"After a Long Wait, UFC has come to the gamecube....."

..... And it definitely did not disappoint. For those who don’t know, Throwdown is based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is a Mixed Martial Arts federation that runs pay per views usually every 2-3 months. It is normally very entertaining to watch (although it can be kind of boring to some people when they start to go to the mat) and now even more fun to play on the gamecube. Here is my full review:

Gameplay:

Controls:
Score: 8/10
Although the controls can be a little difficult when you first try to play this game (even if you have played previous UFC games), once you learn them & (if you are like me) change them slightly, they will not be a problem. There are two punch buttons (Y for a right punch & B for a left punch) & 2 kick buttons (X for a right kick & A for a left kick). You can also take your opponent down to the ground using either A + B or X + Y. Once down on the ground those button combinations can also be used to apply submission holds. So far the controls could be a little complicated for someone new to UFC games but they aren’t that bad. The main problem with the controls is in the reversal system. To reverse a punch or an upper body submission you must hit B + Y & to reverse a kick or a lower body submission you must press A + X. Now I have no problem with pressing A + X but B & Y are nowhere close to each other on the gamecube controller so that would be a bit of problem but thankfully Crave made it (which strangely isn’t listed in the instruction book) so that L, R & Z can represent the different button combinations. Overall the controls are a little difficult but with L, R & Z they are a lot easier then they would have been.

A Quick Suggestion: I would suggest that you change the L & R buttons from their default so that L represents kicks & lower body submissions so that if you forget which one is which you can remember it as L = Lower Body.

Roster:
Score 10/10
I am not a huge follower of the UFC (mainly because I don’t have Pay Per View & none of the video stores near me have any newer videos) but from what I can tell the roster in this game is great. The game features 28 starting fighters & 6 secret fighters from 5 divisions with such names as: Tito Ortiz, Frank Shamrock, Josh Barnett, Jens Pulver, Pat Miletich, Mark Coleman & even Dan Severn. I can’t think of any current big name UFC fighters that are missing so I give it a 10.

Game Modes:
Score: 8/10
There are quite a few game modes available so I’ll outline them below:

Arcade Mode:
In this mode you face a series of opponents trying to defeat as many as you can in a row.
I haven’t tried this mode yet but it sounds interesting.

Champion Mode:
In this mode you choose a fighter to take through 5 different matches in hopes of winning the UFC belt for that division.
There isn’t a lot to this mode but after you have been playing it for a couple of hours it can seem challenging.

Legend Mode:
In this mode you take a fighter you have already won a title with & try to defend the belt 7 times without being defeated.
This mode is basically a continuation of champion mode and can get quite challenging because unlike champion mode you can’t continue after you lose a fight you have to go all the way back to the first match.

Tournament Mode:
In this mode up to 8 human players can compete in a tournament.
This mode is good for multiplayer but doesn’t really mean much when you are playing by yourself.

Career Mode:
I’ll outline this one more below.

Exhibition Mode:
This is just a single match against either another person or the computer. This is fun with another person but can be fun against a high-level computer player.

Training Mode:
In this mode you go against an uncontroled computer player to practice your skills. Since I played & own the playstation UFC game I didn’t use this mode but I remember it being quite useful in the PSX game when I was still learning.

Overall there is a good selection of game modes that should keep you busy for a while (especially if you are like me & want to unlock the secret characters because that is quite a challenge).

Create a Fighter / Career Mode
Scores: Create a fighter: 8/10 Career Mode: 10/10
One of my favorite parts of any game is the creation mode & while the one in Throwdown isn’t the greatest ever it is still good. When you start you must build a fighter choosing such things as name, appearance & most importantly his discipline. Once you have chosen all that you start to fight computer players in hopes of earning more skill points & ultimately more moves. This is a great addition to the game & is my favorite 1 player mode.

Gameplay Overall Score: 7.8/10 – Rounded to 8/10 (hence me giving the game 8/10 overall)

Note: The main part of any game is the gameplay and for that reason the graphics & sound sections of this review will be on the short side

Graphics:
I really like the graphics in this game because the fighters look like themselves and the backgrounds are detailed. The only problem I have is that some of the collision detection is bad (example: When you go to punch someone and your hand goes through their head) but unless you really care a lot about that type of thing (which I don’t) it is not a big deal.

Graphics Overall Score: 8.5/10 – Rounded to 9/10

Sound:
The sound in Throwdown is good but nothing special. It has all the sounds it needs and the voices from the ring announcer & the referees are good. There isn’t anything wrong with the sound but it won’t really draw your attention.

Sound Overall Score: 7.4/10 – Rounded to 7/10

Rent or Buy?
I definitely recommend a rental of this game but if you are a UFC fan you probably won’t be disappointed.

Overall:
Overall this is a great game with very few problems that deserves a lot more credit then it has been getting from most reviews.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/02, Updated 12/29/02