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list of fighters includes the most famous names in boxing,
such as Oscar De La Hoya, Ray Jones Jr., Muhammad Ali,
Bernard Hopkins, Jake LaMotta, and Joe Frazier. You
can get into the ring as any of these characters or
you can create your own in the Career mode. You can
even re-create a famous boxer in this mode but you have
to start at the amateur level and work your way through
the ranks. You'll earn money as you win fights which
you can use to hire trainers to get your boxer in shape
to win the next title. The better the trainer the more
money you can expect to pay. There are three levels
of intensity that you can choose from but choosing the
highest level is not necessarily going to result in
the prizefighter from hell. You could actually damage
your boxer and lose more stats then you started with.
In
between rounds the cutman that you hire will initiate
a mini-game to clean your fighter up. The game will
help to keep the fighter's swelling down on his face
so that he can see well enough to carry him through
to the next round. The cutman will also tend to wounds
such as cuts that may result in bleeding. Too much
blood loss and the match can be called.
Other
purchases you can make with your money include production
for entrances such as music, fireworks and bikini-clad
babes. This will actually help boost your boxer's
stats as psychological enhancements. You can also
purchase equipment such as boots, gloves, mouthguards
and foul protectors, the benefits of which should
be obvious as they also increase your character's
stats.
In
the Rival Challenge mode you will be faced with the
task of changing the course of history. Placed in
the ring as a world-famous boxer, in a world-famous
match you will attempt to change the outcome. You
don't actually play the entire match but only the
part where you have the ability to turn the tide.
A similar mode is the My History mode in which you
learn the techniques and styles of other boxers and
try to best them. Even though this is not a training
mode it can be used as one to get you into shape for
online competitions since you will be exposed to much
more different moves than in the Career mode.
The
boxers look great. Their facial features are instantly
recognizable. The moves are graceful and as violent
as some of the hits can be it's almost a beautiful
thing to watch them in slow motion as facial features
distort, jaws crack and blood splatters. The music,
which is primarily hip-hop, is taken from the console
version and suits the genre nicely. Sound effects
are surprisingly deep although they are exaggerated
and sound like they were taken from a cartoon than
an actual boxing match.
It's
going to take some time to learn the ropes but there's
a deep game with lots of replay value waiting for
you when you become one with the control system.
By
StewXX
CCC
Staff Writer
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