Ultimate Fighting Championship

"No swords or fireballs; just 100% fighting."

I’ve read the negative reviews on Ultimate Fighting Championship at GameFAQs. While most of the people are right in saying that the game does not have enough moves or enough styles, they cannot be serious when describing the replay value. UFC, in my opinion, is the best fighting game I have ever played.

In the fighting game genre, games like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and the like have been dominating the scene for many years. Don’t get me wrong, I love these games, but their heyday is over. In a society that wants everything to be ''real'', Crave Entertainment steps up with Ultimate Fighting Championship for the Dreamcast. This is real fighting, baby! In case you didn’t know what UFC is, it’s basically a league of fighters competing every so often for money and pride. It is a clash of styles, where you can see a Submission Fighter take on an Amateur Wrestler, or a Boxer take on a Kung-Fu Master. While most of these events have been banned from TV, you can’t deny the strong following of diehard UFC fans. I’m not one of these fans, but I have watched UFC with an open mind. After playing the game, I can tell you that Crave Entertainment has made this game almost identical to watching a regular UFC Bout on the tube.

Gameplay: 10
Describing UFC is tough, due to the fact that it is simulation mixed in with an arcade-like feel. The buttons are fairly simple: Low/High Punch, Low/High Kick. In fact, the whole layout of the game is simple. Knock a guy around until his health bar is out, and if you hit a submission, the opponent automatically taps out. Easy as pie, right? WRONG! Even though the moves are right there in front of you, mastering them will take a long time. Don’t take that as a setback, either, because learning is half the fun. ''But why learn all these techniques if I can hit a submission and win without throwing a punch?'' Well, submissions aren’t easy to pull off. You can try and try, but the computer will most likely counter it, especially early on in the match. A great way in ''doing homework'' on your fighter is watching their entrances and looking at what they are best at while entering the octagon. Some entrances give you good advice on your opponent. For example, if it says your opponent is an excellent puncher, your best bet would to shoot on him as quickly as possible. Standing toe to toe with him can result in a quick KO.

Speaking of strengths, not every fighter is the same, which is good. For instance, Marco Ruas is an excellent striker, but his mounted punches and submissions are weak. Each fighter has his own strengths and weaknesses, and finding out about them is another great aspect of the game.

The match itself is poetry in motion. The fighters walk smoothly across the octagon in their fighting stances. Depending on the fighter, he will either shoot at you, or simply throw a flurry of punches and kicks until you’re stunned enough for an easy takedown. This is where the countering comes in. You can counter virtually every move in UFC. If a guy runs at you with a stiff kick, you can counter that by holding his leg and going for a takedown. Or if you’re a submission fighter, counter with a leg lock submission if the opponent doesn’t counter that! The worst position your fighter can ever be in is if your opponent is on top of you while you are on all floors trying to block his punches that are flying at the back of your head. But even in the worst position, there is still a way to turn the tides.

The time limit varies, but it is not in real time. So five minutes seems like one, and so on. But the action is fast, which makes it much more entertaining than watching a real UFC match. Instead of waiting three or four minutes for a fighter to throw a punch in the mounted position, in UFC, you can knock the guy out in less than 20 seconds if you can hit all of your strikes!

The game is difficult, and that is not a bad thing. This is not a game where you play it the first time and you easily get to the last fight. You have to learn your styles and practice strategies and combos. UFC is easy to play, but hard to master.

Audio: 10
Hearing ''Crush 'Em'' in the beginning FMV is a nice mix. Even the ‘Tale of the Tape’ music sounds great in a gladiator-type way. The sound effects are awesome. Hitting your opponent in the face never sounded so good. Add that to the fact that the game has the best Fighting Introductions done by Bruce Buffer. Eat your heart out, Michael.

Graphics: 9
The fighters are life-like and they even blink their eyes when the camera closes up on them during the fighter introductions. It would’ve got a 10 if the blood was animated a little better instead of little raindrops of red spheres. Some bruises after each match would be welcomed, too. Oh well, maybe in the sequel.

Replay Value: 10
You will never get tired of fighting because beating this game is not a cakewalk. The fights are never frustrating, because if I ‘d countered that damn punch, I would be the CHAMP! Oh, enough about my trials and tribulations.

Final Score: 9
In closing, I can say that the haters of this game didn't play it enough before rating it. The frustration is evident when you know the controls but can't win a match. On Easy, the computer still destroys you, which is a turn-off to some gamers. A little challenge shouldn't downgrade your score at all, especially when you can improve greatly within an hour. And as far as the lack of moves... Let me ask you; how many moves do you want these guys to have? They are fighting to win, not to wow audiences. And 9 times out of 10 the beatings will not be as graceful as a well orchestrated wrestling match. Deal with it.

If you are a big UFC fan, than this game is a must for you. If you are a pro-wrestling fan, then rent this game and see if you like it. If you enjoyed the Street Fighter series, rent this game as well, but remember, there are no fireballs. :D

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/25/00, Updated 11/25/00