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> Fight Night 2004: Written by:
Jesse Pierson
 Publisher: EA Sports Price: 49.99 Genre: Boxing T for Teen
Boxing games... there hasn’t been a good one since Punch Out, up
until now. EA, (who makes all of the greatest sports games) has come out of retirement from Knock out Kings and made
one more great boxing game, if not the greatest. Fight Night has all of the legendary fan-favorite boxers such as: Jake Lamota,
Ali, "Smoking" Joe Fraizer, Roberto Duran and many more (Except Gorge Foreman who was probably too busy promoting grills).
In “Franchise mode” you
create your own boxer and give him a nickname out of a list of previously selected names (i.e. Hell raiser, Angel of Death,
Wiggles, etc.). Then off to the ring. You start out as rank number fifty and fight your way up to the championship, gaining
prize money along the way. With the money you earn, you can buy fire works, new gloves, women, confetti and all sorts of other
things to make your player look... simply cooler.
Fight Night
offers very realistic training sessions where your boxer improves upon his power and/or speed (along with making your glass
jaw just a little bit tougher to break). Some of the advanced training missions are far too difficult (i.e. Heavy Bag) and
slows down the game fluency. With those better stats you can win the Heavy, Middle, Feather, or Welterweight titles.
With the Multiplayer mode this game never seems to get old. Your friends and you can create players
upon players and pit them against each other and have a lasting great time. Plus it barely takes up room on the memory card
as well.
Too bad for the Xbox players, because only on the PS2 version can you float like a butterfly and sting
like a bee... online.
The graphics in Fight Night are incredibly realistic. You could’ve sworn you were watching an actual boxing match
on TV. When boxers get knocked out, you can see all of your player’s muscles giving out (when they fall they do what
I call ‘The Wiggle Dance‘.). Detail is very impressive (putting metal on bruises to decrease swelling, etc.).
My only problem occurs when you hit your opponent and draw blood. I found the blood to look very unrealistic in this game.
Blood always sways to the same direction, and has an unfinished touch. Nonetheless this is one of Xbox & PS2’s finest
looking boxing games.
Whether it be a punch in the chest, a jab to the stomach, or an uppercut to the face, Fight Night delivers sounds that
are near perfection. When the takedown approaches, you’ll love the added Heart-pounding sound effect that alarms you
that you’re almost done for. Like the graphics, the sound does contain some faults. Example: While performing a “big
combo hit” the game doesn’t track all of the impact sounds. Overall the sound may be Good, but it’s not
great.
The control, by far is the greatest aspect of the game. You control your boxer’s movement with the left thumb-stick
while controlling the punches with the right. It takes time to get used to, but it gives you Über control over your player.
Simplified in one word, perfect!
Getting your Hands on the “Sone Award” (Among many others) just never seems to get old. Plus with the multiplayer
and online modes you'll find yourself coming back repetitively for more and more fights. Now every night is now a Fight Night!
If you’re into the boxing genre then this is a must have. If you've grown apart from the genre or never placed a
hand on a boxing game, you should STILL give it a try. Odds are you'll be sucked in after the first few hours. Overall one
of the best boxing games if not the best sports in general, game of all time.
Graphics: 8.0 | Sound: 8.0 | Control: 10
| Replay: 9.0 | Overall Game Score: 9.0/10
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