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Intro Rocky is, and always will be, an American icon. Now, I'm sure there are many out there that consider the movies, and the sport of boxing itself, to be barbaric. There are some of out there who may even consider the movie brainless and boring. To those, I can only say, I pity you. If you can't sit down with some popcorn and enjoy the over-the-top antics of Apollo Creed, the obnoxious Pauly, and basking in Dolph Lundgren's glory before he joined Eric Roberts in 'Straight to Video Land,' then you must be someone very boring to hang out with. Unfortunately for fans of the series, this latest handheld offering from Virtucraft and Ubi Soft ranks more on par with the lackluster Rocky V, rather than the greatness of the earlier titles. Gameplay: 5.5/10 Virtucraft was definitely in a tough spot. While the console versions have plenty of horsepower and screen real-estate to work with, the Game Boy Advance version is limited to a small view screen and a comparably limited palette. The natural reaction to this would be to go with the classic Punch-Out! style, but then it would be deemed as an unimaginative clone. To avoid such comparison, and inevitable rants, Virtucraft went for a unique side approach. Utilizing a block button, Rocky, and the other fighters, can go towards the screen, away from it, lean backwards, and lean forwards. This gives the game a quasi-3D feel, but its positives are relatively untouched throughout the matches. The main problem with Rocky, and all of its gameplay modes, is that the game is too easy. The player can go through the ranks and battle out the major players from the movies, along with some no name filler fighers, and check out cutscenes that feature still shots and the backstory as to what happened before and after the main bouts, in a matter of a few hours. This is in part to there being few modes to play through. Aside from the already mentioned movie mode, there's an exhibition mode where a number of fighters can be chosen, with some unlockable ones as well, to go against each other for a quick bout, along with a versus mode and a knockout mode. The knockout mode is unlocked once the main movie feature has been beaten, and it's a shorter tournament that uses a ladder system for fighters to get to the top. In fact, knockout was the only place where I found a significant challenge and that was when I was fighting against 'Rocky Statue,' it was also the only time I had ever been knocked down. Throughout the movie mode, the player will be able to up Rocky's stats. During this time in the gym, speed, stamina, strength, and defense will be increased. To up the stats, speed bags, punching bags, and sparring partners will be used. While there's an option to auto train in either one of the modes, it's much more enjoyable to practice combos on the punching bag, timing on sparring partners, and rhythmic button tapping on the speed bags - this tapping motion is also how to get back up after being knocked down during a fight - rather than skimped on them in lo of getting decent enhancements without any effort. While the first few fights can be challenging, it becomes apparent that training Rocky's strength and health is really all that is necessary. Aside from the health bar, there's a stamina bar that acts as a visual reference as to how hard each punch's impact is, and how much Rocky has left in him to continue. At the end of each round, however much stamina is left is what will be used to replenish the health bar. This adds a small element of strategy, but after a few fights, I was knocking opponents out in the first and second round, so holding back enough to substantially fill the health bar back up wasn't necessary. The fighting engine itself consists of jabs, hooks, and uppercuts. The combos learned in the gym on the punching bag play a relatively small role in actual fights as there is no concrete combo system. Linking moves together is pretty much left up to the player and the punches can get so sporadic that it makes timing difficult; pressing the button once might make him punch two times for some reason, while he might just swing once on others, leaving a good opportunity for a follow-up. The animations also hinder the ability to unleash killer shots as the opponent finishes their motion of being punched right as Rocky finishes swinging, so there's rarely a delay long enough for a solid second blow. Uppercuts are also extremely limited in their range, so actually connecting one is an accomplishment in itself. Basic punches and counters work fine, but the real satisfaction comes when dazzling an opponent with a flurry of shots, but that, unfortunately, is a rarity. As
I said in the intro, to equate the game with one of the Rocky movies, it'd definitely
have to be V. Sure, it has its positives, both end up with Tommy Gunn getting
the crap kicked out of him, but both are also extremely unsatisfying.
Graphics: 5.5/10 Sound:
4.5/10 Control:
5.5/10 Overall:
5/10 [ top ] | |||
