I liked the Rocky movies. Well, except for Rocky V which was just plain crud.
But the others were fun and even inspiring. I mean what could have been better
than Rocky IV, when in the middle of the cold war Rocky and a big mean Russian,
in the form of Ivan Drago, fought right in Moscow? And then to have the Russian
crowd start cheering for the American? Personally I think that scene alone ended
the cold war. But then they had to go and mess things up and make Rocky V. The
main fighter, Tommy Gunn (okay, I’ll give some credit for the name), was
actually punching bubbles at one point in the movie. So this is obviously when I
gave up on Rocky and all things Rocky. Now, years later along come Rocky for the
PS2. I have to admit I was very skeptical. Is it a stirring experience like the
first Rocky movie, or does it make you wish you were never born like Rocky V?
Read on, the answers are all ahead.
Rocky
the videogame is divided into four different areas: Exhibition Mode, Movie Mode,
Knockout Tournament (available after you complete the game in Movie Mode) and
Sparring Mode. Exhibition Mode is the quick and dirty “I just want to punch
someone” mode. You get to choose from any of the fighters that you have unlocked
from elsewhere in the game, so after you finish the Movie Mode you can see how a
fight between Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago would turn out. The Movie Mode is the
heart of the game and I’ll go into more detail about it later. The Knockout
Tournament is where you fight your way through opponents tournament style. It’s
pretty standard stuff so I won’t go into the details. You can learn new boxing
skills and hone them in the Sparring Mode. This is a very effective way not only
to learn your way around the ring, but around the controller as well. There are
three sparring partners with different styles that you can go up against. You
can choose for your sparring partner to just stand there as you wail away on
him, have the partner block only, or engage in a normal fight. The standing only
and blocking only sparring options are a nice way to practice different combos
without the worry of getting pounded.
Now to the heart and soul of the game: Movie Mode. In Movie Mode you are
Rocky Balboa and you follow the path of the five movies, meaning you start off
as a lowly fighter and work your way to a match against the aforementioned
bubble boy. The Mode is broken into five acts, one for each movie. Each act has
the same format; you fight three matches and then you go to the main event,
which is the finale of each of the movies. For example, in Act IV you are Rocky
in the Rocky IV movie, and after three fights you face Drago in the main event.
The format is very good and before the main event of each section you see a
cutscene that sets-up the premise for the fight. For example, in the Rocky II
act you see Apollo Creed bad-mouthing Rocky all over the news. In Act III you
get to see Clubber Lang taunt Rocky about his soft fights and learn about Mickey
passing away. While not cutting edge in their presentations, they are still well
done and help bring back the feel of each of the movies.
Each section in the Movie Mode has fighters from that movie. For example, in
Act I you fight Spider Rico. I have to admit some ignorance here, but apparently
that was the name of the fighter that The Italian Stallion beat at the beginning
of Rocky. You also fight in mostly the same rings and venues as were seen in the
movies. It’s interesting to see the upgrade in arenas as the game goes on. At
first you are fighting in rings where the floor and pads are taped together,
only to be fighting later in places with huge multi-screen displays. You will
also notice a wide disparity in the crowds. In some places it’s not uncommon to
have bottles thrown onto the ring during the fight. In others you’ll see
everyone in black ties. It’s good to have crowd animations that are more than
just static pictures of a group of people. These crowds boo when things are
going slowly and chant Rocky’s name when you’re cruising.
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