Put on your gloves and lace up your boots as Rocky Balboa. This time you get to be the Italian Stallion himself. Everyone's favorite underdog is stepping into the ring again with your PlayStation 2. You need to box your way through 20 unique opponents to finally fight in the championship bout. If successful, you will become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
In UBI Soft’s Rocky the cartoonish spinning, backwards punches, and rope-crashing choreography of the movie franchise are replaced by sound boxing fundamentals and realistic moves. Boxing purists will be well pleased with the realistic game design, including dead-on graphics and enough jab, hook, clinch, and taunt capability to satisfy any bloodlust. Movie fans will enjoy controlling or opposing all the Rocky legends, from the Aliesque "King of Sting, Master of Disaster" Apollo Creed to Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago, and more. While the gameplay is no giant leap forward (even from boxing classics like Sega Genesis’s Evander Holyfield’s Real Deal Boxing), this game is a must-have for Rocky fans, a good buy for boxing fans, and a pleasant, if not revolutionary, choice for gamers. --Patty Stuart
Pros
Re-creates the look and feel of the Rocky movies
Multiplayer capability
Features all of Rocky's movie adversaries Cons
AI quickly becomes predictable and easy
Scoring system has an 8-point minimum per round
Complicated training exercises can limit progress