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Knockout Kings from EA.
I love that series of games, and the 2002 edition came out today on Xbox.
Same as the PS2 but with better graphics and enhanced stuff.
So I bought it.
Worst game ever.
Biggest disappointment ever.
Almost as bad as getting Smackdown:Just Bring It.
The only complaint about the previous KO Kings was the control method. A bit sluggish. They fixed that by using the same control method as Victorious Boxers (basically faster and more flowing).
Except they completely changed the guts of the game. Until the 2002 one, KO Kings had been a very good simulation of boxing. You could jab and uppercut, dance in and weave, take your time picking at their defence until they had worn down and then wade in for the final flurry to ensure victory.
Exhibition was excellent, me and a mate fighting each other to learn the controls. Graphics are stunning with real-time damaged inflicted on their faces, slo-mo knockout replays, sweat forming in front of your eyes...stunning in ever regards.
"Best game ever" was the comment made in a Simpsons Comic-Store-Guy voice.
So then to the career mode.
So far so good, choose it all and begin.
Amusing cut-scenes with a mafia-type bloke as your manager.
1st fight.
Something is odd here. I'm being beaten, badly.
Hmmm, well it's the 1st go so that's expected.
Try again, get beaten again.
This isn't right, I'm good at these games.
Then we figure out what's wrong.
Gameplay has been radically altered.
Instead of a sim-type, strategic boxing game? It's an arcade-style slugfest.
Your opponent just keeps coming at you relentlessly, you have to continually back away.
There's zero skill involved anymore. No tactics at all.
You just stand there, without moving and mash the buttons as fast as possible.
Sometimes you'll win, mostly you'll lose.
It sucks.
You can't use any strategy, can't move in for the jab before backing away and waiting for your opening before hitting again.
Nope, from the get-go, the opponent is always, always running at you without any break in his stride and no pause between punches.
It's just BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM until one of you falls over.
If I wanted this type of game, I'd buy bloody Tekken.
But I expected the same as before, tactical boxing, using your head to use whatever shots might work, create an opening and exploit it with repeated punchings.
Not on the 2002 version though, I experimented by leaving the pad on the floor and mashing the keys with the palm of my hand without looking at the screen.
I won.
4 times.
A**e.
Why do this? Why completely alter the style of gameplay and remove any and all traces of sim?
If they had just left it be, this would be a fantastic game. As it stands, you get no chance to do anything but back-off and press any of the buttons as fast as possible.
Rubbish and if you like boxing games or are a fan of the previous Knockout Kings series, this is going to leave a bad taste in your mouth.
I'm returning it tomorrow and getting something else.
Something good.
Damn you EA for screwing with the basic gaming fundamentals and creating a stupid button-mashing game.
I love that series of games, and the 2002 edition came out today on Xbox.
Same as the PS2 but with better graphics and enhanced stuff.
So I bought it.
Worst game ever.
Biggest disappointment ever.
Almost as bad as getting Smackdown:Just Bring It.
The only complaint about the previous KO Kings was the control method. A bit sluggish. They fixed that by using the same control method as Victorious Boxers (basically faster and more flowing).
Except they completely changed the guts of the game. Until the 2002 one, KO Kings had been a very good simulation of boxing. You could jab and uppercut, dance in and weave, take your time picking at their defence until they had worn down and then wade in for the final flurry to ensure victory.
Exhibition was excellent, me and a mate fighting each other to learn the controls. Graphics are stunning with real-time damaged inflicted on their faces, slo-mo knockout replays, sweat forming in front of your eyes...stunning in ever regards.
"Best game ever" was the comment made in a Simpsons Comic-Store-Guy voice.
So then to the career mode.
So far so good, choose it all and begin.
Amusing cut-scenes with a mafia-type bloke as your manager.
1st fight.
Something is odd here. I'm being beaten, badly.
Hmmm, well it's the 1st go so that's expected.
Try again, get beaten again.
This isn't right, I'm good at these games.
Then we figure out what's wrong.
Gameplay has been radically altered.
Instead of a sim-type, strategic boxing game? It's an arcade-style slugfest.
Your opponent just keeps coming at you relentlessly, you have to continually back away.
There's zero skill involved anymore. No tactics at all.
You just stand there, without moving and mash the buttons as fast as possible.
Sometimes you'll win, mostly you'll lose.
It sucks.
You can't use any strategy, can't move in for the jab before backing away and waiting for your opening before hitting again.
Nope, from the get-go, the opponent is always, always running at you without any break in his stride and no pause between punches.
It's just BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM until one of you falls over.
If I wanted this type of game, I'd buy bloody Tekken.
But I expected the same as before, tactical boxing, using your head to use whatever shots might work, create an opening and exploit it with repeated punchings.
Not on the 2002 version though, I experimented by leaving the pad on the floor and mashing the keys with the palm of my hand without looking at the screen.
I won.
4 times.
A**e.
Why do this? Why completely alter the style of gameplay and remove any and all traces of sim?
If they had just left it be, this would be a fantastic game. As it stands, you get no chance to do anything but back-off and press any of the buttons as fast as possible.
Rubbish and if you like boxing games or are a fan of the previous Knockout Kings series, this is going to leave a bad taste in your mouth.
I'm returning it tomorrow and getting something else.
Something good.
Damn you EA for screwing with the basic gaming fundamentals and creating a stupid button-mashing game.
Page:
Create-a-Fighter is superb.
I had a 5'2 32 year old Vietnamese fighter nicknamed "My Psychosis".
Graphics rule, and it is a strategy-fest.
Except I keep getting my face kicked off by little Orientals.
I had a 5'2 32 year old Vietnamese fighter nicknamed "My Psychosis".
Graphics rule, and it is a strategy-fest.
Except I keep getting my face kicked off by little Orientals.
UFC was excellent on the Dreamcast. For once, it was a game which you couldn't win by just hitting the buttons as rapidly as possible. Strategy and timing were needed to grab an opponents punch... and one lapse in concentration and you'd find yourself tapping out as you were put in an arm lock. Excellent stuff. Very satisfying.
Does it still have the create a character mode? That would've been great last time if the available costumes/faces didn't look exactly like the existing ones.
Does it still have the create a character mode? That would've been great last time if the available costumes/faces didn't look exactly like the existing ones.
Took Knockout Kings 2002 back yesterday (because it blows) and got UFC:Tapout.
Tapout is excellent, violent hitty-hitty game with more strategy required than a supposed "boxing" game.
God KO Kings is balls.
(just personal opinion and in no way indicative of actualy gameplay).
Imagine you spent ages learning the craft of boxing: Bobbing, weaving, jabbing to create openings, getting out of the way etc etc.
You step into the ring and meet a hopped-up Psycho that doesn't stop punching for one single second and is always advancing, swinging like a deranged flesh windmill.
Terrible, terrible game.
Damn Dirty EA and damn dirty stupid gamers that just want to hit buttons wiv fase.
Tapout is excellent, violent hitty-hitty game with more strategy required than a supposed "boxing" game.
God KO Kings is balls.
(just personal opinion and in no way indicative of actualy gameplay).
Imagine you spent ages learning the craft of boxing: Bobbing, weaving, jabbing to create openings, getting out of the way etc etc.
You step into the ring and meet a hopped-up Psycho that doesn't stop punching for one single second and is always advancing, swinging like a deranged flesh windmill.
Terrible, terrible game.
Damn Dirty EA and damn dirty stupid gamers that just want to hit buttons wiv fase.
I dunno if its only the first test version or if it ended upo like that but i got given a pre-release version of Virtua Athlete 2k on the Dc. But it was my first REAL button basher and i thouroughly enjoyed it, but then again it was my FIRST game.......
next time i play a button basher i'll probably end up hating it though
next time i play a button basher i'll probably end up hating it though
Button bashing games should be kept to four player mental multiplayer and around that arcade Bishi Bashi board which is fun :-)
Blisters are caused by buying a Athletics sim, yet the gameplay is very simple no? Its a case of how fast you can press a tiny button with your finger, or hand if you start going mental.
And all those games on Athletics games are all the same, you think - "WOW - now I get to do Pole Vault" but it's actually you doing the same thing as all the other events.
Stoopid.
Blisters are caused by buying a Athletics sim, yet the gameplay is very simple no? Its a case of how fast you can press a tiny button with your finger, or hand if you start going mental.
And all those games on Athletics games are all the same, you think - "WOW - now I get to do Pole Vault" but it's actually you doing the same thing as all the other events.
Stoopid.
The sad thing is Goaty is that there is a bigger market for button-bashing games than tactical sims, although i have to admit that i myself would rather a button bashing than a tactical sim, then again thats just me.
These days its all MONEY MONEY MONEY for developers and producers, which is subsequently making the games quality decrease and we, as gamers, lose out and they, as developers, win...
You cant always win in life
These days its all MONEY MONEY MONEY for developers and producers, which is subsequently making the games quality decrease and we, as gamers, lose out and they, as developers, win...
You cant always win in life
I didn't want simulation from JBI, it was just fun in Smackdown 2 to build a career with your freakish create-a-wrestler and see if you could conquer other sweaty men in pants.
Same with Knockout Kings 2000, 01 etc.
It's good to climb through the rankings, increase your stats and improve your performance.
But a frantic button mashing, no-skill-required slugfest is not what the series was about and the reason I liked it.
Bah
Same with Knockout Kings 2000, 01 etc.
It's good to climb through the rankings, increase your stats and improve your performance.
But a frantic button mashing, no-skill-required slugfest is not what the series was about and the reason I liked it.
Bah
If you wanted simulation out of Smackdown: JBI, you're probably better off going to the GameCube, where WrestleMania X-8 will be released. Anyway, EA do suck. I quit buying the Fifa series after 2000, because they don't offer me anything new. I don't care about player statistics - I just wanna kick that damn pig's skin around the pitch. Is that so much to ask?
Turbonutter wrote:
> They've been pretty good to us PS2 owners so far.
---
The Xbox Knockout Kings 2002 is, gameplay wise,exactly the same on the PS2 as well according to several site reviews. The only difference is aesthetics.
EA suck balls.
They forced Medal of Honour to have a shoddy multiplayer add-on, ruined Black and White & Creature Isle with crap aftersales support with patches for massive, showstopping bugs and can't produce a decent game to save their lives.
But the same thing happened with Smackdown:Just Bring It.
Improved graphics etc, but removed the career mode.
A perfectly respectable game, ruined by fundamentally changing the basic structure of gameplay, and for the worse.
Toss game, really it is. (just my opinion etc etc).
If you want a button-mashing game then get Tekken or DOA, at least it's supposed to be fast and furious.
What really annoys me is the "hints" in the manual.
"Conserve your punches, don't punch yourself out or you lose stamina" but you have to keep punching simply to keep the other guy away from you.
The opponent just moves forward always, without any break or pause in their punches.
You spend the entire game walking backwards trying to protect your head.
To give you an idea how frantic this game is, over 3 rounds against the 2nd opponent in career, I threw 1774 punches.
Most boxers never throw that in their entire career.
I can't believe how utterly poor this game is.
I'm getting FIFA instead.
> They've been pretty good to us PS2 owners so far.
---
The Xbox Knockout Kings 2002 is, gameplay wise,exactly the same on the PS2 as well according to several site reviews. The only difference is aesthetics.
EA suck balls.
They forced Medal of Honour to have a shoddy multiplayer add-on, ruined Black and White & Creature Isle with crap aftersales support with patches for massive, showstopping bugs and can't produce a decent game to save their lives.
But the same thing happened with Smackdown:Just Bring It.
Improved graphics etc, but removed the career mode.
A perfectly respectable game, ruined by fundamentally changing the basic structure of gameplay, and for the worse.
Toss game, really it is. (just my opinion etc etc).
If you want a button-mashing game then get Tekken or DOA, at least it's supposed to be fast and furious.
What really annoys me is the "hints" in the manual.
"Conserve your punches, don't punch yourself out or you lose stamina" but you have to keep punching simply to keep the other guy away from you.
The opponent just moves forward always, without any break or pause in their punches.
You spend the entire game walking backwards trying to protect your head.
To give you an idea how frantic this game is, over 3 rounds against the 2nd opponent in career, I threw 1774 punches.
Most boxers never throw that in their entire career.
I can't believe how utterly poor this game is.
I'm getting FIFA instead.
They've been pretty good to us PS2 owners so far. They've blessed us with SSX, SSX Tricky and Rumble Racing, plus another one in the pipeline I can't remember the name of that OPS2 says is quite good. Plus F1 2001 & 2002, which are both quite good actually.
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