land consecutively, letters that spell out "RUMBLE" appear below the player's side of the screen. Letters also appear when the fighter taunts his opponent. Once the word is formed, powerful combo attacks can be activated that will almost definitely knock the opponent down. This time, however, there are three levels of "RUMBLE", which build up one after the other. If the player successfully lands a combo with his RUMBLE Meter full on the third level (where the letters start smoking), the final blow can launch the opponent clear out of the ring, giving the player an instant victory.

Development

News from Midway's sequel to Ready 2 Rumble Boxing were first made public back in early summer of 1999. In may of 2000, showed of the game at that year's E3 for demonstration. It was here the Midway announced that the game would receive a PlayStation 2 release. In September 2000 the game was previewed for public demonstrating at that year's ECTS

European Computer Trade Show

The European Computer Trade Show, commonly known as ECTS, was an annual trade show for the European computer and video game industry, which first ran in 1988, with the last event occurring in 2004....

. That same month images and screenshots of two of the game's secret characters were unveiled Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...

 and Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

. It was stated that Jackson was motion captured and digitally photographed for his character. Midway released the PlayStation 2 version on October 23 to coincide with the release of the of the PlayStation 2.