Pigs did indeed achieve lift-off some months ago when Frank Bruno was declared Heavyweight champion of the world. He should have followed his coach's advice to move into pie-eating compos earlier... But Britain now finds itself in the remarkable position of having a sporting hero who is equally comfortable wearing a champion's belt, or Widow Twanky's ballgown and wig.

After years of eating too many chips and too little exercises, we've become a nation of gym bods and sparring partners again. JVC might hope to cash in on our new found pugilistic spirit with their debut Saturn title, which simulates the gory rise from outsider to undisputed King of the Sport. And then on to flog dog's-piss aftershave and Fox's Glacier Mints (they're minty!).

As you rise through the ranks, a shifty-looking individual purporting to be your coach (give me Burgess Meredith anyday) teaches you the advanced art by revealing a special combination move. Use these in the ring for big uppercuts, "the old 1-2" and the like.

This is a Nineties game, unavoidably proved by the existence of woman boxers in the game. The only woman ever to box before was Margi Clarke in Blonde Fist, but that was on Channel Four. No sensible man would mess with Margi, or the bolshy birds in Victory Boxing. And you can square the birds up to the blokes! Let the battle of the sexes commence.

Boxing is called an art by some, licensed assault by others. JVC's game strides both camps. The moves are quite simple: three types of punch, a guard, some easy footwork and combinations of these moves. Pummel your opponent by landing these with regularity, the best method is actually to hold the buttons and swing the joypad right and left.

The considerably front-end to Victory Boxing allows you to create, style and train your own stable of Pugilist heroes. Initially you find a look by choosing the face, race, sex and height of your model (1) then a fighting class from Bantam to Heavyweight. Now you select the three fighting stats; speed, power and stamina using the sliding scales provided (2). What you gain in one you sacrifice in the other two, so it's a compromise. Finally, they can enhance these three factors on a fight-by-fight basis by training in the three areas of Punchball (speed), Heavy Bag (power) and skipping (stamina) (3).

JVC make an impressive debut with what looks like being the only boxing game on the Saturn. Of all fighting sports, boxing games run the risk of being slow and plodding, and at first Victory Boxing seems another candidate for the wooden spoon. But the more bouts you play, the faster your characters and his opponents get.

This is a little odd, when you would expect the programmers would be trying to make a good first impression. Instead, Victory Boxing becomes quite compulsive in one-player mode, and better in two-player once you have some seasoned players to spar with.

The game's best feature is its feeling of solid contact - some of the blows really seem to hurt. The worst is probably the repetitive vocal contribution from the ringside, with the same phrases cropping up over and over.

You can see the graphics are chunky, but work extremely well with some of the views. You can see the fun we've had creating our own personas. Victory Boxing is basically an all-round good egg.

I have time for boxing too, but not quite as much as Gus does. For me, even when the game does start to set a pace, it's all a bit plodding compared to Virtua Fighter. However, you could never say Virtua Fighter was a serious sport simulation, and Victory Boxing most certainly is. The amount of thought that has gone into it shines through.

The detailed boxer creation screens, and the way you can take them on a 'career' and save their progress to memory is very impressive.

The game also looks, despite the odd glitch, quite authentic. In the ring that is, as the crowd are limp, flat textures.

Sound plays a part too, with the crunch and thud of a real fight. What buying the game really depends upon is whether you like boxing as a sport, and whether you like any boxing games that you might already have. If the answer is yes to both, I'm pretty sure Victory Boxing will meet with your approval.

JVC's first Saturn development, done in-house, Japan.

Knock the crap out of your 30 opponents and be declared King of Boxing.

Presentation 82%
P. The beefy characters have the solidity and ugliness of real boxers.
N. Sometimes so chunky it looks a bit messy.

Animation 85%
P. Extremely good animation on characters, with rippling muscles and bulging bras.

Music 83%
N. The kind of pap we've become used to from Jap games.

Effects 84%
P. Lots of lovely slap. The effects contribute to the winching factor.

Playability 87%
P. Sensible controls, adequate response and mucho-enjoyable gameplay.
N. Starts off too slow.

Lastability 88%
P. Victory Boxing has a lot going for it over a long period of tme. Lots of boxers, and ever more rewarding gameplay.

Overall 88%
If you like the sport, you should get Victory Boxing for your Saturn. A cool boxing sim.