Knockout Kings 2002, the champ has arrived!
Written: Jul 01 '02 (Updated Jul 01 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of boxers, several game modes, great graphics.
Cons: Some minor things, but nothing to complain about.
The Bottom Line: Buy it if you're into boxing games, and especially if you have a friend to play it with. It's sure to impress.
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| fireballdw's Full Review: Knockout Kings 2002 for PlayStation 2 |
Most boxing games I've played have been less than fun. Before renting this title someone had said it's the best fun since Punch Out (you remember -- the NES game!). I tend to agree with this persons assessment of this game.
Knockout Kings 2002 takes a mix of boxers from many eras, including such high profile names as Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Lennox Lewis, Oscar de la Hoya, Rubin Carter, and Evandar Holyfield. Some lesser known boxers are included, bringing the total to a few dozen.
There are several modes that one can play in. There's an immediate "play now" mode, which just throws you right into the ring in an exhibition fight (the default boxers are Ali and Lewis, although they can be changed). There's a tournament mode which is pretty self explanatory. One can also choose from several difficulty levels.
Finally, the meat of the game comes in the form of a career mode, where you can create your own boxer and pick their stats, weight, trunk colors, tattoos, signature move, taunt, and more. As you win more and more fights, you get more points to assign to attributes of your character.
No matter what mode you pick, it all ultimately ends up in the same place -- inside the ring.
Gameplay:
Gameplay is pretty simple. Get in the ring and beat the stuffing out of the other boxer! Easier said than done. With any boxing game, the control system comes under great criticism. There are three "circles" which you use to control your boxer. Depending on how far you push the analog stick in one direction or another, or how many times you push it in a direction, your boxer will do different things. For example, moving forward, lunging forward, and aiming your punches at the midsection of the opponent is all the same move on the analog stick. Sounds complicated, and it is at first, but an hour of boxing and you'll have mastered it.
Jabs and hooks are easily learned. It takes a while to get used to uppercuts (you have to hold one button down while hitting another). The designers really wanted to make this a realistic game, so they have included the option for two illegal punches (elbow and low blow)! If the referee doesn't see them, you get away scot free -- if not, you get two warnings and then a disqualification. Such is life.
Blocking is easily done, and one can duck in any direction. Taunting is possible, although I never saw that it had any effect on opponents. Lastly, you can use your boxer's 'special punch', of which there approximately a dozen. Some are rapid sequences of jabs, others are lightning fast uppercuts, and others are mixes of various punches. Strangely enough, when you use the special punches, they aren't counted. They are very powerful, and so with boxers that have a lot of endurance, like Ali, you can win the battle without technically throwing a punch!
Pretty much all the options for control that anyone could want are in Knockout Kings 2002. It takes a while to get used to, but it's a very fair system. The boxers are very responsive, and actually fun to move around. There are two gauges for your boxer: health and stamina. When health drops to 0, your boxer goes down. When stamina drops to 0, it decreases the speed at which you can throw punches, as well as increases the damage that you take.
The replays after you knock a boxer out are nice to see, and the recap between the rounds is good as well, although they always focus on just a few seconds from the match. Also, at any time during the match, you can go into the menu and look at an instant replay of anything in the current round.
My only qualm with the gameplay is that you can't get in a hold with the other boxer. This is about the only thing that you can't do, and it's a pretty fundamental thing!
Graphics:
Just watching the introduction movie, which is a collection of scenes using the in-game engine, will make you drool. The graphics are impressive. All the boxers look like their real life equivalents. As one boxer takes more and more damage, you can see their face swelling and cut. Also, as you punch the boxer, their face moves in response. This is most easily seen during the slow motion knock down replays. Sweat and blood flies from the boxer's face when you land a particularly good punch, which is a nice effect.
While the boxers look great, the crowd leaves something to be desired. You can't really see the crowd (of course, you shouldn't be looking in the first place, otherwise you're likely to be sent reeling from a nasty uppercut!), they're just little splotches of color. You can box in about half a dozen places -- from a small club holding at most, 1000 people, to Caesar's Palace which can pack in 16,000. All of the arenas look pretty good.
Pre-fight and post-fight scenes are done using the in game engine (EVERYTHING in this game is done using the in game engine), and they look good, although it's nothing too impressive. Strangely enough, you always have the same corner man and promoter no matter who you are, and it's not Don King.
Sound & Music:
The sound is good. When you land a jab, hook, or uppercut, you can not only feel it, but hear it as well. The only problem I have is that when you knock the other fighter down, it almost sounds like a shotgun blast. This is annoying but humorous, especially if you're playing with a friend.
The crowd reacts well to the action. If you dance around the ring without punching, the crowd will boo. When the action picks up, the crowd cheers harder.
The commentators in the game are actually not annoying! They offer the standard fare such as "A nice left hook to Ali" or "Carter hits the mat", as well as color commentary such as "I could have dodged that!". The announcer has a good voice, and one of the referees sounds like Mills Lane (it probably is him).
There's not any in-match music, but the menu screen and opening video music are VERY good. I guess a little bit of music during the matches would have been nice, but real boxers don't get music, so I don't really feel slighted.
Summary:
Overall, Knockout Kings 2002 is a superior boxing game. It offers many hours of entertainment, and if you have a friend to play against, this game never grows old! Definitely a good title for any fan of the game to pick up.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
fireballdw
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Member: Derek Williams
Location: Louisville, KY
Reviews written: 84
Trusted by: 18 members
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