With any sports video game, it's only as great as the boxers themselves - thankfully, Fight Night Round Four contains a seriously impressive list of fighters to choose from. Throw on the boxing gloves and play as one of these heavy-hitters: Manny Pacquiao, Mike Tyson, Anthony Mundine, Marco Antonion Barrera, Arturo Gatti, Sugar Ray Robinson, Erik Morales, Joe Calzaghe, Tommy Morrisson, Nonito Donaire, Victor Ortiz, Shane Mosley, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Robert Guerrero, Billy Dib, Amin Asikainen, Tomasz Adamek, Jake LaMotta, Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whitaker, Diego Corrales, Yuiorkis Gamboa, Fernando Montiel, Jorge Arce, Paulie Malignaggi, Carlos Monzon, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Kermit Cintron, Vivian Harris, Corey Spinks, Nate Campbell, Emanuel Augustus, Winky Wright, Sergio Mora, Jermain Taylor, Roy Jones Jr., Vinny Pazienza, Kelly Pavlik, Eddie Chambers, Joe Frazier, James Toney, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, and Lennox Lewis. You can't help but realize two things, after seeing the list of fighters. Firstly, how cool is it that you have so many boxers - over 40, to be exact. And number two, is there anyone who doubts that these guys picked up pugilism to knock out anyone who mocked their names - yes, Kermit and Vivian, when we say "these guys" we mean "you."
Another aspect of Xbox Fight Night Round Four worth discussing is the different fighting styles. There is no doubt in our minds that you have partaken in multiple video boxing matches. There's one constant, despite the variables that affect the boxing match. Styles make fights is what every fan of the sweet science will tell you, despite the overuse of the maxim. The key factor that dictates the bout's action is the each boxer's fighting style. In Xbox Fight Night Round Four, there are a variety of ingredients that combine to form the boxer's overall style: hand position, punching, defense, stance. Stripped of any complexities, it boils down to overall strategy, and so Fight Night Round Four came up with eight base boxing styles. Firstly is the Conventional Boxer - he pretty much sticks with the rudimentary stuff, while angling to set things up with the jab. On the contrary, there's the Unconventional Boxer, who dismisses the rudimentary approach, preferring a more potent process of pugilism.
Yet another type of fighting style that Xbox Fight Night Round Four features is the Slugger, who is strictly a power punch kind of guy. You've probably guess that the Slugger doesn't do a lot of defense. Not as aggressive as the Slugger is the Brawler, who employs power punches, along with a little defense. Xbox Fight Night Round Four features what EA calls a "slippery, in-the-pocket defensive style fighter" -- the Counter Puncher. The Boxer Puncher is a bit more cautious, setting up larger punches from a medium distance, counter to the Counter Puncher. Completing the list of Xbox Fight Night Round Four's boxing styles are the Inside Fighter and the Outside Fighter. The Inside Figher gets inside his foe's face, which you've probably guessed, as he moves his head and tries to work the body. Meanwhile, the Outside Fighter is the reverse of the Inside Fighter, using longer range punches and keeping his opponent at a distance.
Some may call it a fallacious argument to compare today's boxing video games to their 20th century brethren. To hold the first boxing video games to the standards and technology of today is questionable. On top of that, we run the risk of sounding like a grumpy old relative, talking about how rough they had it when they were gamers. But then again, taking that trip down the sports video game timeline sure can give you a newfound reverence for the greatness of Xbox Fight Night Round Four. You'd think that boxing video games would have been some of the earliest sports video games produced for the first consoles, but that wasn't the case. Boxing video games would take a while before becoming part of the sports video game world, but when they showed up, this was their initial foray.
Not a whole lot happening here. First time I saw this thing, I was not pleased. It was already a bit primitive, even by yesterday's benchmarks. Not a lot was happening in this game - punch on the button, hope to punch out your foe as often as you could before time was up. Animation was a bit on the sparse side. Even lower down on the list of priorities was developing cool sound effects. When you punched your rival, there was a scratchy little static noise. At least with the next generation of game consoles, they tried to make things greater. Down the road, a huge game was this one, a bigger, better boxing video game.
Undoubtedly, that was miles apart from what had come previously. More than a technological breakthrough, it was a decent game as well. We'll even go so far as to say that it is one of a small number of old games that people can still enjoy. Here's the thing - it wasn't a realistic boxing game, and they were pretty proud of that. The game was full of gimmicks and puns and there wasn't a real-life boxer to be found in this one. After that history lesson, compare Xbox Fight Night Round Four, today's prime example of a boxing video game, with the old school boxing games of another era.
Probably a waste of time to keep harping on the old versus the new sports video games. They were the first boxing video games, and they did the job. The reviewers heaped praise on those games back then, the same way Xbox Fight Night Round four gets the props from today's video game community. Two phrases you'll tend to hear in the Xbox Fight Night Round Four reviews: "Best boxing ever in a video game" and "Great online play." EA Sports' greatness is solidified yet again, with the ultimate Haymaker - Xbox Fight Night Round Four.
The video game world has been rewarded with Xbox Fight Night Round Four, a worthy boxing game, thanks to EA Sports - and the online game community can really make the battle intense when you take on your rival and play video games for money. After conquering all the techniques and socking it to your rival, the online video game community will all be down for the count. Aside from landing the final blow, you'll land some cold, hard cash.
