I think we can all admit that the first Rocky was the best of the lot. Rocky II was pretty
good as well. But then the film series tanked in my opinion, becoming sequel after sequel of
goofy plots and outrageous opponents. Ubisoft and Rage bring the history of Rocky Balboa to
the Xbox in the appropriately titled "Rocky." In the game you can battle many opponents
including each nemesis from the Rocky films. On top of that, the gameplay offers some of the
best console boxing to date.
Presentation/Graphics : 85
While Rocky won't win any awards for the best looking game on the Xbox, it will be remembered
as one that is well done. If you are familiar with the Rocky movies, you'll instantly
recognize the major players by face alone. Stallone's creation looks realistic, and boxers
such as Apollo Creed and Clubber Lang are modeled in perfect detail. The only thing missing
from boxers like Creed is a complete reproduction of the style from the movie. For example,
when you first meet Creed, you get only a fragment of his Uncle Sam like entrance. That's
right, I said entrance. The main bouts take from the Rocky series, so the first time you
meet Apollo Creed you get an abbreviated Yankee Doodle Dandy entrance. What's even better is
that as you progress through the game animated sequences set the story line. Many of the
principals from the movies are shown in animated form.
Once in the ring you can't help but notice the fully animated crowd. The crowd has very good
detail and there's plenty of variety in their moves. As the crowd follows the action, you
also discover some nicely done animations on the parts of the boxers. Punch animations are
not overdone as in some games, though some of the responses to punches are a tad exaggerated.
The game takes another trait from the films. Heavy boy uppercuts seem to briefly lift the
fighter off the canvas. If a fighter gets knocked down, the feisty crowd often throws
bottles in the ring. Subsequently, the bottles get tossed around when kicked by either
fighter.
The default camera does an excellent job at capturing the action. At no time have I
experienced a problem with the camera not following the fighters. Unfortunately, the default
camera gives a prime view of some minor collision detection issues. On some body shots it
looks as though damaging punches don't actually land.
Presentation/Audio : 83
Rocky comes with a decent number of game modes. The primary game mode is the Movie mode,
which attempts to recreate the Rocky film history. As Rocky you train and fight your way
through all 5 Rocky films. The final fight within each genre is against the main opponent
from a movie. This mode is available in three levels of difficulty. Additionally, as boxers
are defeated in this mode, they are unlocked in the Exhibition mode. A Sparring mode is
instantly available for practice, and a Knockout Tournament is unlocked after completing the
Movie mode. The options in the game include the basic rules of boxing. You can adjust
things like round length, knockdown rules, and difficulty. Further, you can adjust the audio
and video settings. All the options are discussed in the well-written manual.
Unfortunately, the one thing missing from the game is a nice stats engine that lets you see a
recap of the match or your overall record.
Interface/Options : 80
Rocky comes with a decent number of game modes. The primary game mode is the Movie mode,
which attempts to recreate the Rocky film history. As Rocky you train and fight your way
through all 5 Rocky films. The final fight within each genre is against the main opponent
from a movie. This mode is available in three levels of difficulty. Additionally, as boxers
are defeated in this mode, they are unlocked in the Exhibition mode. A Sparring mode is
instantly available for practice, and a Knockout Tournament is unlocked after completing the
Movie mode. The options in the game include the basic rules of boxing. You can adjust
things like round length, knockdown rules, and difficulty. Further, you can adjust the audio
and video settings. All the options are discussed in the well-written manual.
Unfortunately, the one thing missing from the game is a nice stats engine that lets you see a
recap of the match or your overall record.
Gameplay : 88
The history of console boxing games is fairly weak. While there have been some fun games in
the past, most titles have lacked a realistic feel to them. For example, Ready 2 Rumble and
its sequel was nothing but fast-paced arcade boxing. Various incarnations of Knockout Kings
attempted to provide a realistic style, but many times bouts end up becoming slugfests.
Victorious Boxers was hailed as a breakthrough title, but unfortunately even that title
missed too many key aspects of boxing. So in comes Rocky in an attempt to break the mold.
This title does many things right but a few things wrong. Overall, though, it's a fun game.
What I look for in a boxing game is a variety of punches, the ability to bob and weave, ways
to block punches, and advanced moves like pushing and holding. For the most part Rocky
provides all of these. The exception is with the advanced moves. The referee will never
break up the fighters as holding is non-existent in the game. Likewise, you can't shove
another boxer or even throw an illegal punch. You do, however, have access to a variety of
punches with the A, B, X, and Y buttons. Permutations of the punches are thrown with the
right trigger and analog stick. All told the dozen different throws are adequate.
One thing I really appreciate in the game is that some fights go several rounds. In too many
boxing games the fights can be one in just a few rounds by madly throwing punches. This
strategy in Rocky works at times, but more times than not it depletes your energy and opens
you up to counterpunches. Instead, you have to fight a more intelligent fight, and this
naturally leads to longer bouts. I've had several fights lasting ten rounds or more.
With that said, there are ways to defeat some of the boxers easily in the game. As you
progress through the game, you have to train Rocky in five areas. The punch mitts workout
ups your strength by following punch commands. The speed bag improves punch speed. Skipping
rope influences your stamina. Situps improve Rocky's determination, while hitting the heavy
bag or slabs of meat improves footwork. All training aspects can be interactive or performed
automatically. Either method increases Rocky's skill points, through the interactive mode
has the ability to make greater gains. My only complaints about the training are the rope
skipping seems unresponsive at times and the footwork exercise doesn't feel perfected.
However, by concentrating on strength and speed work, you can turn Rocky into a virtually
unstoppable fighter. The combination of these two lets you get off fast, strong punches
before your opponent can even fire off a shot.
Rocky does have one hole that seems present in most boxing games. When you've been pummeled
a bit you can evade your opponent by simply circling the ring. The AI isn't smart enough to
cut you off. However, the AI boxers are themselves smart enough to attempt evasive maneuvers
when their health is low. In fact, the AI boxers are some of the better fighters you'll find
in a console boxing game.
One other issue is scoring. The basic formula for scoring in the game is whomever lands more
punches wins the round 10-9. Only when the landed punch count is within a few hits from each
other are rounds evenly scored. Quality of landed punches isn't considered, only quantity.
Likewise, if only one boxer is knocked down, the score for the round will be 10-8.
Replay Value : 90
I'm thoroughly enjoying the boxing in Rocky. Despite some minor flaws the game is a step in
the right direction. You can't adopt a button mashing mentality and expect to succeed at all
times. As you progress through the game, the competition definitely heats up and strategy
plays a bigger role. What results is as close to a thinking man's boxing game that we've had
in quite some time.
Overall : 86
Usually games based around movies or television tends to be lame (editor's note: anyone else
remember the Dukes of Hazard racing game?). There have been numerous licenses that have
ended up on the bottom of the barrel. Granted most of these titles are not sports titles,
but the net result is the same. Rocky bucks the trend. It's a game that does its license
proud. It's the most complete boxing game to come out recently, and despite a couple of
flaws and annoyances it's a fun game.
