Even boxing fans won't get much out of the new video game

F4

By Nick Patch
THE CANADIAN PRESS

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Boxing has fallen on hard times, and so have boxing video games.

Suffering from the burgeoning popularity of mixed martial arts and a lack of big-ticket stars, the sport has been in a free fall since the fading of '90s stars such as Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.

One of the most recognizable holdovers from that era lends his name to "Don King Presents: Prizefighter," a 2K Sports boxing game rated T for Teen for the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

Though a dearth of options has likely left fans of pixilated pugilism unsatisfied, this hastily assembled slugfest is no solution, nor is it a challenge to the reigning champ, EA's "Fight Night" series.

Those games are excellent, if sporadically updated -- the last edition came out in 2006, with another entry due next year.

Still, even that two-year-old title easily outshines "Prizefighter." Where "Fight Night: Round 3" had gorgeous visuals, from menacing sweat-drenched boxers to appropriately glitzy arenas, "Prizefighter" features decidedly last-gen graphics, fuzzy and detail-free.

The control scheme feels archaic too.

As most sports games are shifting to layouts that primarily focus on movement of the control sticks, "Prizefighter" requires gamers to memorize a staggering number of combinations using the face buttons.

For instance, to land a step-around hook, you'll need to press three buttons and nudge the stick simultaneously.

Thanks to spotty collision detection, you'll also need a healthy bit of luck.

Even after overcoming the game's steep learning curve, the boxers will rarely do what you ask them to -- at least not right away. Often, you'll find yourself trying to throw a punch, then watching your boxer wait a second or two before executing, by which point your opponent has moved aside.

Of course, that doesn't mean the blow won't land.

Frequently, boxers will react as though they've been hit by punches that appear to sail well wide.

That, combined with the ho-hum sound effects -- all punches land with the same dull thud-- turns fights into disorienting button-mashing marathons.

In fact, you often get the sense you're fighting underwater.

The developers have put more care into the game's career mode. Using the familiar zero-to-hero story arc, you'll guide your boxer -- nicknamed "The Kid" -- through increasingly high-stakes matchups.

In one of the game's more ambitious touches, "Prizefighter" intersperses these matches with clips of boxing personalities (some real, some fictional and portrayed by actors) discussing your rise through the ranks.

Though it's a neat concept, it doesn't quite work.

Many of the clips are brief to the point of incoherence, while others are just boring. Still, it's refreshing to see the developers try something different.

But the broken gameplay always looms.

Any goodwill created by a clever presentation gimmick -- say, the sepia-toned classic bouts you'll re-enact -- is squandered when the frustration of actually trying to play the game sets in.