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I’m a fan of the “sweet science” probably more so than most gamers. I watch as much boxing on free TV (read: espn, espn2, fox sports) as I possibly can. Friday Night Fights was a tradition for my dad and I every week as we watched the up-and-comers fight it out for that one title shot. There’s something to be said about a sport that rewards you for beating the heck out of your opponent. Fans of the sport see it as more than that, it’s a mental game, a game of finesse, a game of conditioning, a game of skill, and a game of strength. It’s just you, your mind and your hands. There’s nothing else there to protect you but yourself. It’s the rawest sport around, sans Ultimate Fighting, K1, and Pride events where “almost” anything goes. Yet none of those other sports hooked me quite like boxing.

Boxing games have been around for as long as I can remember, from the surprisingly good “Boxing” for the Atari to the masterpiece of boxing (still in some ways unsurpassed to this day) “4D Boxing” from DSI software for the PC to the Punch Out’s and Ring Kings of Nintendo to the Knockout King’s and Victorious Boxers of today. None of these games have captured the true nature of boxing except for 4D Boxing. Boxing is more than just punching it’s about dodging punches and executing a game plan. That brings me to the latest boxing sim available Ubi Soft’s wonderful game Rocky. With this game they have done many things right and a few things wrong but overall have given fans the most rewarding experience since 4D Boxing, and that’s quite an accomplishment.

Rocky is first and foremost a movie tie-in. It allows you to follow the career of everyone’s favorite underdog through all 5 movies. You start out as the undersized and outmatched Rocky I up to the over-the-hill ex-champ Rocky V. They did a wonderful job of introducing boxers who were only mentioned in the movies and really made the world of the Rocky come alive. From the beating of Apollo Creed at the hands of Ivan Drago to the behind the Gym bare hands brawl with Tommy Gun. It’s all there; yes even Mr. T’s awesome Clubber Lang. After every win in Story Mode you unlock that fighter for use in exhibition fights. The game uses a simple mini-game system to up your stats, which can be skipped for those who want to get back into the action. The Story mode is a blast to play through and should provide good replay value. Also there’s a sparring mode where you can hone your skills and a Knockout Tournament mode, which sets up a standard tournament that can be played solo or multiplayer. There’s a lot to do and the multiplayer is great fun. There’s nothing like getting a few friends over and fighting a much-heated tournament and knocking out their teeth out.

How does Rocky play? Smooth and polished. On the easy setting you can get away with button mashing but crank up the difficulty and you’ll need to box your way to victory. You have a ton of punches at your disposal and multiple combos you can levy against your enemy. A good blocking and dodging system was implemented that makes it more than just a brawler. Every boxer also has 2 super-punches they can throw, but throw too many and watch the power of your punches dwindle. Fights can play out a lot like real life where you trade punches and momentum. I do have a few complaints though, there is no grabbing and holding your opponent, and whether you like it or not in real-life boxing it’s a major part of the sport and losing this aspect does hurt the realism. Also there is no referee intervention, no low blows no breaking up the fighters no interaction at all. Again these are hard things to include so it’s hard for me to mark the game down because of them. I just hope Rage is listening so when they make their next boxing game with this engine the can include these upgrades. As good as Rocky is there is a lot of potential for so much more. I’d also love to see more biased judging, 10-7 rounds, and more true knockouts and fewer knockdowns but now I’m just nit picking.

As good as the game plays it also looks great. The boxers all have a bigger than life look to them with nice entrances and multiple outfits. It’s also great to see the changes of the Rocky character of the ages from a skinny small-town boxer to a ripped world champion. Everything animates so nicely its really hard complain about anything. The rings are very detailed with a nice variation of locations to choose from. The crowds could use a little work, but name me one sports game where they don’t. I couldn’t really ask for much more graphically from this game, it looks great.

So overall I was quite surprised that I enjoyed this game so much. It’s a great boxing game that any fan of the sport should buy, needless to say any Rocky fan must own. Also it’s got crossover appeal, it’s a great multiplayer fighter. Looking for something a little different from the Tekken’s and Virtua Fighter’s to pull out when friends are over, Rocky might just fit the bill. It has that borderline arcade/sim thing down that most games can’t seem to handle. It will satisfy both camps. It surely satisfied this reviewer. I suggest a strong rental and/or a buy.