Knockout Kings
Reviewed by Dyson Turner
Knockout Kings is a Knock Out of a game. Even though some
say the 2000 version is better I'm still very partial to
this version. This delivers a lot of great hits a lot of
great fighters and a lot of fun. Some more modes could have
been added. But even though what you got, is pretty good for
the time this came out. My first impression on this was this
is cool. A lot of good boxers to chose from, some good
graphics, It could have had better commentary it's too
sparse and repetitive. The boxer size is pretty good they
actually resembled their real life counter parts in their
primes of their careers, and for the younger boxers how they
are right now. The only other problem with this game that I
can see is it speeds, the connection problem from punch to
hit looks good but the actually movement of the boxers is a
tad on the slow side. This could have been improved to make
this a better game for defensive minded, and when you picked
a faster boxer it really didn't look like it.
Graphics 8. 0/10
The graphics on this game is pretty reasonable. The graphics
are good but they could have been better. I felt some boxers
looked like their life time counter parts while others
didn't look like them. Some guys mostly the bigger names
looked a lot like them. The ring was nicely done; I like how
they improved where you were at when you got further into
your career. When you start from the little neighborhood
gym, to Madison Square Garden. The movements of the boxers
look great, even though slow they still moved similar to
real boxers, and used their styles. The FMV in the beginning
of the game looked great and showed some of the best moments
of boxing. So did some of the stills they showed in between
any matches. The audience on the other hand looked pretty
much like early PSX just painted blotches of color, very
fake looking, this really doesn't deter from the sensational
in ring action. The overall graphics on this great was
pretty good but could of used some much needed improvement.
Sound 8. 0/10
The music that played in the beginning was pretty good and
it sounded like great fight night music. It did really get
you heated before the fight. Other than that and the start
screen song their isn't too much music in this game. Usually
boxing games don't have a lot of music anyway. The
announcing from the two announcers was pretty good, but too
sparse, these guys use to repeat the same stuff a lot like
'Good Uppercut' 'Down He Goes' and some more. The
punching sounds pretty realistic, and it had a nice
connection sound. You had a lot of sounds for the different
ways like cutting air, connecting, and getting blocked. The
audience responded differently. In the beginning of your
career you could hear the calls of bum, and you suck stuff
like that. And not much audience excitement, the audience as
you career went on they got louder and more enthusiastic
they were behind you through out your whole career after
that. The sounds on this game were quite good in fact. The
music even though sparse every thing seemed to click
together. To make this a very exiting game to watch and
listen to.
Game Play 9. 0/10
This game was for one or two players. You had a ton of great
boxers to chose from, from 3 different weight classes. Some
of the great Heavy weights like Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis,
Lennix Lewis, Evander Holyfield and more. Noticeably absent
was Mike Tyson, he would have made this game awesome. Middle
Weight greats like Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya and
more make this game even better. You had to battle your way
through these weight classes against fiction characters.
They might be fictions but these guys aren't easy wins. You
had to create your own boxer, much like you did with earlier
Boxing games for Genesis. You basically just designed his
skin tone and look. After that the way he trained dictated
how hard you punched and how quick he was on his feet. Also
in this game was former refereeing Mills Lane, who was
rumored to be a hidden boxer, he is not. They also have a
trainer who sounds a lot like Mickey from the Rocky movies,
he's always fun to listen to even though he doesn't give you
any real tips on how to beat your opponents. You also have
an exhibition mode and a slugfest. Exhibition is any
character in a weight class against another, with the rules
on. Slugfest is where you against any one, in any weight
class, with no rules. I dislike this mode all you have to do
is through low blows and head butts all day. The difficulty
is adjustable and there is a memory card block it takes one.
Overall 8.5 out of 10
This is an overall good game, it is considered pretty
average now because of better boxing games like Ready 2
Rumble. This is still a good one, and I would suggest anyone
to pick it up. It is a pretty solid game with just small
flaws and nothing real major, wrong with it. Except the
obvious slow speed and repetitive announcers. The fun factor
is pretty high if you're playing against a friend,
especially Exhibition. The replay value is kind of high,
after you beat it in every weight class theirs not anything
really left. This game will last about a good week before
you tire of it and want something with a little more
substance. The good factors of this game this was one of the
first PSX games that actually was good to play, and fun this
outclassed everything that was out at the time. In a sparse
field of games this is definitely one of its stars and one I
would pick up for a good time. This is great if you want to
be some of the boxing worlds best to slug it out.
