Fight Night 2004

"Review from a non boxing fan"

First off, i have to say i've never been into boxing that much, and i haven't played many boxing games. The only ones i liked were Super Punch Out and Ready to Rumble, so this isn't a professional review from a hardcore boxing gamer.
I've never understood Boxing rules that well, but i know the basics. 12 rounds, the objective is to beat the crap out of each other for points or to knock out your enemy. I'm sure there's a lot more than that but at least that's more than enough to get into Fight Night.
After i heard about a new Boxing game, i said ''so what?'', but then i started to get a little interested after i heard about this new ''Total Punch Control'' feature, which sounded very similar to the gameplay of certain game i'm a big fan of, Robot Alchemic Drive. While it didn't turn out to be quite similar to RAD's, it was all for the better, sort of.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

They are simply excellent. the boxers' realistic looks, The moves, the facial expressions when he is about to throw a punch or when he gets punched are all superbly done with loads of realism. The boxing arenas are filled with variety and even tiny details like the boxer's eyes following the opponent add to a very eye popping experience. The bruises, fat lips are bleeding are uncanny, so realistic. After a heavy long fight the boxer's faces look like an abstract painting.
However, not everything looks that good, The sweat and blood from the punches look too unrealistic to forgive by comparison to the rest. Also the public looks too cardboard-ish and Some of the dancer girls and number announcer between rounds look good, but some of them look almost as bad as the ''ladies of the night'' in Grand Theft Auto 3. But in the end, all those small shortcomings are heavily outweighed by the rest.

CONTROL: 10/10

The controls are very responsive and are very easy to get into. The Total punch Control is a little quirky but that's something i love, and for some that don't like it there's the option to change it to standard gameplay.

SOUND: 7/10

The sound of the punches is so realistic to the point where it can be funny, The roar of the crowd is very well done and it can even be encouraging at times. However, I find the game's music to be terrible to the point i just turn off all songs, But MTV fans will be in heaven with this soundtrack. The announcer is also very annoying, the ''Let's get ready to rumble'' guy would have made the game so much better in such a fine game.

GAMEPLAY: 10/10

Obviously the core of the game, It's very easy to get into the game, but mastering it is a very difficult task, The game slogan is very true, ''There are no lucky punches''. The standard controller is the Total Punch control one in which you use the right analog stick for most attacks, Sounds simplistic, but it definitely isn't. You can do many different types of moves with the right analog stick, some require you to use other buttons to perform other tasks like evading and blocking or hitting a different area of the opponent. There are also ''special'' attacks which deals a heavy blow, some of them are unique for certain boxer. Also there's the illegal move, which in this game is a head butt that you can do but lose points, or get disqualified for doing it several times.
The game features a descent amount of popular boxers, like Muhamad Ali, Sugar Ray leonard, Evander Holyfield, etc. I recognize about half of the boxers because like i said, i'm not a big boxing fan.
You can even create your own boxer, and the number of customization there is incredible, you can customize from usual things like nose, eyes and mouth to more complex and never or rarely seen before stuff like chin, jaw, head length, eyebrow height, cheeks, etc. And it's all very easy to do.
The game also has a career Mode in which you take your created boxer or a default one through some amusing training mini games and fights to get to the top. It's all very well done except for one thing: You are forced to retire at the age of 40, Such an annoying way to end a boxer's career mode.
I haven't played the online mode of the game yet, But i assume it should be very fun to fight real people always having competition, Like all other online games.

REPLAY VALUE: 10/10

You will be playing this game for a very long time, with a good amount of unlockables and the multiplayer. It's a great addition to a game collection and an excellent party game that will deliver both intensity and a lot of laughs.

FINAL COMMENTS:

While my previous favorite boxing game was Super Punch Out, nostalgia from a really great game doesn't compare to such the quality and variety that Fight Night 2004 offers.
If you're not a fan or you simply hate boxing, This game is still a must buy, or at least a must try.
This game without a doubt is for me, the best boxing game ever created until hopefully the next Fight Night.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/30/04