Reviewed: May 3, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Majesco Games

Developer
Digital Fiction

Released: January 28, 2003
Genre: Sports
Players: 2
ESRB: Teen

7
8
5
8
7.2

Supported Features

  • Memory Card (1 Block)

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    With the exception of the recently released Rocky game there hasn’t been an abundance of boxing games for next-gen consoles, especially when it comes to the GameCube. Enter Black and Bruised, a fun and comical look at boxing from Majesco Games. Originally released on the PS2, Black and Bruised features a cel-shaded visual style and a cast of hilarious personalities that fits with the overall GameCube audience despite the Teen rating.

    Black and Bruised features:

    • 18 distinct cartoon-esque characters with colorful personalities and unique fighting styles
    • 18 different boxing rings and fighting arenas
    • Cel Shaded - High quality cartoon shader creates a Disney-esque feel and exaggerates gameplay
    • Enhanced AI engine – characters’ unique personalities react to a sequence of events that modify their subsequent reactions to circumvent repetitive player strategies
    • Extended facial animation – more than 30 unique and humorous facial animations convey boxer’s mood and reaction to punches
    • Pressure sensitive analog controls are easy to learn, hard to master
    • Six modes of play: Training, Boxer’s Life, Championship, Survival and 2-Player:
    • Training – Refine your basic and combo techniques by fighting the training robot.
    • Single – Select your opponent and go one-on-one with the computer in a 6-stage story mode unique for each character
    • Championship – Fight a list of opponents and go for the World Title.
    • Survival – Fight as many opponents as you can knockout.
    • Two-Player – Go head-to-head with a friend
    • 1st person or close-up 3rd person camera viewpoints let you fight where you’re most comfortable
    • Boxer’s Life mode – After your bout, the console’s Full Motion Video (FMV) updates to reflect the impact of the outcome on the character’s life. It will not only define the stakes, but also impact the way the boxer performs in the next bout
    • Special effects – Stars, perspiration, particle effects and explosions will indicate the effectiveness of a particular punch and add to the zany feel of the game.
    • Super Punch – Every boxer has a “super punch” to destroy his/her opponent. Fire, electricity and explosion effects indicate super punches.
    A quick scan of the cover art had me thinking this was going to be just an updated version of the famous Punch Out arcade game from the early 80’s, but once I started going through the training I realized this was a fairly involved boxing simulation that bordered on the same level of sophistication as Rocky.

    Everything about this game smacks of pure fun and irreverence starting with the opening movie right down to the colorful menus, humorous player profiles, and the intriguing and interlocking stories for each of the boxers. The characters seem to all be connected in some fashion, much like the Tekken and Dead or Alive games only this game fleshes out the story much better.

    The boxing engine is easy to learn and difficult to master. The A and B buttons throw right and left punches that can be further modified with the R, X or Y buttons for body blows and uppercuts. You also have to master the low and high blocks and learn to sidestep incoming punches creating a very authentic boxing simulation. You won’t get far if you simply go in mashing buttons and trading punches. You have to find your rhythm and exploit the various weakness of each opponent.

    There is a very informative tutorial that teaches you all the basics as well as advanced combo training. Combos aren’t quite as clever as your typical fighting game. You don’t need to learn 10-move combos to deliver a death strike, but rather learn to throw fast and varied successions of your primary punches to keep your opponent off-balance and defenseless. The complexities of the various combos aren’t exactly proportional to the damage they inflict. Your best strategy seems to be landing as many punches as fast as possible to build-up your power-up meter then unleashing a devastating flurry of super-charged attacks using the Z button to activate one of many fun and dangerous power-ups.

    When your boxer is knocked to the ground you must rapidly press the A button as fast as possible to fill-up the power meter before the 10-count expires. This gets progressively more difficult the more times you go down and filling up the meter will only let you continue the fight, but it will not buy you additional time. If you get knocked down too many times you won’t be getting back up no matter how fast you can mash the A button.

    Black and Bruised has all the traditional fight modes, but the new Boxer’s Life has to be one of the most ingenious elements incorporated into a sports title; at least for a boxing game. Basically, each of the main characters has a 7-chapter story, the first six of which are playable. Each fight is preceded by an animated movie that outlines the character’s story and any objectives for the upcoming fight. Sometimes it’s not just about a knockout. You may be required to accomplish other special goals to win the round.

    Considering the sheer number of different boxers and the custom stages and stories for each, there are more than 100 custom bouts and movies to be explored – a considerable undertaking for any gamer. Since each boxer has their own special fighting style and player attributes each story is a unique experience.

    Black and Bruised has a comical visual style that contrasts the brutality of the sport you are actually playing. All of the characters are wild exaggerations of various stereotypes. The cel-shaded graphics are easily the best of any cel-shaded game since the style was born back on the Dreamcast with Jet Grind Radio.

    Even though the characters are obviously 2D renderings they literally pop-up off the screen thanks to some wonderful shadows and lighting effects. The entire presentation reminded me of the animation style used in Space Jam or Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The textures on the boxers are excellent with realistic clothing, tattoos, and real-time facial damage.

    Animation is silky smooth and the framerate never drops below a flawless 60fps, even when the special effects make their stunning debut. Boxers react with over-the-top animations; bodies and heads twisting and contorting as punches are landed, and the numerous power-ups will add flames, stars, motion blurs and various colored vapor to the visual mix.

    The boxing rings vary from actual rings to fights in garages, offices, or any other location the story dictates. These locations are rendered with exceptional detail and full of humorous details to those who are observant enough to see them. One of my personal favorites is when playing Mickey McFist and you can spot an Irish folk band just outside the ring playing the actual Irish theme music that accompanies the fight.

    The menus and informational display are perfection. The menus are easy to navigate and the HUD during the fights shows the status of both boxers, the power levels for punches landed and various colored stars indicating the level (green, yellow, or red) for the power-up that is indicated by an icon between the two power meters.

    Despite the energetic opening theme music the rest of the soundtrack in Black and Bruised is merely average, although there are a few nice cultural touches for the ethnic boxers like Mickey. I really dig that Irish folk tune. There is nothing here that is really memorable, but likewise, nothing is really annoying either. It’s just there.

    The speech is very good with plenty of lines being delivered by each of the boxers. The voice of the narrator is also really fun in an exaggerated, over-the-top, animated, comic style – almost like a game show announcer.

    Sound effects, again, are nothing really special but they serve their purpose. The mechanical crunching sound as you pummel the crash-test-dummy during training will have you grimacing – your blows sound very devastating. Unfortunately, this same level of realism doesn’t translate too well when you start fighting the human boxers. Regardless of whether you hit a leather glove, or strike a boxer in the chest or face it all sounds the same, and for some reason it just doesn’t sound like a punch, even an exaggerated one like in Rocky. The punch effects actually reminded me of those old Kung Fu movies where they smacked boards around. It’s a shame that an otherwise exceptional boxing game is marred by some rather poor sound effects.

    You can plan on 30-40 hours to make your way through all the stories for all the characters. Some of the matches are quite tough and will take you multiple attempts to get through them all. The two-player versus mode will add a bit of extra life to the title assuming you know somebody else who enjoys boxing games, and there are plenty of extra goodies to unlock and cheat codes you can enter into the menu for interesting bonuses.

    Black and Bruised has some of the best stylized visuals of any cel-shaded game to date, but don’t be fooled by the charming graphics. There is a fairly complex boxing model and elaborate combo system that requires timing, reflexes, and intuition if you ever hope to complete this lengthy and comprehensive boxing game. Gameplay is easy to learn and challenging to master, so be prepared for a lengthy boxing career if you step into this ring.