Knockout Kings 2000

"Worth picking up"

I'm reviewing an old Nintendo 64 game here. Why, you may ask, am I reviewing an over 5 year old game? Because it's still fun to play

Gameplay: 9/10

Some people have accused this game of being nothing more than a spazzy button masher, favoring the player with the quicker fingers. That couldn't be any more wrong. You have to make decisions on the fly. When you're far away, you have to decide whether to remain there and hammer your opponent with quick, but weak jabs, or to move in. If you're in close, you have to choose whether to do one of 4 combo punches, each assigned to a C button, or to back up, or to shove.

Each of the AI boxers have a different strategy, fighting style, strength, and weakness. The abilities of the boxers is based off of 3 things. Strength, Speed, and Stamina. Some boxers are very well balanced, while some have a huge amount in one category, while minimal in another. Of course, the game won't tell you this mid-fight, so you have to figure it out. You have to consider that some boxer could knock the hell out of you with just two or three punches, that some can hit you with several hits before you can blink, and that some can get punched a good 100 times and still stand. All in all, makes for a fun time

Graphics: 8/10

Clear. Good for the time it was at. You can easily see the small blood trickles or black eyes on boxers that they may receive throughout the fight. There is an audience, but they're 2D.

Sound: 9/10

Very nice. The crowd cheers. The punches make nice clear smack sounds. There's actually an announcer providing commentary at times, although he's quiet at others.

Controls: 9/10

Nothing wrong with them at all. The punches are A and B. C buttons provide combo punches. A+B is a shove. Nothing complex here

Rent or Buy: Buy

By now, it's probably damn cheap to buy it. I bought mine quite recently for 5 bucks. Just go pick it up. It's cheap and worth it

Final Thoughts

You're not going to see a ton of life in this game, but you'll have fun for a few hours, creating boxers, experimenting with weaknesses and strengths and such. So go ahead and play it. It's fun.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/05