A friend of mine pointed me to this review... seems interesting. This is a reader review, not a review by a website. (sorry for long post)
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I was not at all surprised to see the mediocre reviews that Prizefighter received from most gaming websites. I believe it has an average of 55/100 at ****critic. From the first time I saw actual gameplay footage I knew that Prizefighter will not be getting the accolades that Fight Night Round 3 received. While IGN and Gamespot are reputable websites that have given gamers tons of reliable information on hundreds of games in the past, when it comes to boxing, frankly they don't have a clue, not even that pudgy boxer dude from Gamespot. Finding knowledgeable boxing fans off the street is rare. It is even more rare in the videogame industry. With all due respect to the guys from various videogame websites, their opinions are not reliable when it comes to the sweet science. If you're looking for some insight from a real boxing enthusiast, you know, the type who'll stay up late at night watching nameless fighters go at it over at YouTube or watch some unknowns trade leather on Telemundo, then you've come to the right place.
I've barely scratched the surface on Prizefighter's career mode, but I've had a chance to fight in a dozen or so exhibition matches against the CPU. I'm only going to cover for now, the most important aspect of any boxing game, which of course is the boxing itself. Let me get this out of the way. The action in Prizefighter mimics the sport better than any boxing title before it, including the lesser known but highly regarded Victorious Boxers series, and yes, even Fight Night Round 3. That's not to say that Prizefighter is perfect, for it definitely has flaws. But the rhythym and pacing of Prizefighter is very realistic, and the flow of the matches emulate the sport quite accurately. The boxing mechanics are sound but are somewhat hampered by the extremely steep learning curve. My biggest problem is with the control scheme and I'm not talking about the use of the face buttons as opposed to the widely popular analog punching in the Fight Night franchise. The main problem with Prizefighter's controls is the body punch modifier, which is the right trigger. When used with the "step-in" modifier, which is the right bumper, it feels like you're pressing every single button on the controller, especially if you're adding yet another modifier that makes you "step around" with the punch by pushing up or down with the left analog stick. There's lots of modifiers but I think the only one that really causes issues is the right trigger. I prefer the body punching in FNR3, where you would naturally throw to the body when your fighter is leaning forward. It only makes sense and I wish that Prizefighter would have adopted this. There have many, many instances in Prizefighter where I intended to throw a body punch from the crouch position and would instead end up throwing an awkward punch to my opponent's head. The weird thing is that it seems like I AM able to throw a single left hook to the body from the crouch, but every other body punch requires the modifier. Another issue that just about every website agrees on is the unresponsiveness of the controls in Prizefighter. I don't particularly agree. What some would consider "unresponsiveness," I would call realistic. You see, people's problems with Prizefighter's punching system is the fact that the punches won't always be thrown at the same speed and intervals the buttons were pressed. Players tend to press the buttons rapidly and expect the combo to come out just as fast. That's simply not the case in real life. Regardless of how fast you want to punch, there are physical limitations. There is inertia and varying degrees of weight transfer associated with each punch thrown, and Prizefighter has implemented this aspect. Unfortunately, it is a subtle feature that will be interpreted by the large majority of gamers as "unresponsiveness." Also, there are some oddities and awkwardness to be found with certain punches and there are times when they don't seem to come out the way you expect them to, such as hooks to the body looking a bit straight-ish. The reactions to body punches look exaggerated sometimes, but these only happen when you are either hit with a modified version of the punch or you were interrupted in the middle of throwing a big punch yourself. This pretty much sums up the flaws in Prizefighter, and believe me, they are lot more minor than I might've made them sound. Oh yeah, Jim Lampley's commentating is robotic at times. It sounds lame when it is obvious that there is a seam between his phrase and the boxer's name he's talking about. Also, Emanuel Steward rarely says anything.
I'm not sure how game reviewers played Prizefighter, but I approached each fight as a real boxing match. I wasn't intent on spamming certain punches or looking to exploit the CPU. I just wanted a good ol' boxing match and fought in a realistic manner. What I got was my behind handed to me the first few times in exhibition mode. Heck I couldn't make it past the 2nd round in my first 3 or 4 fights! I've been on the losing end of several one-punch KO's where the ref didn't even bother counting. I've been beat down and stopped in the middle rounds. I've gone the full 12 rounds and lost by a unanimous decision. All I can say is that losing never felt this good! Winning feels much better, of course. I haven't had many victories, but the two that stick out in my mind are my 5-round demolition of Enzo Macaranelli (sp) playing as Steve Cunningham, and my devastating KO of Edison Miranda playing as Arthur Abraham in which I landed a crippling liver shot in the sixth round, immediately followed by a left uppercut to the chin, instantly ending the fight. If I could only use one word to describe the in-ring action in Prizefighter it would be, "involved." You are required to constantly move and defend. I'm not talking about running around the ring, but you cannot remain stationary. Otherwise you'll get pummeled. You have to box. You throw a couple of punches, step back or circle, block, lean, counter, throw a combo, etc. It sounds basic enough but you'd be surprised by how often you'll find yourself planted in one spot too long and start eating your opponent's combos. Also you'll find out that your opponent can reach you even when you think you're safely out of the way. You'll learn to always put your guard up and move your upperbody whenever you're not punching, or you'll be an easy target. It's funny when you realize how much other boxing games have influenced your fighting and how you would tend fight the way you're used to, at least during your first few matches. Eventually you'll start picking up the rhythm of Prizefighter and you'd be blocking, moving and countering more naturally. Matches will also begin to last longer as you learn to defend yourself better.
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IGN: Don King Presents: Prizefighter Reader Review by fighterforjc
