Ultimate Fighting Championship

"Are You Ready? Are You Ready?"

Let's Get It On!

Introduction
Ah, Ultimate Fighting Championship for Game Boy Color. Who knew that smashing a guy in the face with your fist could be so unsatisfying?

Game Modes
There are four main modes in this UFC game. In "Tournament Mode" you fight a series of matches in order to become UFC Champ. "Versus Mode" is a simple exhibition match. There is a "Training Mode" lead by Big John McCarthy himself. The training doesn't go into blocking or grappling and mounts, but oh well, it's a button masher after all. Lastly, there is a "Survival Mode" in which you fight as many grapplers as you can plow through before being beaten yourself.

There are also fighter "biographies" that you can view from the main menu. The info included is name, height, weight, home state or country and fighting style. I kind of wonder why this was even included in the game. The biography information is the exact same as during the fighter select screens.

Graphics
The graphics are good, but not exceptional. The fighter portraits are really good, as are the backgrounds like the octagon and arena where you'll fight. The fighter sprites are awesome until you realize that the only reason you can tell who you are fighting is because you selected them by name. Otherwise, they appear to be a couple of generic grapplers. If you don't know any of these guys, then you'll be ok. You couldn't show someone the sprite and have them say "Oh, that's Chuck Lidell." One really nice graphical touch is that Big John McCarthy has the white latex gloves on when he starts the match. He then, of course, disappears during the match, never to be seen again.

Sound
Ultimate Fighting Championship has some of the most generic and unmemorable music ever. It's not bad, it's just lacking. The fighting sounds are acceptable. When you miss a punch or kick you'll hear a whiff and the thuds when you land a blow are satisfying enough.

Gameplay
There are eight fighters with "unique" fighting styles: Eugene Jackson (Freestyle), Tito Ortiz (Submission Fighting), Pedro Rizzo (Ruas Vale Tudo), Frank Shamrock (Submission Fighting), Guy Mezger (Submission Fighting), Kevin Randleman (Wrestling), Evan Tanner (Freestyle) and Chuck Lidell (Kickboxing). There really isn't much difference between fighters and their fighting styles. Randleman and Ortiz fight pretty much the same way: with stand up strikes and an occasional mount or two. Submissions are non-existent. This game's idea of a submission is mounted punches until someone's energy meter falls to zero. Tap Out!

Matches in UFC consist of one 5 minute round (in Nintendo time it's only about 2:30). The winner is the fighter who has most energy left at the end of the round. There is no points system and scorecard. If you beat up your opponent the entire match and then back off and let his energy level go back up to full and let him punch you right before the bell, then he will be declared the winner. Umm... woof!

There are three supposed difficulty levels as options: easy, medium and hard. I can't really tell too much difference in them though. It's button mashing.

Control
The controls are the best thing going for Ultimate Fighting Championship. They are very responsive and easy to pick up. Maybe that's because there simply isn't that much to it. There are "Pseudo-3D" movements in the octagon, so you can roam all around the cage. The B Button + D-Pad throws different kicks and A Button + D-Pad throws various punches. You block by pressing back + A. Grappling and mounts are accomplished by pressing B Button + A Button to grapple then A + D-pad to throw some mounted strikes. In a grapple, the B Button releases the hold. The collision detection is really good. You have to get in close enough to land and good punch and you can't throw big kicks to the face if you are in real close. The Control and basic mashing are really the only saving grace for this game. If the controls were not as responsive as they are, the game would be unplayable.

Recommendation
This is a button masher for sure. When I started out writing this review I had a much higher score in mind for it. But the more I thought about how lacking the game is, the more I dropped the score. It's not that it's a terrible game, it's actually a fairly decent brawler. It's just a terrible MMA game. It would have been a much better streetfighting type game without the UFC license. For a good MMA experience on Game Boy, you should stick with the great Fire Pro Wrestling series. It's the real thing.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/06