| One of the first games released for Nintendo's failed Virtual Boy system in 1995, Teleroboxer is a 3D update of the classic Punch Out! series. This time around, however, instead of playing as Little Mac or some other up-and-coming boxing novice, you play as yourself. You're not actually doing the boxing though. You see, the sport of teleroboxing is an odd cross between conventional boxing and Battlebots, for it's specially constructed boxing robots that exchange blows. You, the player, control a boxing robot known as Harry as you attempt to become the teleroboxing champion by knocking your opponents into spare parts. When you look into the Virtual Boy during gameplay you will see your opponent robot in the distance as well as two hovering fists in the foreground. By pushing the L and/or R buttons you cause those fists to punch. The target is the opposing robot's head. By using the two control pads on the controller you can also dodge to the left and right. Combining dodging with punching results in sideswipes, power jabs, and special machine gun attacks (a series of rapid fire punches). Pressing Up or Down on both pads simultaneously causes your boxer to guard. Each round lasts two minutes and the fight ends when either you or your opponent run out of energy. A small amount of energy is automatically refilled between rounds, and your energy bar is completely refilled between fights.
So which robots will you be facing during your quest to become teleroboxing champ? Let's have a look.
- Pagero - the first teleroboxing robot ever built, Pagero is fond of super sumo attacks.
- Spokong - this robot has strong armor, but is somewhat of a coward. During fights he'll lower his head out of range of your punches.
- Dorihey - body blows are useless against this robot fighter.
- Bomkun - there's a ticking timebomb in his chest, and if it detonates, you lose!
- Prin - One of the only female fighters, she is quick and angile.
- Ikanger - yes, it's a teleroboxing kangaroo! A little 'roo lives in her pouch (some say it's quite cute).
- Tukikage - the final fighter during standard play, this robot provides one of the most difficult challenge of all.
- Bamsham - you will only face this fighter if you defeat all the other robots without being defeated yourself. Since the game saves your progress between fights, you must maintain a perfect record to meet Bamsham.
Teleroboxer looks and sounds like most other Virtual Boy games (i.e. lots of red and Game Boy-type sounds) and it's plenty of fun in short bursts, but fans of Nintendo's other boxing games will most likely get more out of it. The best thing about the game is actually the "Game Over" screen. When your robot runs out of energy during a fight, the winning punch for your opponent will "crack" the Virtual Boy screen and the entire picture will fuzz out to static and fade away like an old television turning off. You should put aside the quest to fight Bamsham at least once to see the effect; it's really neat and a creative use of the Virtual Boy's unique viewscreen. As for the game pak itself, it's a rarity in used game stores these days but it's easy to find at online auctions. Most often they sell for around $10 or come bundled with a used Virtual Boy unit for sale. In the grand scheme of things though there aren't that many copies to go around. You may have to fight for one.
References:
Teleroboxer instruction manual
http://www.GameFAQs.com
http://www.eBay.com | 
