Don King Prizefighter
2K Sports
Xbox 360
Review by Hayden Meikle
Talk about bad press.
This is a game that's had more negative reviews than Don King's hair, or even his ethics.
The problem for the folks at 2K Sports - who have made some terrific sports games and occasionally trumped market leader EA Sports - is they were taking a huge risk by even developing a boxing title.
While debates rage about which are the better football (Fifa or Pro Evo) or basketball (NBA Live or NBA 2K7/8) games, there is simply no such contention about who holds the heavyweight belt in boxing.
EA's seminal Fight Night title is the prince of pugilists and the latest edition, Fight Night Round 3, may be one of the top 10 sports games of all time.
But 2K Sports, out of a Take 2 stable that is always willing to take a risk, decided to take on Fight Night with its own boxing game.
They recruited King, the controversial 77-year-old promoter with the gravity-defying mop, no doubt to help sell the game.
The designers borrowed liberally from the Fight Night format, added some smooth extras and came up short in a couple of areas.
King's the consummate showman and the game reflects that with the inclusion of elaborate cutscenes and a heavily scripted story featuring, among others, vastly under-rated actor Mario van Peebles.
The feature of the game is predictably a career mode, where you use your fistic fancy to create a boxer, then get into some training, book fights, box a few rounds, level up your skills and progress up the ranks.
The training options are possibly better than Fight Night's.
There are five options and all are relatively fun to play, They feel like they're making a meaningful contribution to the development of your boxer.
In the ring, Prizefighter looks good, if not near as polished as Fight Night.
The characters move a bit jerkily and, while I've never boxed, the up-close fighting doesn't feel as natural as its competitor.
It's a bit on the clunky side.
One other small criticism is that many of the fights are terribly predictable.
There's a pattern to success, and once you work it out, the challenge has all but disappeared.
Still, a lot of games are predictable.
Don King Prizefighter is a heck of an effort.
If it doesn't exactly knock Fight Night out, it does let everybody know there's a contender in town
