Reviewed: December 30, 2007
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
XSEED Games

Developer
GrandPrix

Released: October 16, 2007
Genre: Sports
Players: 1-2

6
6
6
6
6.3

Supported Features

Consider bowling, arguably everyone’s favorite game of the included launch bundle. AMF and Brunswick have both taken their shot at the genre with extremely poor results. Rockstar’s Table Tennis was a poor substitute for the included tennis game. A variety of baseball games have done considerably better as have a handful of golf games, but what about boxing?

Boxing was the standout game of the sports pack, as it was the only one that required the nunchuk and dual-fisted gameplay, making it the most immersive and physically active game in the bundle. Siblings could finally take a virtual swing at each other and not get yelled at. So while we continue to wait for EA to serve up a Wii-version of Fight Night, XSEED comes along with Victorious Boxers: Revolution, blending physical boxing action with a massive cast of characters and surprisingly engaging story mode.

There are 25 fighters you can choose to play as, each with their own unique style and special moves. You can take these boxers into the ring in a variety of solo and two-player modes, or if you want to get into the meat and potatoes of the game, try taking on the story mode that puts you in the role of up-and-coming boxer as you make your way to the top of the pro boxing championship. It’s Rocky…anime style.

Once you choose your controls you’ll need to head to the gym for some tutorials and training. These include all the basic commands for movement, fighting, defense, and special swings. For the most part, all of this is extremely intuitive, especially if you opt for the top control scheme that relies heavily on motion sensors and not on buttons. In default mode (no buttons being pressed) your hand positions and movement recreate realistic jabs, hooks, and uppercuts, while pressing B and Z will put your gloves in a guard position.

I only had a few complaints with the control scheme. The first was in the accuracy of the swing detection. Often, my hooks would not be detected unless I made some extremely exaggerated side-swing movements. Uppercuts were also physically painful since the nunchuk cord would be trailing my swing and snap me in the chin or nose. I suppose this could be considered “added realism” if it were the other boxer doing the swinging.

Regardless of the intermittent inaccuracies of the controls and the frequent cord-whips to the face, Victorious Boxers was a pretty immersive experience that rivals Wii Sports Boxing in every way. I found myself really getting into the action, even to the point where I nearly threw my shoulder out on my third round. Even though I’m right-handed in the real world, I seem to favor the southpaw action in the game, and my left arm just isn’t conditioned for that much activity.

Victorious Boxers: Revolution does an admirable job of teaching you some boxing tactics as well as the physicality of the sport. After laying into my opponent on round one he held back during the second and recouped his strength and stamina, a fact I didn’t realize until my trainer told me what was going on after the second bell. Your trainer will also give you useful tips on the fighting style of each opponent, so you not only have to know how to swing, punch, and jab, you’ll also need some tactical knowledge of the sport.

Most of the game plays in classic “Punch-Out” style with your boxer being slightly transparent so you can see through him and target your opponent. You can bob and weave using a combination of controller movements and button presses. You can advance and retreat using similar controller movements. Moving about the ring with the motion sensors can be a bit problematic at times. If it gets too glitchy you can always opt for analog stick control.

The story mode is entertaining but extremely linear. Rather than dynamically branch with your fight performance, the next segment of the story is locked by the script, so even if you win a fight, the story will infer that you lost and need a rematch. The Versus Mode will provide a lot more entertainment and gameplay possibilities with 25 boxers and 10 boxing venues.

Once you get into the ring the graphics get a bit better, yet they retain their comic book styling. The HUD is non-intrusive with meters for each boxer in the corners of the screen. The venues look decent but the crowd graphics and animation are pretty lame.

There is support for 16:9 widescreen, but there is no progressive scan support, so things can get a bit jaggies, especially with the thick black outlines on a majority of the artwork. And totally opposite of all other games I have played, the cutscenes actually go into a box view with huge black borders on all four sides of your widescreen TV. Once the match starts the screen will expand to fill the TV.

There is a surprising amount of speech in the game starting with the opening movie and carrying over into the story mode cutscenes as well as useful advise from your training between rounds. As to be expected with a Japanese import, the voices are often over-the-top and totally not in synch with the animation, creating that classic lip-synch issue we all love from watching late night Kung Fu Theater.

As much fun as I had with Victorious Boxers, I’d still have a hard time recommending at the full $40 price tag. There is just only so much you can do in the game, so it is definitely going to be a much greater value when it drops to $30 or less.

If you like boxing, classic anime visuals and storytelling, or just want to take a swing at your brother or sister without getting sent to your room, Victorious Boxers: Revolution is a fun experience that makes for a great weekend rental and definitely a title to watch for when the price drops.