By Brad Russell
The Wii does only a few things better than the accuracy of a computer mouse
and better than the smooth gameplay of the other consoles. Taking you off of
your couch and putting you in gloves of a boxing myth is one such thing. Don
King Boxing is the title to put on the Don-fro and get you into the ring, but
just like a pay-per-view first round knockout, this title promises much and
delivers only a little.
There is not a whole lot to this title. There are five bullet points on the
back of the box:
- Balance board compatibility
- REAL locations and boxers – you might know one of each
- It's exercise, much like the 30 second clips of songs on iTunes
- Dynamic story-mode
- And the true selling point, multiplayer
Unlike most games, you can judge this title by the back of the box, there
honestly is not much more left to the imagination.
Multiplayer takes that small step above what most experienced from Wii Sports
– that game you carry with all your other Wii titles and most likely have not
played since first coming to terms with the fact that this console is called a
"Wee." Where Wii Sports boxing mode was just flying the controls around faster
than your opponent, this game sprinkles in a little bit more defense and more
precise controls. The game is you and another boxer in a ring, with controls to
move around as the camera is behind a transparent form of your boxer – they at
least got this much right. A tutorial from the story mode or profile option will
brief you on all the controls in little time, though you may need to keep the
names of the moves handy to complete it. The controls and motions are easy
enough that anyone can pick up and play, while there are also enough combos and
strategies to keep the attention of more serious boxers. Special attacks, used
by holding C when you build up power, add a little spice to what would otherwise
be a limited arsenal.
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