Knockout Kings 2002

"Not Great, But A Great Start!!"

When I was thinking about buying this game I read a lot of mixed reviews. I decided to take a chance and buy this game and I am very glad that I did. Overall the game is not bad. I am a casual boxing fan and the game is in depth enough for me. For the hard core boxing fan I could understand why this game might seem shallow.

Graphics 9/10:
This is where the game really shines. The boxers faces look very realistic, and it is very easy to tell who is who without even looking at the name of the boxer. Another great aspect of the graphics is the way the boxers develop injuries throughout the fight. You will begin to see a boxer bruise, and then get red, and finally start bleeding in certain areas. The boxers also begin to sweat more and more the longer a match goes on. If a fight goes the distance the boxers will look like they have been through a war. There are 8 boxing venues to fight in all colorful and very detailed. The only drawback I see to the boxing venues is the fans do not look as good as the rest of the game. They do not look horrible but they are 2D and flat looking. They are animated and react to the match which makes of for it a bit.

Replays 4/10:
The replays are not done very well. They boxers still look great but when a boxer is throwing a punch it looks as if the arm of the boxer is going through the boxer receiving the blow. The point of contact appears to be way off in the replay which really distracts the user from what would otherwise be a very nice addition to the game.

Sound 7/10:
The sound in this game is not bad. I feel the announcers are cleaver at times, but after you have hours into the game the announcers become very redundant. The actual sound effects from the boxers are done well. The crowd is average, but does not seem to draw you in. I wish they would of made the crowd noise more like Madden 2002. I run my TV through my stereo and the crowd in Madden just thunders throughout the house. I think they easily could have done the same with this game.

Gameplay 8/10:
The game play is not bad in this game, especially for the casual boxing fan. The exhibition mode is very standard to just about any boxing game. A nice feature is tournament mode which allows you to compete in a tournament of 4 or 8 boxing eliminating each other until there is one man standing. Career mode is the area that has taken the most hits. This operates in a pyramid format. There are four levels requiring each boxer to win a certain amount a matches at each level until you eventually meet the champ (ALI) at the fourth level. Once you are champ you defend your title five times and then you retire as the champ. You can only lose 3 times during a career or your career will be over. Their are four levels of difficulty in this mode, as well as 3 fight classes to fight at. If you come through the career ranks as an undefeated fighter you will fight around 20 matches. Many of the hard core boxing fans feel that the career mode could have been much more in depth, and they are right. But for the average boxing fan this games offers plenty of opportunity in career mode. If you fight your way to the end of your career as a retired champion then you will have 4 difficulty levels and three different weight classes (lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight) to do it in. This translates into 12 careers and 240 fights. Unless you are a hard core boxing fan or do not own another game, that should be plenty of fighting for you.

Create a Boxer 7/10:
The create a boxer is very basic giving you the necessary options to create a boxer but are not as detailed as some of the other create a player options for games such as NCAA College Football 2003. It does the job though and you can either us a in game fighter such as Ali, Hollyfield, Butterbean, Frazier, Delahoya, Witherspoon, Leonard, or any of the 45 in game boxers or your own boxer in career mode.

Overall I believe this game is a very good game for the average gamer. If you are a hard core boxing fan you may want to rent it first to make sure you can live with the simplistic career mode. I love this game and believe that it is a very good start to what I am sure will be a great game in 2003.

Overall Score 8/10 (This is not an average.)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/02, Updated 07/30/02