Rocky

Yo . . . Adrian, where’s my controller? You heard right.
It’s Rocky on the Xbox! Having grown up watching the
Rocky movies, this game is a treat. Ubi Soft and Rage have very
realistically recreated all five of the Rocky movies into a solid boxing game
where you’re the underdog from Philadelphia, and it’s up to you to make it to
the top and stay there. First off, clear those low expectations due to the license
granted from MGM Interactive to use the movie and actor likenesses, because
this has to be one of the best created licensed games available, and after you
see and play it all of those ‘good movie/bad game’ statements will quickly
fade. If you’re a boxing fan, or a Stallone wannabe, you’ll be happy to know that
Rocky certainly merits a spot close by Knockout Kings on your game shelf. Lace
up those gloves and let’s get down to the review!

Let’s
dig right into the Movie mode of the game, since this is where you’ll see the
most action. Take to the rings and build yourself up from an unknown street
fighter facing nobody fighters, to a heavyweight champion up against the likes
of Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, Ivan
Drago, and Tommy Gun. In between fights you’ll also
hit the gym, building up your strength, speed, stamina,
determination and movement. As you build up these categories,
Rocky will increasingly perform better. Before each fight there is an option
to compare the two fighters, allowing you to see what attributes need the most
work to be an effective, aggressive fighter. Choose wisely, as you only have
time to train in two of the catagories. Depending on the punishment and energy
exerted during the fight, Rocky will lose points in categories as well, just
like a real boxer would after a tough brawl.

The
whole basis of the movie mode it to re-create the events of the movies, as they
happened. All the subtle touches are there. When the Italian Stallion enters
the ring you hear the Rocky theme music ‘Gonna Fly Now’, and you hear
the theme song for the other fighters as they happened as well. Small movie
clips and still slide shows take you through key parts of the story, it’s very
entertaining and nostalgic. Mick is right by your side during the fights, giving
you tips and support in between rounds. Rocky and his opponents get bruised
and bloody during the matches, and while in the corner the details on the faces
are exceptional. The core gameplay is very solid, offering many different and
realistic boxing moves and strategies. This is no button masher, you’ll need
to come up with a game plan and use the entire ring, and the ropes, to your
advantage to win.

The basic moves are done very easily, and it won’t take long to get the hang
of the tougher ones either, as the controller is mapped very naturally and logically.
Jabs and straights are done just by pressing the A,
B, X, and Y buttons. Uppercuts
are performed by pressing the right trigger while pressing one of the buttons.
Depending which direction the analog stick is pressed, different boxing moves
will follow, such as left hooks, right hooks, power shots and more.
You can perform evasive moves and block by pressing the left trigger. Each fighter
also has a super punch, so once you’ve ’stunned’
your opponent use that shot and send them down to kiss the canvas. The list
of moves and combinations can become quite extensive, and will be very useful
for the tougher opponents, since the AI doesn’t just stand there and take what
you throw, they react intelligently, especially on the higher difficulty
settings. Of course, if they do annoy you, you could just taunt them
a bit, which will increase your abilities slightly once each round, nice for
those times when you’re trying to clear your head from a recent visit to the
floor.

After
you’ve finished the movie mode you will have unlocked the Knockout Tournament,
where you and up to 15 other players can choose different boxers to fight each
other until the top of the laddered tournaments has been reached and a winner
has been declared. There is also exhibition mode, for those times when
you just want to have a quick fight against a friend or the computer. If you
want to hone your skills as a boxer, you can choose from three skilled boxers
to spar with, until you feel confident enough to take on the toughest of the
fighters. Every match comes down to scoring, and all of the matches in Rocky
are scored using the very common 10 point must system. Now
I could go on for pages and pages of text elaborating my point that this is
not the best method of scoring a boxing match (in a game or a real
match), but I’ll keep it short. As a standard, an even round as
scored by the judges is 10-10. In Rocky no match will ever be scored lower than
10-8, much like in real boxing matches. Why is this a problem? Theoretically
it isn’t, but why should a boxer get 10 points for doing nothing?
It definitely works better for a game than a true match up, so let’s go on to
the graphics before I get started.

The developer did an excellent job creating the likeness of the
characters in the game to their real-life counterparts, especially when it comes
to the faces. Speaking of faces, it’s great to see a game that finally makes
use of a progressive damage engine that’ll bruise, cut, and
batter a face up as the rounds go on! Gotta love that blood squirting from
the mouth after a super punch! The environments and arenas are detailed
very well and are quite realistic, but they will become repetitive quickly.
Same goes for the animations in the corner and after the match, nicely done,
but repetitive quickly, and they sometimes don’t fit the situation. There is
a gallery that is unlocked as you progress through the game, allowing you to
see different cut scenes that take you through the five movies.

The audio was done very well. Each boxer has a different theme song that they
enter the ring with. The sounds of the punches, the grunts of the boxers, and
the commentary of the announcer is very convincing. Allot of this becomes very
repetitive, but it is boxing, which is repetitive by nature. At times you’ll
hear the crowd chanting “Rocky, Rocky”!
The voice overs are done well, like Rocky shouting out “Adrian”,
it all gives the feel of re-living the movie. brought to you through Dolby Digital,
the experience is very nice, and adds value to the game.

There’s nothing more satisfying than coming up with a strategy
to overcome the toughest opponent! Just taking the time to develop your combinations
and evasive maneuvers gives Rocky a lot of replay value. There are three main
modes of play, movie mode, knockout tournament, and exhibition. The game also
sports a ton of options as well, like turning on or off “saved
by the bell”, “three knockdown rule”,
and more. There are three difficulty levels, and while the lowest may be a bit
easy, the other two aren’t!

Overall
Score: 8.5/10 [Not an Average] Highly
Recommended

Again, having grown up with the Rocky movies, this game
is a treat that brings back a lot of nostalgia. Having said that, I’ve had a
hard time in the past recommending a title based on a movie, since the results
usually are not up to my standard. Rocky seems to be the exception!
It’s a solid boxing game that just happens to have the licence, and I have it
tucked away right next to Knockout Kings. If you’re into boxing, definitely
pick this one up. If boxing isn’t you’re bag, give it a rent just to check out
the damage engine.

• Official Game Site
• Ubi Soft
• Rage
• MGM Interactive
• Rocky
  Screenshots (Temporarily Unavailable, Sorry.)
• Rocky
  Hints and Cheats

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