For the millions of you that have played Wii Sports Boxing, you will recognize Ready 2 Rumble Revolution as a fuller branch on the same tree. You jab the Nunchuck and hook the Wii Remote to launch fists at your opponents, and holding down the A or B buttons while swinging modifies your attack. Every impactful blow that you land builds up your Rumble meter, which can unleash a flurry of super-powerful knockout punches once activated. To deepen this a bit, there are multiple levels to Rumble, so you can build it up several times for a more damaging finisher. If you happen to be knocked down, you must rapidly shake both hands to raise your fighter from the mat before the ref counts to ten.

During my demo, I wildly swung left and right, attempting to build up my Rumble and deliver the final blow to the cocky snowboarder. Just as I was about to discharge my attack, Shaun White blindsided me with his Rumble and sent me flying into the audience with a thunderous uppercut. I was going to write a line that stated that my character did not “feeeeeel good” after these events, but to save us both the embarrassment; I will just say that James Brown was not pleased by the outcome.

From what I gathered, each character controls very differently, as I had a tough time matching the slow but powerful Brown against the weaker but more agile White. I was told that players should try and match their players’ style to their opponents if they hope to achieve a victory, and my pummeling seems to exemplify that perfectly. The in-game action feels a little untamed at times, with the swinging of both arms being somewhat random in relation to the onscreen attacks.