It's been a while since we've seen a new Rocky movie (and Rocky fans would just assume forget the last one).  It's a testament to the power of the Rocky legend that the movies can still inspire new video games.  The latest video game to feature America's favorite pugilist is a treat for his fans in that it features all of Rocky's biggest foes, as well as several lesser known ones.

Drago taking it to Apollo.

The heart of the game is its Movie Mode.  In this mode, you take on the role of Rocky and guide him through the same series of fights that he faced in the movies.  In each episode of the movie mode you must fight three lesser opponents to earn the right to face the familiar headliners from the movies: Apollo, Drago, Clubber, etc.  Preceding the big fight in each episode are clips from the movie that help to set-up the story behind each fight.  It's not enough to substitute for a storyline, but it is a touch that fans of the movies will appreciate.

Rocky is rated in five categories: strength, speed, stamina, determination, and movement.  These ratings affect his performance in the fights, from how much punishment he can take and dish out to how quickly he can pull himself up off the mat when knocked down.  Between fights, you'll have the opportunity to train Rocky in an attempt to improve on his stats and better your chances to win the next fight.  The training sessions play as mini-games that are exercises in timing; the better and faster your timing, the better the effect of the training on Rocky's stats.  The training sessions are interesting for a change of pace, but they'll get old before too long - button mashing is button mashing after all, no matter how you dress it up.  Luckily you can also choose to autotrain, which will improve your stats slightly without the need to go through the training sessions.

During fights each boxer has stamina and health bars.  The health bar is self-explanatory - once it runs out you're on the mat.  The stamina bar affects the punches you can throw and the power with which they land.  This adds an element of strategy to fights as it makes you pick your punches and their timing for maximum effect.  Mash buttons and you'll drain your stamina to the point where your punches will sting like a butterfly.  It also pays to end a round with some stamina as it will restore some of your health while you're sitting in the corner.

Even with the strategy element to the fights, stats reign supreme.  You'll have some trouble with the fighters until you can get Rocky pumped-up.  After some training the tide turns and you'll begin to make your way up the ladder with a lot less trouble.  As a result of this reverse difficulty scale you'll need to do play the training sessions yourself and do well in them because autotraining will not give you the best results.  The irony in this is that button-mashers are rewarded in the end by beefed-up stats which makes the game's strategy element less of a factor.

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