Review
If you think the only inflatable Famicom accessory is Top-Rider, that cool inflatable motorbike, you’re mistaken. There were at least two, which is proven by Konami’s Exciting Boxing.
The Exciting Boxing game was sold alone, but gamers could also buy the game packaged with a large inflatable boxer, kind of like those clowns Americans could buy in the United States and punch and punch but they’d always pop right back up at you.
Konami’s boxer, looking pissed off and ready to box, stands several feet high and, like any controller or system accessory, is plugged into the front of the Famicom. The boxer is Japanese, with a four-pack and shiny red gloves. There also appears to be some weird shadowing near his private area that almost looks more like he wet himself, nervous to fight.
It’s not quite clear how the inflatable boxer works with the game, but sensors of some type in the inflatable boxer must be triggered by hits or its back-and-forth movement. If the gamer doesn’t hit the boxer enough, he’d probably lose the game — but FW needs to confirm that. You can also see in the image to the right that a green plastic mat of sorts extends out from the edge of the green plastic blow-up tube.
Unlike Top-Rider — because you have to be on top to ride it — and as long as you don’t wear rings, this inflatable boxers looks tougher to accidentally pop.
The inflatable Exciting Boxing set is rare — much harder to find than Top-Rider. The last one seen at auction sold for nearly $250 in great condition.
