Rocky

Review - Enter the world of the movies, and Boxing. Unsurprisingly.

I’m not the greatest Rocky fan in the world but there is something ultimately pretty damned cool about the Philadelphian born boxing hero. What could be cooler than fighting your way through intense battles with the likes of Ivan Drago and Clubber Lang? It was a worry that this novelty would wear off rapidly and the game would become just another standard beat ‘em up, living off the legend that is the Rocky movies.

The game play is fairly straight forward, you can fight your way through all the movies in movie mode, you can spar with some of the simplest boxers, learn the combo moves, you can create tournaments with all of the players (more are unlocked as you complete the movie mode) and you can have an exhibition match between any of the players you have defeated.

The most interesting mode by far is the movie mode. You have about seven boxers from each film, most of whom I had never heard of, ending with the famous fighter Rocky inevitably ends up fighting at the end of the film. You get to see Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago and, of course, Tommy “The Machine” Gunn. Although these fighters are quite cool it would get a bit boring if it weren’t for the training you can do between each fight to increase your stats. You can improve your stamina with a skipping challenge, your movement by punching a swinging hunk of meat, your strength by performing sit-ups, your speed by hitting a punch bag, and your determination by performing as many combination moves as possible in under 60 seconds. These little tasks are great for a little bit of a change during what is otherwise just punching and punching and punching! It is just a shame that you can only do the training sessions whilst in the movie mode as this gives you no chance to practice outside of the high tempo boxing circuit!

The other modes are really quite standard with the sparring mode allowing for absolute novices to fight to get used to the controls as you can make the opposition just stand there. The exhibition mode too is quite run of the mill as when you play against another human player it becomes a game of who can tap the buttons fastest. The tournament mode is good enough, but you have to have completed the entire game on the hardest setting to get to create a tournament featuring the big guns. This is a good enough reason for completing the game on the hardest settings as you get two bonus fighters for the tournament and exhibition mode. There is nothing funnier than seeing Mickey Goodmill, your 90 year-old boxing trainer, get up in the ring and take out Ivan Drago! The other bonus character I will keep a secret but I will say he brings a whole new meaning to the term heavyweight!