March 05, 2002 - EA Sports touted the star power of their Knockout Kings franchise when it came out for the original PlayStation a few years back, but you more or less had to take their word for it when it came to the likenesses of Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya. That's not the case in Knockout Kings 2002 on the Xbox. Muahammad Ali, Felix Trenidad and Bernard Hopkins are easily recognizable thanks to the excellent face modeling. In fact, the franchise has made such a graphical leap on the Xbox that it barely looks related to KK2001 that came out last year for the PS2. While the graphics and animation are quick to impress, Knockout Kings 2002 is a flat out fun boxing title that blurs the line between arcade and sim action. We'll get to more on that later, but just know that there's plenty of that polish and shine that Electronic Arts is known for and it brings everything together very nicely in KK2002. The Features: Choose from boxing greats Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Roberto Duran, and more All new game engine allows for quick, responsive controls Multiplayer tournaments for up to eight players Select from 10 real-world boxing venues like Wembley Stadium and Ceasar's Palace. Taunt your opponents in the ring New hip-hop soundtrack featuring LL Cool J
Gameplay The boxing engine in Knockout Kings 2002 is supposed to be a bit more intuitive than previous editions of the franchise so as to enhance pick-up-and-playability. Intuitive isn't the word I would use to describe the control because an act as simple as moving your fighter closer to your opponent can be complicated for newbies, but it's no problem at all once you get the hang of it. The boxers are permanently locked on each other so your boxer's movements are in relation to his current heading. Up on the left analog stick moves your fighter toward your opponent, down moves him away and left/right starts him circling around the other fighter. Double taps in those directions execute dodges. Moving your boxers isn't much of an issue, however, because you'll spend more time slugging it out toe to toe than moving around and using all of the available space in the boxing ring. This is one of the ways in which Knockout Kings 2002 plays less like a sim than an arcade boxing game. It's when you're slugging it out toe to toe with an opponent that you'll realize Knockout Kings is really a thinly disguised button masher that merely looks like a realistic sim. It's a sophisticated button masher, but a masher nonetheless. X is your jab, Y is your straight right and A and B are your left and right hooks. An uppercut is available on each of those punch buttons when you squeeze the right trigger. Your low blow is on the white button, black is your signature punch and your backhand (illegal) punch is on the right analog stick button. To throw shots to the body you'll have to push up slightly on the left analog (try doing that in the heat of a fight) to get your guy to duck and then use the punch buttons as normal. If you push up all the way, your guy will simply move in closer to his opponent. These slight leans on the analog stick is also lean your fighter to the left or right or back when you lean the stick down. That control system is what makes KK02 a sophisticated button masher. You'll have to be mashing the buttons because the punching animations in this game are fast and you'll always need to be on the offensive if you want to win. But you'll need to also throw the right kind of punch to hit the vulnerable areas of your opponent so you can maximize damage. This is the challenging part of the game that leads to all of that fun we mentioned earlier. You'll be able to appreciate the hand speed of Ali with his lighting quick punch animations, but you'll get your tail whipped if you're not using your brain and throwing the right punches. Setting up opponents so you can crush them with Bernard Hopkins' right hook or whatever your favorite/signature punch might be or even consistently throwing punches that catch the other guy off guard are nice touches that deliver the simulation aspect of the game.
A nice touch that we don't want to forget is that the health meters are optional and are defaulted to the off setting. You'd be amazed at how aggressively you fight when you don't know how hurt your boxer is. It's also a good idea to explore some of the different camera options during gameplay. The default one is nice but you're looking at an entirely different videogame when you switch to first person mode. The boxing in KK02 is controlled chaos but it's done in a fun way that only gets better when you're fighting against a buddy. The multiplayer aspect of the game is so fun that EA made sure to include a tournament mode so you and a sofa full of friends can keep track of an evening of videogame boxing. The career mode is functional but doesn't allow as much customization as you'd want to see. You have a limited number of trunks, gloves and physical attributes to choose from and one of these days we're going to get an Xbox ring sports game that allows custom soundtracks. The fights themselves are tough with custom fighters because they're so low in stats but progression through the ranks is well done with the tier system that requires a certain number of wins on one level before moving to the next. Graphics The look of KK02 is awesome. It looks the part of an Xbox game with extremely detailed fighter models and damage effects. As we said, you'll know the fighters by looking at their faces, not their names. The models are so accurate that you'll see the intricacies of Oba Carr's tattoos, the "tough guy" stubble on De La Hoya's baby face and the pure obesity of Butterbean's....ah.....butter cupboard. But it's the dynamic damage/fatigue effects on the boxers that's most impressive. Fighters start off fights fresh and clean but by the third round of a hard fight, they'll be covered in sweat that flies off their faces when they take punches to the grill. We're very impressed by the greased up look because of the technology behind it not because we like lubricated prizefighters. Likewise a tough fight will see fighters take on bruises, bloody noses, busted lips and swollen eyes. Sometimes, if the camera's in the right place and you're paying attention, you'll see your guy's face contort and deform as he takes a punch and the resulting welt or bruise will show up right after in real time. If not, the replay camera is always an option.
The replays system does a good job of capturing the drama of the game. At the end of some rounds you'll get the surprisingly good looking ring card girl, or the trainer talking to you or even highlights of the previous round. But the best replays are on knockdowns. EA has improved the triple play Bullet-Time replay so that you'll see the killer punch from several angles before it cuts to one final slow-mo close up of the blow crushing the opponent. It switches to letterbox, the audio slows down and flashbulbs click in the crowd as you see the bum of the moment hit the canvas. EA made a wise choice modeling their replay system after the expertly photographed "Raging Bull". You put Sugar Ray Robinson in there against one of the DeNiro look-alikes in the game and tell me it doesn't look like a movie when Robinson puts him down. The animation of the fighters is some of the best animation we've seen in a sports game. Even though the punch animations are extremely quick, each of the different punches has a unique look to it. A hook doesn't look like jab or any other punch. The signature punches look especially dramatic with all of their whirls and wind ups. Best of all the fighters put their entire bodies into each punch, just like they taught as the gym. You see torsos twisting and shoulders straining to bring all of that power to bear on some poor sap. Sound Larry Michael and Max Kellerman are good enough to spice up the boxing experience but quiet enough so that you don't ever get irritated at them. Honestly, you won't be paying too much attention the announcers because you'll be listening to the sounds of battle and the crowd more than anything. They fall behind often because the action is so fast but they do refer to punches and events that actually happen in the fight. The crowd boos when you throw low blows and cheat but other than that they just want to see and cheer for action. They don't take sides, they just want to see two fighters go at it in the ring. The punches themselves sound decent but without the rumble effect to punctuate each clean blow, they would've been inadequate. The hip hop soundtrack is effective like so many of EA's other sports game soundtracks (how's that for targeting a market?). Uncle L's "G.O.A.T." is a perfect fit for this game, too bad he released it on a poorly conceived LP a year ago. -- Aaron Boulding Closing Comments Knockout Kings 2002 is a lot of fun and it looks amazing. It's as simple as that. The one major complaint I can come up with is the roster of fighters. Most of the big names are still in the game, but it seems like we're missing a few of the beloved legendary fighters from KK2001 on PS2. Other than that, this game delivers a fun experience that will have you perspiring more than you want. It's the kind of game that'll start grudge matches between you and your buddies and cause lots of hoopin' and hollerin' with each brain twisting knockout. Even with the built-in two player appeal, depth could be become a weakness for this game. More fighters and a deeper career mode are luxuries that I would like to see in future versions because they'd keep me involved with the game longer. KK2002's boxing engine has it all over Mike Tyson's Heavyweight Boxing but Iron Mike's custom fighter/career mode should be a model for the future of boxing videogames. -- Aaron Boulding Presentation Menus, cinemas and camera work are top notch. Fighter bios would've helped. 8.0 Graphics This is what an Xboxing game should look and move like. From Lennox Lewis' dreads to Ray Leonard's bolo punch, the detail is exquisite. 9.0 Sound The decent announcers play second fiddle to the glorious sounds of boxing. Punches and crowd noise are even better than LL's title song. 8.0 Gameplay This game spawns a new generation of sophisticated button mashers. You'll control the chaos and have a blast doing it. 9.0 Lasting Appeal You and your buddies will keep this game in hot rotation on the Xbox because the career mode and fighting roster are little thin. 8.0 OVERALL SCORE (not an average) 8.8
