Kentzz reviews | Nostalgic - Rocky | [ENG]

Anyone who knows movies knows what the fantastic Sylvester Stallone movie series "Rocky" is all about. Not only did the story convey a great message of ambition, chasing your goals, and understanding that hard work will help you conquer every obstacle, but it offered a deep storyline and some awesome boxing action to get underway. Well, Ubi Soft and Rage have finally decided to create a next-gen console game for PS2 based on those fantastic flicks, and they've taken off one heck of a great game.

Rocky places you in charge of yeah, Rocky... as though you're not guessing that one. You get to go through all the movies to some degree, battling your way through more than 20 candidates, including some of them made up, like Dipper Brown and Tony Snow, but even film fighters like Spider Rico, Apollo Creed, and even the guy who expected a lot of pain for Rocky. Controls are quick to get in when the square and triangle throw the upper body shots while the X and the circle lower the body. Hitting the control stick will turn them to stronger hooks or haymakers, and holding R1 will trigger the uppercuts. There's also a potent one-hit knockdown punch that can be used, but it's recommended only when the enemy is winded or battered poorly because it can leave you wide open for a serious thrashing.

Now, going into Rocky's career isn't just jumping in and out of the rings and competing back and forth. Part of it also centers around fitness, and in matches, you'll need to practice on the speed trap, the jump rope, the punch mitts, and even the meat locker beating the hell out of the beef side. Each of them has a button pressing and pacing ability that needs to be done and can decide the improvement in the individual skill stat that they serve. You may not be very good at it the first time you play it, but much like real boxing, you'll get better as the game continues and build up your stats even further. One cool thing they added in was the "Auto Train" feature, which would build up the stat without you having to do the job. And if there's one or two that you're just not good at, don't think too much about it.

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Another good aspect of the game is a special mix of boxing and fighting game controls and gameplay. The boxing is pretty realistic and the animation looks fantastic, but Rocky and every boxer you unlock has the ability to throw a number of strike combos that look amazing, but they're not quite as hard to pull out as some other sports. For example, hitting the triangle, then the square, then holding up and following the same two-button pattern two more times triggers a pair of jabs followed by two hooks, an uppercut, and a roundhouse finisher, which will knock some decent energy out of your opponent's hand. In addition, you can set aside swings by pressing up, like in the MK Deadly Alliance, or block if you get too close to the corner.

Game modes, huh? Yeah, there's a lot of them. You will play in the "Movie Mode" that you've got from Rocky I – V battling enemies in pubs, gyms, and other areas, both from the movies and made up, and it's the key meat of the game. If you like to play as one of the boxers you've beaten... like a fight between Ivan Drago and Tommy "The Gunn" Morrison. You can do that either on your own or in a two-player blast game. There's also a Knockout mode after you beat Movie Mode for you and up to 15 other players who have a ladder style progression to where the winner advances and the loser drops out. Finally, Sparring Mode lets you practice your combinations and punching skills so that you won't be unprepared for the upcoming challenges

There are just a few things gameplay-wise that I would tell should have been handled a little differently, and they're both getting a little bit. The first is the absence of a "create your own boxer" feature, which would have been the icing on the cake for this game. It's not like the game is going to suffer without it; but, it would only have added an awesome twist to playing in the movie mode and being your own Rocky. Second, the machining difficulty can get a little nasty when you get through the first film, so make sure you practice your "stick and move" and walk to the side of the easier opponent before you get to that point. Going right in and throwing punches is a decent way to get knocked on your Italian Stallion back easily, and you might get super annoying if you're not qualified to pull it off. On a more optimistic note, it brings a lot of strategy to the game which helps to make it a lot more believable, something missing in a lot of boxing titles these days.

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Graphically, Rocky stands out and looks amazing. The close-ups of Stallone and the boxers he's going up against looking pretty sweet and their faces will contort and grimace in pain as they get hammered. In addition, they will show some very thorough injury, such as bloody noses, reddish features, and their eyes will also swell and look pretty nasty. The blood that flies from the mouths and noses when someone gets hit hard looks a little square but leaves some pretty realistic marks on the mat that can be seen very clearly. At the knockdown or when dancing in the ring. The animation is seamless, the surroundings look great, and even the audience even if a tad pixeled jumps around during the fight, or even throws garbage in the ring if they get a little crazy.

Rocky's sound is also a good one and features the original theme song that is popular all over the world. The sounds of the gloves striking the faces give off a pleasing touch, and the body blows have a painful thudding effect. In the surround sound system, the boxers who fall and strike the mat hit hard enough to get the subwoofer off and add to the painful sight that goes along with it. Voiceovers during matches or during computer-generated movie scenes sound fantastic and lead you straight to the first time you saw the video. The audience celebrates, sings, boos, and even remarks during the match when you're fighting, and everything just adds to the excitement of the game.