Amstrad CPC Quadruple Header: Ghouls, Defend or Die, Covenant and Jack and the Beanstalk

Game: Ghouls
Console: Amstrad CPC 464
Developer: Micro Power
Release Date: 1985

Usually with games released around 1985, if it looks like Pac-man, and it sounds like Pac-man, it's pretty much Pac-man. Ghouls breaks this rule somewhat, as despite its main character sharing an awful lot of similarities with Pac-man (being yellow, the same death animation, eating pills and power pills to kill ghosts), it's actually more of a Mario-esque feeling platform game. The goal is to get past all of the obstacles and to the top of the screen.

Unfortunately Ghouls has one huge flaw which makes it nearly unplayable; every move has to be pixel perfect to avoid death. The controls are incredibly specific when it comes to inputs, so much so that in 20 attempts, I couldn't beat the first level despite topping the high score table of the game. The issue seems to be that even jumps which seem to land on the edge of a platform can phase through them, and the main character cannot fall very far at all without dying.

Graphically the game is pretty simple; though the main character is Pac-man with legs, the rest of the onscreen sprites are a little more original and I suppose that deserves some credit. Musically there's some menu music, and Game Over music but nothing save for sound effects in the game itself. These sound effects are reminiscent of Pac-man, and I ended up wondering why the developers didn't go for a more direct clone, as it's clear they were influenced by the Namco title.

Overall Ghouls is one to avoid; it's controls just aren't good enough to get a feel for the main character's movement. 9 times out of 10 I snagged the red plant on the first platform, resulting in a death, and the few times I didn't the balloon ghost came to get me, or the awfully tricky moving platform enemy that you can stand on some parts of but not others ended my turn.

Rating: 9/100
Grade: F

Game: Defend or Die
Console: Amstrad CPC 464
Developer: Alligata Software
Release Date: 1985

Defend or Die can easily be described as a wave based space shooter. Players control a ship and are rewarded for shooting aliens which inhabit the level. There are 6 different types of aliens which can be seen above, and players must shoot a certain number of them before moving onto the next level. The player's spaceship speed is incredibly fast, and much of the navigation must be done using the radar on-screen.

The initial enemies aren't too hard to take out with the ship's built in guns, but by the time it comes to the Mutants and Bombers of wave 2, it's almost impossible not to get hit. The Mutants can move at the same speed as the ship, making its maximum speed seem stationary and thus creating a difficult situation for players to manoeuvre out of .The bombers spread bullets when they are destroyed and so are equally dangerous.

Graphically the game is pretty basic, with sprites reminiscent of Space Invaders from a few years earlier, and much of the screen filled with simply black background. While the game loaded to a musical melody, there are only shooting sounds to accompany gameplay, and these are pretty much white noise.

Overall the ship moves far too quickly compared to the landscape and the enemies become rather powerful too quickly to let players have much fun. The game seems to play decently other than these issues though, so it's a shame it wasn't a tad slower, with some initial enemies to train players in how later levels would work, rather than being thrown in at the deep end.

Rating: 30/100
Grade: E

Game: The Covenant
Console: Amstrad CPC 464
Developer: PSS
Release Date: 1985

With easily the best title screen I've seen for it's French release (the UK just got a blue screen with the title) The Covenant is a space exploration game, not entirely dissimilar to Metroid. There's a large sprawling map with lots of chambers and places to explore which scrolls as players explore and unlock new parts of it. In each chamber there's a monster which must be subdued whilst outside of the player ship and then captured inside of it. Once all the current area's monsters have been caught, a piece of the covenant is unlocked on the pause screen and players can move on.

The feel of movement in the game is very floaty; both the ship and the player character fall very slowly through the air. The exploration gameplay is slow and calculated, and although much of the terrain looks similar, there's a real sense of exploration and adventure with the game feeling far bigger than the majority of CPC titles.

Graphically the colours featured in the game remind me of Sabre Wulf for Commodore Plus/4; the bright shades evoking tropical plants. It's interesting to note how large the player's sprite is on the screen as a whole - this can make avoiding enemies and other types of damage fairly difficult, though there is a life gauge refill point situated in each part of the map. Though there's no music, there are other sound effects and the dominant feel is one of wonder at the scope of the game, for the era.

Overall Covenant is a very interesting game, and perhaps one of the most content rich of the Amstrad CPC line up. While the game does get a little harder later on, there's the possibility of saving (very impressive for the era), and uncovering the pieces of the covenant gives players an idea of how far along in the game they are. The obvious parallels with Metroid are impressive, especially on an inferior system to the NES.

Rating: 66/100
Grade: C

Game: Jack and the Beanstalk
Console: Amstrad CPC 464
Developer: Thor Software
Release Date: 1985

With some of the worst menu music I've ever heard, Jack and the Beanstalk didn't give a great first impression. It's a simple platformer with various screens which tell the story as Jack climbs the beanstalk and makes his way to the giant's house. Unfortunately it's also very clunky with a poorly implemented control scheme which sees jump and shoot mapped to the same key.

Enemies are tricky to avoid, and shooting them with the gun is somewhat of a waste of ammo, as Jack has a limited number of bullets. The second screen has a 3D effect going on which is really weird and the entire game seems fairly hastily put together based on a fairytale. Constricted by the events of the story, but feeling no need to depict them in particular accuracy, the game fails to be fun, or an accurate retelling of the story.

Graphically the game looks almost cartoon like, with a visually pleasing 8-bit style. It's a shame that the movement within the game is difficult to get used to and the controls must be relearned with each level change as different ideas are attempted. Aside from the awful menu music, there are sounds here and there which also assault the ears. Whoever was responsible for the sound design in the game did a terrible job.

Overall Jack and the Beanstalk isn't a game that I'd be willing to play based on it's concept, gameplay, music, or controls. The graphics are okay, but also vary from level to level. The control issues that plague the game and lack of tangible platforming enjoyment make this hard to persevere with once players start losing lives.

Rating: 26/100
Grade: F

Series Review: Tony's Hawk's Part 2 (Underground Era)

Game: Tony Hawk's Underground
Console: Microsoft Xbox
Developer: Neversoft
Release Date: 14th November 2003

As the first release outside of the Pro Skater line of games, Tony Hawk's Underground had creative license to be different and show players an innovative and new skating experience. While the game adds a lot of new mechanics, such as off-board exploration and driving, much of this feels somewhat clunky and the skating action is still king as far as gameplay is concerned. Objectives as the Pro Skater titles had have been removed in favour of goals, handed to players by NPCs, of which all but one must be completed to move to the next level, with 30 levels in total.

Although there are 30 levels in total, each location has 5 or so levels which take place in it, and thus there are around the same number of locations as in the rest of the series. Having said this, the locations themselves tend to be less varied than in any of the previous games, as most are based on real life cities, and there's only so much that can be done with these. The goals featured in the game can be grouped into several types; fetch goals, trick goals, score goals and a few others. On the whole they're enjoyable, but the game itself feels a little too long and samey unless you're looking for a huge session of Tony Hawk's.

The skating gameplay featured is very similar to the rest of the series, though some tricks have been added. It's very easy to string a combo together, with reverts and manuals being the staple of hitting big scores. There's a custom trick editor that allows players to insert their own special move into the game, which is actually pretty cool. Driving or on-foot parts of the game are far less enjoyable and any goals involving these should really be skipped if possible.

The game's story is frustratingly slow moving, with much of the first half focused on making it to the Tampa-Am competition in order to compete. After getting a sponsor, a ride to the competition, arrested, freed, advertising the competition and impressing the pros enough to make it into the competition, players are finally allowed to actually compete and likely beat the pros by a mile. Perhaps the huge amount of levels is a plus for some players, but it honestly becomes a grind after a while.

Graphically the game isn't anything amazing but it's certainly a step forward from the Pro Skater titles. Musically I'm a big fan of Pro Skater and Pro Skater 2, but from there on the series seems to diversify into general musical anarchy. There are some good tracks, there are some bad tracks, it's just a case of catching a good song on a good run; at least there's some variety.

Overall Tony Hawk's Underground does best when it's tugging at the punk-sounding, mean-skating nostalgia we have for the previous games. The driving and on-foot segments and the fairly boring and slowly paced story have no real value to gamers, and it's a shame that the game seems to be so goal based. There's really no reward for freely skating around at any time where previously it could have been beneficial. With these ups and downs, it's a pretty average title overall.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C

Game: Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Neversoft
Release Date: 4th October 2004

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is remarkably different for a sequel in such a homogeneous series of games. That's not to say it's changed much at all, but there's less "levels" and more sets of goals for each level, to be completed by different skaters. There's a set of goals for the player's original character, a set for a pro skater, a set for a guest skater and a special set which are completed on a special vehicle instead of a skateboard. This leads to some whacky guest appearances and goals mixed with the regular move and score goals we're used to.

The premise of the game is a skating tour, with two team captains; Tony Hawk and Bam Margera. The player attempts to earn points for their team by completing the objectives in each level. Once enough have been completed, it's possible move on. There's not a lot of stages in the game, compared to other instalments in the series, but the number of goals is certainly higher. As far as variety goes, there are some fun things to do in each level, with destructible environments in most and things to find.

The skating action itself feels similar to the other games in the series, though perhaps slightly clunkier in some ways. The levels featured in the main mode of the game tend to lack the flow of those featured in early titles also, making it far harder to string together combos and score runs, though time is no longer a factor in completing most goals. The special vehicles used instead of skateboards vary, but have some fun appeal even if they're not what we're used to.

In addition to the main mode, THUG2 features a Classic Mode allowing players to make their way through some of the game's levels, and remade classic levels in the original format; 2 minute runs, 10 goals per level and more levels unlocked once a certain amount of goals are cleared. This is all very well, and I personally appreciate the inclusion of the classic levels, but the first three levels (which are from THUG2) don't really fit this model well, and it's hard to string together a decent run.

Graphically the game isn't all that impressive; perhaps it's just the Playstation 2 version, but there were moments that I definitely preferred the first Underground game. There's nothing special about any of the skaters, their animations or the locations featured in the game, visually. The soundtrack is another mix of genres with a focus on Punk, Hip Hop and Alternative Rock. This works a little better than in Underground, though the inclusion of some wild card musical choices is questionable.

Overall Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is more of the same skating silliness we're used to with a few new tricks and features. The story mode flows better than in Underground and definitely doesn't drag on for quite as long. Classic Mode is a nice inclusion and can provide a nice nostalgia trip once players are past the first few levels. I prefer the Pro Skater series for the most part, with its fast paced, goal-clearing focus, but there's some acceptable fun to be had here too.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C

Game Review: Injustice: Gods Among Us (WiiU)

Game: Injustice: Gods Among Us
Console: Nintendo WiiU
Developer: NetherRealm Studios
Release Date: 19th April 2013

Injustice: Gods Among Us is a fighting game featuring various heroes and villains from the DC universe including Batman, Superman, The Joker and Lex Luthor. Unlike many fighting games there's no conventional Arcade Mode, as the main mode is Story Mode, which is split into 12 chapters, each featuring a different hero or villain and advancing the main plot through lengthy movie style cutscenes as well as the fighting gameplay.

In addition to story mode there's S.T.A.R Labs mode which sets players challenges in preset fights, and Battles which is a sort of arcade mode allowing players to make their way through many rounds with different conditions, such as only fighting heroes or villains. There's also local and online multiplayer, but as the game is on WiiU, I'm not quite sure how the control scheme would translate to a Wiimote.

Fights feature several interesting features, some that have been featured before in other fighting games, and others which are somewhat unique. Firstly each player has two health bars, the first appears to represent armour of some kind, with the second acting more like true damage. Since there's two health bars for all fighters, all fights in Story mode are single round affairs. Environmental attacks can be used, with many features of each battlefield that can be picked up, thrown, broken or otherwise tampered with to cause damage to an opponent. Finally there's the special move meters in the bottom corners of the screen; these have sections which can be used in a face-off where players "bet" their special bar in a bid to out bet and thus cause damage to an opponent, as well as governing when special moves can be used.

The controls, though a little strange for the WiiU gamepad are fairly easy to get used to; X, B and Y are the main attacks, with RZ used for special moves, and R used to interact with environmental features. I found the d-pad to be far more useful than the analog stick, mainly due to its placement on the controller and actually being able to hold it whilst playing. There are also QTE sequences before some fights which can affect the amount of health that players begin with, these aren't too hard unless you play a lot of consoles, in which case remembering where A, B, X and Y are can be a little harder.

The fighting gameplay featured is fairly standard in terms of attack choices, though every character has different light, medium and heavy attacks, as well as interesting and detailed personalised special moves. Usually it's strategy which decides who has the advantage in a fight; making use of the environmental weapons, face-off meters and special moves, and understanding the damage cap after the first meter. This makes it easier to plan how to beat opponents, both AI and live and adds a different element to the game.

The large selection of characters and additional DLC characters makes for an impressive fighter line-up for any comic book fan, and I'm sure if there was a similar Marvel based fighting game (there might be, I haven't checked) that fans would be equally excited for it. A DC vs Marvel fighting game would be particularly amazing, but remains highly improbably with both companies competing as they do.

Graphically the game isn't all that impressive on WiiU, and is probably only comparable to a PS3 title; I can only assume that the other versions of the game were better. The general look and style of the game is good, with recognisable characters from the DC universe and some good, if somewhat lengthy cutscenes. Musically the game is pretty average featuring the kind of suspenseful movie music you'd expect it to have and not much else.

Overall Injustice: Gods Among Us isn't your average fighting game; the main mode is in a strange length category - far longer than conventional arcade modes, but far shorter than most story modes in other games. This results in a movie-like experience which players should really only want to sit through once, with S.T.A.R Labs and Battles modes providing the excitement post-completion. There's a lot to do in the game, and the fighting does feel satisfying and fair for the most part, especially if you're a fan of the characters already.

Rating: 84/100
Grade: B

PSP Puzzle Double Header: Bubble Bobble Evolution and Puyo Pop Fever

Game: Bubble Bobble Evolution
Console: Sony Playstation Portable
Developer: Opus
Release Date: 29th September 2006

Bubble Bobble is an arcade game series which began in 1986 and received various sequels as time continued. While the gameplay of the original was fairly simple, subsequent games added various features to the series, and Bubble Bobble Evolution is no different. The game features Bub and Bob, the two protagonists in separate but linked castles, working their way through each floor, consisting of 3 themed sections with doors leading between them. If that sounds complex, then it sort of is, considering that I haven't explained any of the gameplay mechanics yet.

Bub and Bob are both able to blow bubbles which can flick switches, trap enemies, and carry items between sections. In this way, bubbles are an integral part of the puzzle solving mechanics of the game, along with jumping between platforms and flicking the switches in the correct order. The goal of each level is to clear the path to the lift, and then enter and move up a floor before switching to the other character and doing the same.

Players can choose to go through the game with tutorial hints helping them every so often, though this doesn't guarantee that they won't fail anyway. Any contact with enemies takes away health, and sometimes it's rather difficult to avoid. Health can be regained by trapping enemies in bubbles and then popping them, but this slows the pace of the game and isn't something I found myself doing very often.

After each floor there's a boss stage, the quality of which varies between boring and semi-broken and fairly competently programmed. With only bubbles to attack enemies, there's not a lot of variation in these stages design wise, though the bosses themselves do change. The overall puzzling in the game can also be somewhat complex with various planning required across each section of the floors featured.

Graphically the game is presented in a cartoon style which is a little tacky; the enemies and details featured don't have a particular theme, and even with themed sections to each level (i.e. Autumn, Winter, Summer), the designs aren't exactly inspired. Small gripes like being able to see a square image border around bubbles when many are blown at once also detract from the visual experience. Musically the game isn't anything special with some playful themes here and there.

Overall Bubble Bobble Evolution is a slightly confusing and poorly put together game which doesn't feature too much of a story or motivation for completing it's puzzles. The themeing and features of the levels seem almost random at times and having to move both heroes up each floor and fight bosses twice can become monotonous. While it's clear that some effort was put into the game, it might have been better without the Bubble Bobble license as an original game which would have been more free to explore some common sense gameplay features.

Rating: 60/100
Grade: D

Game: Puyo Pop Fever

Console: Sony Playstation Portable

Developer: Sega

Release Date: 19th May 2006

Puyo Pop Fever is one of many releases in the Puyo Puyo series, including Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. The aim of the game is to build combos which once cleared will release nuisance puyos onto the opponent's screen, inhibiting their ability to score combos themselves. Players drop coloured puyos onto the bottom of the screen, attempting to connect 4 together horizontally, vertically or combinations of both. The skill in the game is in not immediately going for connections of 4, but leaving 3's to be completed by falling puyos, thus earning combos.

Each of the game's difficulty levels features a certain amount of opponents who increase in difficulty as players continue. The easy level of difficulty requires little to no skill to beat, and is incredibly short, the medium level isn't particularly challenging until the final boss which has the ability to end player's turns in literally 2 moves. Until this point in the game, players don't need to worry too much about stacking up lots of combos or reaching "fever" mode.

Graphically the game isn't particularly impressive, with cartoon like cutscenes and background for the puzzling action to take place against. The characters featuring in the story are varied, but the story itself is literally a series of bumping into enemies and playing Puyo Pop against them, and not much else. There's some fitting, if a little forgettable music which plays behind gameplay, which sets the tone for the entire game really; it's a competent puzzler but nothing that'll revolutionise the genre.

Overall Puyo Pop Fever can be fun to get into, and working out how to pull off combos effectively gives a nice change from simple Tetris-like games, but there's really not much more to do in the game. Tetris was a universal concept due to its simplicity and ease to get better at, whereas it feel like Puyo Pop has a threshold above which it can be fairly boring and below which players have no hope of beating the bosses of medium/hard mode.

Rating: 62/100
Grade: C

Review Double Header: Ferrari Challenge and Supercar Challenge

Game: Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli
Console: Sony Playstation 3
Developer: Eutechnyx
Release Date: 4th July 2008

Fans of the Gran Turismo series will recall that until fairly recently there was no Ferrari licensing in the game, leaving a fairly glaring omission in the game's car list. I can only assume that this game was a contributor to that, and wonder how Ferrari allowed their name to be used here, but not in Polyphony Digital's vastly superior series. Fans of the Gran Turismo series will also be aware of how a good driving simulator game feels; the need for braking, realistic weight physics around corners and semi-competent AI who can at least manage to stay on the track for the most part.

The first thing players will notice about the game when playing is the absolutely awful driving physics; there isn't a term strong enough to describe how unresponsive the cars are around corners. With full braking from a long way before the entry to the corner, cars will still continue to go in a straight line while the AI cars seamlessly handle the corners somehow. It's a frustrating issue which plagues every corner of every race. Add to this the fact that there's only one car unlocked upon starting the game, and it's clear that the developers made some odd choices.

The career mode of the game features various race series which players can compete in, and the layout and progression isn't too bad. There's just little chance that players will have the patience to get through any of the races laid out before them. With some very cautious driving and cornering it's possible to win races, but it's hardly worth it as the fight is against the handling of the game rather than the AI racers who are hugely incompetent at times, leaving the track of their own accord and generally doing random things throughout races.

It's clear that parts of the game were worked on very hard by the developers; the visuals are generally gorgeous and there's some lovely reflections and lighting effects, but the views of the car are mostly from odd angles, damage is ridiculous and occurs to parts of the car which haven't even been hit, the map goes offscreen at times and these factors make for a confusing mix of high and low quality.

The sounds of the game aren't too bad, though Tiff Needell's 'witty' criticism grates after a while in the tutorial mode. Despite claiming to have over 50 models of Ferrari in the game, only 22 can actually be unlocked and there's only 1 available from the start of the game. Featured as a mini-game is a Ferrari top trumps set which can prove to be just about as fun as playing the main game.

The most frustrating aspect of the game is that with better AI and handling, Ferrari Challenge could have been a truly enjoyable racing game. Getting used to its handling is near impossible and it feels so unrealistic that it's hardly worth doing. As such progressing in the game has no real appeal, and after about half an hour of trying to get into the game most players will have given up.

Rating: 37/100
Grade: E

Game: Supercar Challenge
Console: Sony Playstation 3
Developer: Eutechnyx
Release Date: 4th September 2009

It's not often in the modern day that we see such a blantant recycling of a video game as in Supercar Challenge. If you'd like to learn about the handling and AI featured in the game, re-read the above review of Ferrari Challenge, because this game is essentially a car pack for it. In fact the two games, while released separately were also released as a single disc. There's almost no change between the games, and Supercar Challenge features many of the same Ferraris as Ferrari Challenge with a few other brands of supercar mixed in.

The same tutorial, tracks, AI and handling engine are used unashamedly from the previous game, and no attempt has been made to fix any of the issues. Multiplayer mode was removed between the two games and apart from Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer 2 on the PSP, I'm not sure I've seen such a similar set of games released so closely, purporting to be different titles. Had the System 3 logo on the bottom of the box not been obscured by a CeX sticker when I purchased the game, I'd have surely avoided it, but in a way I'm glad I was able to witness such a blatant re-release for a reminder of how cynical game publishers can be.

I'm not going to bother scoring this game, as it's essentially the same as Ferrari Challenge with some different cars. Simulation racing games are hard to get right, but that doesn't mean that developers shouldn't try. These games have all the hallmarks of titles which were rushed to release; the graphics seem perfectly finished but the AI and handling could have done with some polishing and it's a real shame they never got it.

Series Review: Ridge Racer

Ridge Racer is an arcade racing game which focuses on drifting around corners to win races. There are other elements introduced in other games in the series, but this is the main idea of the series. I don't own the original Ridge Racer for Playstation and there are a few other gaps in the chronology but I'll be exploring all the instalments that I own. While most of the early series was exclusive to Playstation there have been games for the Nintendo 64, Xbox 360, and 3DS.

Game: Ridge Racer Revolution
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Namco
Release Date: 3rd December 1995

While games in 1995 weren't as complex and replayable as they are today, Ridge Racer Revolution immediately presents an issue in terms of the amount there is to do. Players can choose from 3 tracks, in 3 modes, with a selection of 4 cars initially. While there are reversed versions of each track, and some more cars can be unlocked later, one race on each track in Race Mode is the entirety of the main gameplay. After winning a race, the Game Over screen appears and the game starts again, expecting players to clear each of the races and time trial mode, before it's literally 100% complete.

This is a shockingly small amount of content to offer players, and coming from later games like Ridge Racer Type 4 (which was still on the original Playstation), it's very disappointing. The racing action too is less enjoyable with horrible collision physics causing players to lose a lot of speed from hitting other cars or barriers even slightly. Drifting also seems to be less effective with very few points where it doesn't slow players down more than cornering normally.

Graphically the game could be a lot better though it's not bad for its time; cars and environments look very blocky and in faster sections there can be quite a lot of flicker. The sounds of the game are one of its worst points; while the music is reminiscent of the Prodigy's first album with a lot of dance style tunes, the voice over is far too present in giving feedback like "Ha ha, you're too slow" or "Come on, you've got to speed up!" when players are doing just fine in catching their opponents.

Even as a fan of the Ridge Racer series, Revolution is especially weak in terms of content, gameplay, sound and appearance. There's no area in which it excels and it can only really be excused in terms of being an early Playstation title. Other than this it offers literally minutes of fun for players, very little replayability and a yearning for the series to move on to a later format like that of Type 4.

Rating: 46/100
Grade: D

Game: Rage Racer
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Namco
Release Date: 30th April 1997

Rage Racer is perhaps the strangest instalment in the entire Ridge Racer series. For a start it's name is different to that of the rest of the series, and gave me the impression that it was some sort of parody/budget rip off for a while. Secondly the driving style is far more series and drifts are almost useless except for on the sharpest of turns, and lastly despite a complete change of handling, the game expected players to be as fast as ever on fairly difficult and technical tracks. While the cars in the game feel far more weighty and grip heavy than in Ridge Racer Revolution, the collision engine still hasn't been fixed, and hitboxes seem larger than ever, meaning that there are plenty of collisions with other cars, and the scenery which feel odd, and result in players losing a ton of speed. A consequence of this is that the races are near impossible to win, and even when passing a car from 2nd place, the counter doesn't hit 1st (it's possible it's just a lapped car, but it happened to me more than once).

The career mode finally features more than just an arcade run through a couple of races as players earn credits for finishing in the top 3 with which they can upgrade their cars and enter higher classes of race. While this is an exciting system, it does rather assume that the game isn't massively difficult to win at even in the easiest races. Between the heavier steering and the collision physics races are more than challenging and this can be frustrating enough to put players off entirely.

Graphically the game is the best in the series yet and features far more detail in its locations and cars than previous games. There's even night/day changes as players go around tracks which are more distracting than nice, but still a remarkable feature. Musically there's the same sort of music as in Ridge Racer Revolution, with dance and techno overtones but for some reason it's more bearable alongside the less abrasive female announcer.

Overall Rage Racer doesn't fix many of the glaring issues with the games but instead adds a heap of difficulty, and a more replayable Grand Prix mode. With better visuals and sound come more potential enjoyment, but anyone who's played the final instalment of the series on the Playstation knows that Ridge Racer Type 4 is even better.

Rating: 62/100
Grade: C

I've already reviewed Ridge Racer: Type 4, find my review here!

Game: Ridge Racer V
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Namco
Release Date: 24th November 2000

Ridge Racer V was a release game for the PS2 and from the outset seems like an updated and improved version of the Ridge Racer formula. There are 5 Grand Prix, featuring different variations of 7 tracks, and 21 vehicles to drive. the vehicles are separated into Drift and Grip categories which handle differently to eachother. Personally I find the Drift cars in this instalment far too easy to spin, so Grip is the obvious choice. In terms of the main mode (and that's all there really is to do, in game except for Time Trials and Free Runs, until players have unlocked everything), players compete in Grand Prix which consist of 4 races each. Players must place at least  4th in the 1st race, 3rd in the 2nd race and so on, until they have to win the final race to pass the Grand Prix. There are some interesting tracks and scenery, but nothing like the story featured in the main mode of Type 4.

The worst thing about the game seems to be the fact that the d-pad is the only method of controlling the car's direction. The analog sticks aren't supported, which forces players to drive a little differently than normal, making the game harder to beat. The collision physics also haven't been updated too much and still can ruin a good run with the slightest collision with a car or a wall. The AI are fairly competent and usually require a good run to beat, which means the racing action featured in the game is at least competitive and interesting.

Graphically the game is the best Ridge Racer so far; unsurprising given the leap in console technology for this game. There are far worse looking launch games for the Playstation 2, and there are impressive little details featured in the game like the shadows in the glass building in the picture above. The soundtrack is a strange mix of rock music and a departure from the music featured in the series so far. A DJ talks inbetween, and over tracks whilst players are racing, but this is less distracting that some of the voice overs featured in earlier games.

Overall Ridge Racer V is a fairly shallow game, with only 5 Grand Prix, though there are some fun special races which can be unlocked. The racing action is bearable, and though it's not perfect, players should be able to have at least some fun with the game. For the first "modern" Ridge Racer game, there's some good ideas, and if there'd been another main series instalment on the Playstation 2, I'm sure it'd have cemented these ideas into a much better experience.

Rating: 63/100
Grade: C

Game: R:Racing
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Namco
Release Date: 9th December 2003

Instead of releasing another main series instalment in the Ridge Racer series, Namco decided that a spin-off game, featuring  Rena Hayami, a new character, in a story based career mode was the best way forwards. In 14 chapters of racing action, players guide Rena through many different types of racing; apparently her skills as an ambulance driver impressed a race team owner enough to give her a spot in a professional race series. The game features licensed tracks and vehicles (which is new for the series), and spans rally racing, drag racing and the Japan Grand Touring Car Championship.

The game's handling can be described as simcade; a mix between the styles featured in arcade and simulation gaming. Unlike previous Ridge Racer games, braking is necessary before corners and drifting is ineffectual, but it's still very easy to lose control with late braking, especially in some cars. There's a huge difference between the handling of cars in the game, and besides a Fiat 500, Bentley Speed 8 and Audi LMP car, most of them are fairly frustrating to drive around tracks to some degree.

Graphically the game is reminiscent of Gran Turismo, albeit at a slightly lower quality level. There are a few circuits which feature in both games, so it's an easy comparison between the two. The cars themselves look a little too featureless and shiny for what they're supposed to be, There's an interesting selection of electronic music on the soundtrack and it's more fitting for the series than the music featured in Ridge Racer V.

Overall R:Racing doesn't really know what it wants to be; spanning the line between Toca and Gran Turismo in its concept, and yet providing very fiddly and frustrating handling. For fans of the Ridge Racer series, this game features too many elements of simulation games, and much less drift-based handling, yet fans of simulation games already had Gran Turismo 3 to keep them satisfied, so I'm not quite sure what Namco were going for.

Rating: 58/100
Grade: D

Game: Ridge Racer
Console: Sony Playstation Portable
Developer: Namco
Release Date: 1st September 2005

Ridge Racer for the PSP is an example of a handheld game done right; the game features 12 tracks, with forward and reverse variants, 2 of which are from each of the original Playstation Ridge Racer titles, with a further 2 from Rave Racer, an arcade title, and the final 2 loosely based on Rave Raver tracks. This means that fans of the series should at least be familiar with some of the tracks featured in game.

The World Tour mode has 40 tours, made up of different combinations of tracks with between 2 and 6 courses per tour. with a different car classes and requirements in each tour. There's a good selection of original cars to be found and unlocked, but the real draw of the game is that the handling and drifting finally works perfectly, just like in Ridge Racer Type 4, if not even better. Drifting around corners fills the 3 nitrous bars onscreen which can be used to great effect during races to gain first place.

Graphically the game looks good on the small screen on the PSP but perhaps a little worse when it's shown in a larger resolution. While the cars are a little blocky, the tracks and other details are generally good. The collision physics of the other games remain, if a little toned down, but the improved handling makes up for it. There's a large amount of music from previous Ridge Racer games as well as some new tracks, most of which are great for racing to.

Overall Ridge Racer for PSP was undoubtedly the best game in the series at its time of release. While it lacked the story mode interest of Ridge Racer Type 4, the improvements and upgrades as well as the retrospective mood put the game in a league of it's own. If anything there's a bit too much to do, with 40 tours to clear, but dedicated players will get their money's worth.

Rating: 81/100
Grade: B

Game: Ridge Racer 2
Console: Sony Playstation Portable
Developer: Namco
Release Date: 13th October 2006

Perhaps one of the laziest sequels ever released, Ridge Racer 2 on the PSP is almost identical to the game released the previous year. Sure, there are a few more cars, and a few more tracks, perhaps even a couple more modes to play, but the career mode progression, game engine and graphics engine are exactly the same as Ridge Racer. There's literally no point owning the first game if you don't already, just skip to this one.

The handling is predictably good, just like that of the first game; drifting is easily achieved and the nitrous bars are easy to fill. The AI gets fairly tough in later Grand Prix, and the more powerful cars are more difficult to handle and drive. There's very little in terms of differences from how career mode played out in the first game, if the cars and tracks could have been released as DLC, that'd have been a far better decision.

Graphically there's no difference from the first handheld instalment on the PSP, in fact many of the cars and tracks are the same, so it's easy to tell that little to no effort has been put into improving the look of the game. The soundtrack features a mix of songs from other instalments and new songs, and is probably the most changed aspect of the entire sequel.

Overall although Ridge Racer 2 as a standalone is a perfectly good game, and probably the better of the two PSP games, it's almost offensive to gamers how little was changed between releases. For those who bought both games on release, there must have been a moment of sheer disappointment upon realising they essentially already owned the content of Ridge Racer 2. For gamers who have yet to buy either game, this is the one to go for, though.

Rating: 81/100
Grade: B

Game: Ridge Racer 3D
Console: Nintendo 3DS
Developer: Namco
Release Date: 22nd March 2011

Ridge Racer 3D was a launch title for the 3DS, mirroring the fact that Ridge Racer games had been launch titles for Playstation, Playstation 2, and 3. The only previous instalment of the series on a Nintendo console had been Ridge Racer 64. In terms of gameplay advancements, there's really not a lot of new features in the game, but the added 3D effect which the console makes use of is an interesting addition.

The handling of the game is much the same as the previous 3 instalments of the series, with good drifting and general handling featured. Grand Prix mode features a tree of possible race options, meaning that players don't have to complete every Grand Prix to get through a level. With 4 races per Grand Prix and a ton of choice though, things can get a little too repetitive with long play sessions. A new feature of this game is avatars for each racer, above their head, based on classic Namco characters.

Graphically the game isn't as sharp as the PS3 instalment, but does well with it's 3D mode as well as with the 3D turned off. The overall sense of speed is good, and the heads up display is somewhat clearer than in other games, though the avatars of other players can get in the way sometimes. Musically there's a huge selection of new and previous in-game music, which is good, though it's often overshadowed by the 'encouragement' of the in-game announcer who pipes up far too often.

Overall Ridge Racer 3D is a nice addition to the 3DS launch line up and not a bad game per se, though there's no real innovation in terms of the series gameplay. While different nitrous modes can be used, and there are advantages which can be bought before races to help players get a headstart, I'd have much preferred a different race type, tournaments or a storyline of some kind.

Rating: 76/100
Grade: B

Game: Ridge Racer 7
Console: Sony Playstation 3
Developer: Namco
Release Date: 23rd March 2007

As the seventh main series instalment in the series, Ridge Racer 7 almost had to change up its career mode a little from the frankly lacklustre Ridge Racer V on PS2. Since I don't own Ridge Racer 6 on the Xbox 360, it's hard to tell when the switch occurred, but career mode on Ridge Racer 7 is much different to anything reviewed thus far. As a launch title for the PS3, the graphics are a good showcase of what could be done with the system at launch, and the racing engine feels easy to control.

In career mode players have the choice of 3 event types; Grand Prix series which have been the mainstay of the Ridge Racer series for a long time, Manufacturer Races in order to earn cars and parts for use in races and UFRA races which have special conditions and types and earn players money and fame. Whilst the AI difficulty cranks up to almost cheating levels pretty quickly, the racing action is fun and there's a great deal more choice in terms of race types and things to do than many other games from the series.

Graphically the game looks very nice with impressive lighting and location effects combining with the HD graphics to provide a truly visually pleasing experience. Unfortunately the sense of speed given by the game lets it down a little, as 200mph can feel the equivalent of 50mph on some stretches of road. The nitrous boosts give a much faster feel, but don't last particularly long as they use the same system as the PSP games. Ridge Racer 7's soundtrack is a little disappointing; though there are some good tracks, they're outweighed by the mediocre and a couple of truly unbearable tracks.

Overall the game feels like a fresh HD kickstart for the series, building on previous instalments to provide a deeper career mode and visually exciting tracks and cars. The racing action is very much enjoyable though the AI rubberbanding can ruin races at times. It's definitely worth giving a go, even if you're not a racing fan, since the easy handling and fun of drifting are pretty much universally enjoyable, even if the formula still wears thin after lengthy playsessions.

Rating: 83/100
Grade: B

Game: Ridge Racer Unbounded
Console: Microsoft Xbox 360
Developer: Bugbear Entertainment
Release Date: 30th March 2012

The latest game in the Ridge Racer series, Unbounded's main theme seems to be that of indecisiveness. Firstly it can't decide whether it wants to be Need for Speed or Burnout more, featuring street racing with "fragging" which is basically a codeword for takedowns, secondly it can't decide whether to fully part ways with the old Ridge Racer formula, still leaving drifting in the game, but making it feel awful in terms of the handling model and not letting players corner without it. Lastly many of the Burnout-esque options such as the takedown cam can be switched off in the menu, as if they weren't sure whether players would like the new tone of the game.

With destructible environments, city based street racing and a star rating system for dominating events, you'd be forgiven for wondering what series this game came from if you didn't already know. Existing fans of the Ridge Racer series are presented with a game more foreign to them than an imported RPG. For the first main series game not developed by Namco themselves, this is a pretty huge departure from the happy and relaxed mood of the rest of the games.

Being the open minded gamer that I am however, I was willing to give the game a chance; the career mode is based around many city districts which unlock as events are dominated by finishing first. There are many different types of events in the game such as Dominator Races, Drift Races, Shindo races (more on these later), Time Trials and Frag Challenges. All events are based on a 3 star rating system where usually finishing 1st gains 3 stars and so on, until finishing 4th counts as failing the event.

The driving and racing itself feels pretty horrible, the car's handling is almost straight line based, and any preconceived ideas of cornering players may have had before playing the game are shattered as the cars will literally refuse to corner without a drift being initiated. This is Ridge Racer though, so players should be used to this. Except the drift system has changed massively and is far less arcade based now.

Winning events seems to be basically random; in any events which aren't Shindo or Drift racing, there are destructible parts of the environment like car dealerships, city halls and railway stations which can be used as shortcuts if the player's power meter is full. Additionally destroying girders and other parts of the track also add power to the player's meter. Not everything is destructible though, and this is a problem because crashing once can be the difference between winning a losing a race, like in Burnout. So it's up to the player to guess which parts of the track are meant to be destroyed and which are solid.

 
Shindo events completely ignore the destruction part of the game, and don't allow you to frag your opponents. This is partly useful as it stops the player from being fragged too, but shows yet more indecision from the developers; either make it a part of the game or don't, it's pretty weak to force players to race both ways and pretend it's a choice. These races usually feature many AI cars getting in your way as there's no fragging, the drifting is a much bigger feature of the shindo racing but still feels pretty awful.

I had a hard time caring about unlocking any of the cars, locations or star ratings in the game because it seemed like a real mash of playstyles and ideas from other games. There was hardly any Ridge Racer left in the game, and what was left was an indecisive grey mess. There's no real story as such, and so no compelling reason to continue with the races presented to the player, and there's not even a need to finish 1st, players could easily finish 3rd in all race events and still get pretty far into the game, which is a little ridiculous in a racing title.

Graphically the game looks pretty great; the destructible environment parts all crumble rather too easily into predictably sized pieces, but the rest of the game looks very sharp, and I particularly enjoyed the information displays along the sides of the track. The music featured behind gameplay is all licensed and as such not quite as interesting as an original soundtrack. There's a decent mix of electronic stuff, but the soul of the Ridge Racer series is definitely gone from the game.

Overall Ridge Racer Unbounded might as well be any other large budget racing title from the past few years; there's city street racing, there's licensed tunes, takedowns, and a star rating system for how well you've done in each race. Without anything to invest players in it's brand of racing, there's very little to keep them hooked, and I'd personally rather play literally any other instalment of the series thanks to the poor handling and soulless presentation.

Rating: 61/100
Grade: D

Boxing Games Roundup: Round 2

In the previous part of this review I looked at larger than life, cartoonish arcade style boxing games. This however, is only one type of boxing game, the other being more serious fighting sports experiences. I'll be looking at six games released between 1996 and 2005.

Game: Victory Boxing: Championship Edition
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: JVC Digital Studios
Release Date: 1996

JVC are best known for making consumer electronics, but also dipped their feet into the gaming market between 1990 and 2001. From the outset, the Japanese influence in this game is felt heavily with a jazzy muzak accompaniment to its menus and the circle button used to confirm rather than X. There's also the classic Japanese gaming trope of there being far too much text before anything actually happens; the gym and character creation, and the promoter's opening speech mean that it's at least 5 minutes before players even get to fight - in a boxing video game.

That said, as soon as players begin to fight they'll wish that there were more menus and speech of any kind. The controls are so unresponsive that I had to check whether my controller was properly plugged in. Firstly the boxer's movement is controlled with tank controls; the boxer will move in the direction they're facing when up is pressed, regardless of ring position. This isn't easy to get used to and my usual style of dodging back and forth to avoid blows in boxing games is impossible here.

In addition to this button presses take forever to take effect; punches and movement can take as much as 3-5 seconds to actually happen onscreen after a button press, dependant on a boxer's 'speed' rating. This is absolutely infuriating as AI opponents seem to have no such trouble and make light work of flooring your fighter repeatedly. There's 3 bars in the middle of the screen which represent damage, punching power and something beginning with O, but the controls render the game basically unplayable and so there's not much point taking any notice of them.

Graphically the boxers in the game look like drawing mannequins whose poses can be changed to illustrate different body positions. The animation is generally poor with the knockdown animation being one of the most ridiculous I've ever seen in any fighting game, as the injured boxer slumps onto their face almost instantly as they're hit. The music of the game is weird; with jazzy music accompanying the fight, featuring repeated voice clips like "Don't lose your power!".

Overall Victory Boxing: Championship Edition is as close as you'll ever get to a Japanese budget Playstation boxing game without D3 Publisher or Midas Interactive being involved. It's obvious that the game was made early on in the lifespan on the console by developers who had little idea of what makes a boxing game fun or even playable.

Rating: 11/100
Grade: F

Game: Prince Naseem Boxing
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Codemasters
Release Date: 23rd October 2000

At a time when the Playstation 2's release was barely a month away, Codemasters saw it fit to release Prince Naseem Boxing for the Playstation. The game was called Mike Tyson Boxing in America, but other than this everything seems to be the same. Players can compete as any of the 16 featured "champions", none of who seem to exist in real life besides Prince Naseem himself, as well as 12 other fictional fighters. On the back of the box, the game claims to have 106 fighters in total, though I have no clue where the remaining 78 are hiding.

One of the main modes is simply titled World; a career mode of sorts where players climb the ranks, set their training regimen and use the calendar to determine what actions to take. The other main mode is Showcase, a knockout tournament between the 16 world champions, without any weight classes to decide who is best (spoilers: it's the heavyweights because they land the hardest shots).

Fights are interesting in that the controls provide two buttons for punches on the right hand side, and two for the left. On the whole if players can hit on the correct side and move around a little, winning should be inevitable, especially if many punches are thrown without a chance for the opponent to respond. It doesn't feel particularly bad, but would probably become somewhat boring with repeated fights.

There's a choice of viewpoints, though none of them are exactly what I'd have chosen, given free reign over the camera. The fighters are fairly unremarkable in their graphical quality; nothing close to Playstation 2 standards, but not too bad for the Playstation. The crowd and backgrounds however are fairly clearly 2D images stretched to look a little 3D, which is a little disappointing.

Overall Prince Naseem Boxing is a fairly average boxing game with a lack of licensed fighters and so a fairly boring experience. Bouts are too easy once players work out the best strategy for the game, and Showcase mode is hardly worth playing at all. The World mode can provide some replayability but there's only basic slider interaction and negotiations besides fighting.

Rating: 59/100
Grade: D

Game: Rocky
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Rage Software
Release Date: 18th November 2002

Although licensed games don't usually live up to their hype, there was always a chance that a game based on the Rocky franchise would be better than most of the licensed games pushed out based on things that are more difficult to make a game out of. With a wide roster of fighters to unlock, a movie mode which follows the chronology of fights in the Rocky movies and exhibition and tournament modes to make your own matchups with Rocky movie characters.

The controls are fairly simple and easy to remember, with two buttons assigned to high punches, two to low punches and modifiers to pull off hooks and uppercuts. L1 is used to dodge out of harm's way, and movement is a little slow but not too frustrating. Fights require a degree of strategy to beat, but usually cornering the opponent before unloading a flurry of punches will help the chances of winning a round. It's not often that players will be able to score a KO in the first couple of rounds as time moves very quickly, but this is more realistic. The training minigames in movie mode provide a little variety, and prove to be a fairly easy way of levelling Rocky up without too much effort.

Graphically there's some resemblance to characters from the Rocky films; even those who aren't well versed in the franchise should recognise Apollo Creed, and Clubber Lang. The sound is a mixed bag with some good voice acting, and some that isn't so good. There's some music from the films but I didn't hear Eye of the Tiger anywhere which was somewhat disappointing. It's a shame the only real sense of achievement in the game comes from Movie mode.

Overall Rocky isn't a particularly good boxing game; there's a lot of getting caught up in a tangle with an opponent, or the opponent almost running away when you're winning, but with the addition of character from the Rocky series of films, it's not that bad for a licensed game, and certainly bearable if you're a casual fan of the films.

Rating: 60/100
Grade: D

Game: Boxing Champions
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Tamsoft
Release Date: 7th November 2003

Boxing Champions is part of the Simple Series; originally titled The Boxing: Real Fist Fight. It's a horrifically simple boxing game where players can compete in a tournament, head-to-head fight, or survival mode. All of which are essentially the same, save for what happens at the end of a fight; in survival and tournament mode, there's more fights to beat in order to clear the mode whereas head-to-head is simply a single 2 player fight. While the game doesn't look too bad when booted up, and the controls are fairly competent for a boxing game, it all falls apart when players begin to fight. There's no point in trying anything but the super punches, as they do huge amounts of damage and guarantee every fight to end in the first round. Boxers lock to their opponent, but there's a delay in turning to face them after the punching animation so it's possible to punch an opponent in the back of the head with enough button spamming.

The AI is super easy for the first few fights of any given mode, literally walking into your punches and going down in very few hits. After the third or fourth fight, something changes and it's suddenly almost impossible to win amidst a barrage of punches from the AI, and nearly all player shots are mysteriously blocked. The selection of boxers is pretty poor, and while not having licensed fighters is acceptable, they should at least be interesting if you're going to feature original characters. Movement around the ring is slow and every punch thrown has a long animation which means there's no quickfire element to the strategy of fights.

Graphically the game shows some promise with it's modelling of the boxer's bodies which look fairly competently made. Their faces however seem to be moulded from wax with very little expression or human features. Strangely the developers seem to have chosen rock music to accompany the otherwise silent bouts, save for grunts and hit sound effects. It's an odd atmosphere, and not one that I can say I like.

Overall Boxing Champions shows an overwhelming lack of effort in game design and programming with three main modes which are basically the same, a poor selection of fighters and an even less enjoyable fighting engine and AI coding. The fact that it's possible to completely circle your opponent and begin punching the back of their head before either boxer self rights is proof that no-one tested the game and it should definitely be avoided.

Rating: 30/100
Grade: E

Game: Rocky Legends
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Venom Games
Release Date: 28th September 2004

Rocky Legends is clearly based on the Rocky game a little further up this review, released in 2002. There are some changes, but the overall feel and gameplay issues remain. The main mode features a climb up the rankings with the next 2 or 3 fighters available to challenge (though why anyone wouldn't go for the highest available is beyond me), until Rocky Balboa himself is available to fight. There's the option to train inbetween fights to improve stats, which has some effect on the player's performance within them.

Both players have a health bar and a stamina bar which refill over time when they aren't being hit or throwing punches respectively. The health bar refills far too quickly, and the stamina bar too slowly, as without a constant barrage of punches there's almost no chance of knocking an opponent out, but stamina ends up drained halfway through an opponent's health bar. Any attempt at strategically counter-attacking is trumped by the refilling health bar and it's far easier to simply keep launching the same attack over and over until the opponent falls down. Using just the body blow punch and uppercut button I easily saw my way through to the final fight of career mode.

Besides the career mode there's very little to do in the game, unless you're into fantasy matchups from the Rocky films. Boxers and locations can be unlocked but it'd take completion of every career in the game at least once, though it's nice that there are different options like Apollo Creed or Clubber Lang, rather than just a simple Rocky storyline. Graphically the game is pretty standard; the characters look like who they're meant to represent and damage can be seen on their faces and bodies after a few rounds.

Overall Rocky Legends isn't different enough from the original Rocky release to justify being another game. There's some different things to do, but as many of the original gameplay complaints remain it's almost like an update patch, the likes of which we might see in the modern gaming age. If it's a choice between the first Rocky game and this though, there's cases for choosing eitherway. Personally I'd go for the first due to the woefully easy career mode featured in Rocky Legends.

Rating: 58/100
Grade: D

Game: EA Sports Fight Night Round 2
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: EA Sports
Release Date: 28th February 2005

The most realistic game featured so far in this series of boxing reviews; EA Sports Fight Night Round 2 features many real world boxers from the past and present as well as the option to create your own boxer and work your way up the ranks. There are a few other modes alongside this but there's a disappointing lack of thing to do when compared to some of the other boxing games I've reviewed recently.

The controls are completely different from any of the other games previously featured also. Punching is mostly achieved with the right analog stick with a variety of movements and flicks equating roughly to punches. Two signature punches are mapped to the X and R2 buttons, and it's possible to land illegal blows such as elbows and headbutts with circle and L2, though these will disqualify players if too many are used.

The bars on the bottom left and right represent each boxer's health and stamina. The health bar goes down slowly and most boxers can take a real beating before they're out for the count. Defence is important in the game, and most fights can't be won without at least blocking or avoiding some shots. The worst feature of the game is its knockdowns; when a boxer's health is depleted the game enters a focused mode where they must defend themselves from harsh attack for around 10 seconds, after which time they recover some health. The AI is very tricky with this and will do its best to run away from players and avoid being hit and knocked down.

Most matches in the game end up being a real slog; it took around 200 punches to down an early opponent, possibly due to my use of stamina and constant combinations, but there didn't seem to be much other way to win the fight. Knocking opponents down doesn't seem to dishearten them much and it's common to get 4 or 5 knockdowns in a fight before actually reaching a KO. Players can also choose to tend to their own wounds between rounds with a minigame, or allow the cutman to do it for them.

Graphically the game looks pretty good for the Playstation 2 era; boxers are generally recognisible and this is the only game I've looked at that features a good amount of real world boxers for players to take control of. There's some music in the form of EA Trax, but none really stood out as fitting the game or being particularly enjoyable. The commentary and sound of the game works well with the broadcast format of newer EA Sports games.

Overall EA Sports Fight Night Round 2 isn't the perfect boxing game for the casual player; there's no arcade style silliness and fights are often long and difficult slogs which require just as much defensive skill as offensive power. In terms of the most realistic boxing game though, it does pretty well in showing the nuances of the sport.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C