The Rocky license had a lot of potential during the 80’s and was capitalised on to an extent with the release of Rocky games on the Sega Master System and NES. The Master System version was the better of the two, offering various training mini-games, as well as bouts against Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago. Though the license has been rather stale since the release of Rocky V, Rage Software took it upon themselves to create a game that does justice to the Rocky franchise.
Rocky is primarily about boxing, and anyone who has been playing videogames for a long time will know that boxing games tend to range from absolute crap (James “Buster” Douglas Boxing, Foreman For Real) to gimmicky (Ready 2 Rumble, Toughman Contest) to half decent (Muhammad Ali’s Heavyweight Boxing, Knockout Kings), with no real “killer app” in the genre. Rocky does play like a normal boxing game would, with buttons for high and low punches, as well as straights and jabs, with a block/move button, but the execution of the actual fighting is the best I have seen in a boxing game.
First and foremost, the game revolves around knowing a few combos (which you pick up in the Sparring or Heavy Bag training), as sneaking a few combos into your attack can easily turn the balance of the fight. Secondly, movement and blocking are a vital part of your attack, as missed punches can go against your opponent when it comes to end of round scoring. Blocking too often will result in your block being broken, or in a worst case scenario, your fighter being sent into a dizzy. At the end of each round you will be presented with a few stats and your trainer will give you some advice for the next round. Fights end by decision, knockout and technical knockout.
The Movie Mode is the meat and potatoes of Rocky. It starts off with the first fight of the first movie, Rocky’s fight against Spider Rico. After you win the bout, you are presented with a variety of training options. Each training type will be linked with one of Rocky’s attributes; Punch Mitts works out Strength, Speed Bag works out Speed, Skipping works out Stamina, Sit-ups increase your determination and Heavy Bag works on your movement. Each training session works as a mini game, for example in the Punch Mitts, your current trainer will yell out the punch type you are to make, and a button will appear on the screen, and you must press it. You get two opportunities to train before you’re due for the next bout. As you defeat each opponent, you will unlock them for use in the Exhibition and Knockout Tournament modes. Before your final fight of each movie, you will see a cutscene which explains the story of whichever movie you are up to, and sets you up for the final bout against whoever the opponent was for that movie. Once that is completed, you will move onto the next movie in the series until you finish the mode (at the end of Rocky V).
The exhibition mode allows you to pit any two fighters in the game against each other at any arena of your choice. Exhibition is the main mode for multiplayer bouts, though with more than two people you may wish to use the Knockout Tournament mode, which allows for up to 16 players to duke it out, two at a time. If you’re fighting alone in the Knockout Tournament, winning the Bronze belt will unlock the Silver belt, and winning that will unlock the Gold belt, though you don’t really get anything for winning, it gives you something to do after completing the Movie Mode. The final mode of the game is the Sparring Mode, which allows you to choose any boxer, and practice combinations on another fighter, which is good for developing a strategy for your chosen boxer in the Exhibition or Knockout Tournament modes.
There aren’t many flaws in the way Rocky plays, the AI is competent and knows when to dodge, block, and fight back, and the difficulty is well toned. The only real issue is the length of the game. Movie Mode should take about 6-8 hours for the average player to complete, and then another 1-2 hours for the Knockout Tournament after that. If you’re looking for a lengthy single player experience, it may be better to look elsewhere.
The Eye of the Tiger
Rocky’s visuals are particularly strong across the board. The game runs at a constant high speed but manages to produce some very good looking detail along the way. The fighters look strikingly similar to their big screen counterparts – more so the main characters of the series than the minor characters, but they still look good in their own right. As the fights between your chosen characters develop, you will notice that their faces and bodies will become more battered, bruised and cut up thanks to a real time damage system used by Rage. This real time damage system can help produce some pretty grotesque-looking faces after 15 rounds.
There are a variety of environments used in Rocky, all of which are from the movie. Amazingly enough, Rage have used a 3D rendered crowd, every individual in the crowd has a body and moves around freely – some even throw stuff into the ring. Hopefully this will bring an end to the steamrolled crowds that have featured so prominently in sports games since the 3D revolution.
The aural department of Rocky isn’t really up to par with the rest of the game. Bill Conti’s Gonna Fly Now tune is in there, and adds an authentic feel, though other music from the series has not made an appearance – the most glaring omission being that of Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger from Rocky III. Voice work has basically been ripped out of the movies – some samples seem a bit raspy, but they’re decent for the most part. Finally, no boxing game is complete without an array of grunts, groans, and the sounds of gloves smashing against people’s faces, all of which are present here.
Yo Adrian! I did it!
Despite some minor pitfalls in the sound and longevity departments, Rocky has proved to be a very good boxing sim, better than most on the market. Though there probably will not be a sequel to iron these errors out due to Rage’s financial difficulties, the game still does a lot of justice to the license. Anyone looking for a good boxing sim, or something to facilitate rivalry between friends should pick this one up instantly. Australians should also be weary that some stores offer Rocky in a pack with the original movie for the same RRP as the standalone game.
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