Rocky

"A solid game, but with a few flaws"

Games based on movie licenses have a notoriously spotty track record. Too often, game developers pick a popular movie, slap its name and graphics on whatever they have lying around in the office, and ship it out as quickly as possible. The ROCKY films (okay, at least the first one, which actually won an Oscar) are extremely popular (and were recently re-released on DVD), and feature some great characters and storylines. I was concerned, however, that the designers may have wasted the opportunity to use such a great license. Happily, this game is not one of those mass-produced pieces of junk -- although it is certainly not without its flaws.

1. Gameplay: 17/20

ROCKY has a few game modes, all of which (unsurprisingly) consist of boxing matches. Movie Mode, the main single-player mode, has you playing as various versions of Rocky Balboa and fighting your way up through the opponents of the five feature films. Beating this mode unlocks the game's various arenas and boxers, plus videos that go along with each Rocky film. Other modes include Exhibition (pick any two unlocked boxers and duke it out against a human or the computer) and Knockout Tournament (a ladder tournament for up to 16 players). There's also Sparring (practice your moves against a few standard opponents). One thing to note is that there are (for the GameCube) quite long loading times between just about every menu. Maybe I've just been spoiled by some of the other titles I've seen.

1A. Fun: 8/10

The gameplay in ROCKY is surprisingly compelling for such a bare-bones game. The boxers look and move well, the controls feel tight, and the ROCKY-themed stuff fits in nicely. However, the AI suffers from some serious flaws, and can easily be trapped by simple combos, even on the highest setting. It's also pretty easy to be extremely cheesy when playing against a human opponent. The training you do between bouts in Movie Mode also gets a little tiresome (and Stamina training is much, much harder than the other ones for some reason).

1B. Controls: 9/10

The controls in ROCKY are excellent. There's a good variety of punches and combinations you can throw, and once you get the hang of it, you'll be blocking, ducking, and weaving around the ring with the best of them. The controls never feel loose or imprecise, and respond quickly. The only flaws I can point out are a slight learning curve, the fact that every boxer has the same (although, to be fair, rather large) set of combos, and that it's almost impossible to pull off a successful taunt unless you do it when your opponent is stunned (which forfeits pretty much your only opportunity to use your flashy super punch).

2. Story: 7/10

The storyline, lifted from the five ROCKY films, is top-notch. However, the Movie Mode fails to give a good feeling of progression; you just go from one fight to another, with CG clips stuck in before the ''boss'' fights at the end of each ''movie'' (every five fights or so). These movies use actual dialogue from the films, which makes me wonder why they didn't just use the movie clips themselves.

3. Graphics: 16/20

The boxers in ROCKY look great. They really resemble the original actors, and as they get pummeled in a bout, they pick up an incredibly detailed set of cuts, bruises, and other assorted injuries. They could use a few more sets of animation, though -- there's only like two different ''win'' or ''loss'' animations that people do, and punches start to look mechanical after a while. You can occasionally catch a clipping problem during a replay, but it doesn't detract from the game at all. Unfortunately, the arenas you fight in are a mixed bag. Some (like New York and the first few clubs you fight in) look much like the movie counterparts and sport plenty of detail, but others (like the Philadelphia arena and City Hall) don't convey a good sense of size, and they look pretty ugly to boot. The crowd is also pretty weak; there are maybe half a dozen different people out there, and if you look carefully, about half of them at any particular time seem to be synchronized, which looks, frankly, bad.

4. Sound: 13/20

4A. Sound Effects: 8/10

The sound effects are generally very good; punches sound solid, boxers grunt and moan as they give and take punishment, and the ''main'' characters (Rocky and the ''boss'' movie opponents) have unique taunts that use sound bites ripped from the movies. The one glaring exception is the crowd noise. It sounds fine in the first few places you fight, but it never sounds like there are more than about two dozen people cheering, even in a huge boxing arena. It sounds minor, but it's little details like that which make or break the mood and feel of a game.

4B. Music: 5/10

Okay, so they have both a good, CD-quality version and a bad MIDI version of ''Gonna Fly Now'' (the former used in the menu screens and the latter when Rocky enters the ring or wins a bout), but that's it! No ''Eye Of The Tiger'', none of the great symphonic score from the films, nothing. I'm not impressed.

5. Replay Value: 13/20

The multiplayer, and even the single player, is pretty solid as long as you avoid a few super-cheesy tactics, but the fact that they exist at all seriously hurts the game; after you've played it for a while, you'll figure out how to be essentially unbeatable (hint: use the X,X combo repeatedly vs. the CPU). There are a lot of characters, but they all have the same moves. This is both good (no learning curve when you switch characters), and bad (seems lazy, and cuts into the replay value). The different boxers do have large differences in their abilities to take and deal damage, and in both their hand and foot speed, so there is a good variety of fighters.

6. Personal Tilt: 5/10

Despite the flaws, I liked it. Not worth $50, but fun for a weekend. Definitely rent before purchasing, unless you can find it on clearance somewhere.

OVERALL: 71/100

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/30/02, Updated 11/30/02