Don King Presents: Prizefighter

Presumably the first entry to a franchise, Don King Presents Prizefigher is a boxing title meant to go up against EA’s juggernaut franchise, Fight Night. The game certainly has a lot going for it right out of the gate, offering an impressive roster of fighters, cool and unique features, and the support of one of the most boisterous personalities in sports. However, for all Prizefighter manages to get right, it fails at the most important element, the sweet science of boxing itself. If you are a fan of boxing titles and are waiting for a title to usurp the Fight Night Round 3 throne, this game will only disappoint.

Prizefighter’s career mode showcases some impressive story elements. The game’s “story” unfolds in a cool mockumentary style, with real actors (and some well known figures from the boxing world) showing up to describe your progress as though reminiscing. This adds a pretty nice touch to the game, and is actually pretty fun to watch. While some of the characters stumble a bit on their acting chops, for the most part it’s done well.

In the actual meat and potatoes of the career mode, there are some pretty cool elements as well, as you’ll begin to have to box with some handicaps thrown into the mix, like a broken right hand and other mitigating factors to make you really have to try to win your matches, which is a nice touch. There are also a good amount of mini-games that you can play through while training your boxer and improving his stats, which are also a nice touch.

Whereas EA’s Fight Night series makes heavy use of the right thumbstick for throwing and dodging punches, Prizefighter forgoes this in lieu of utilizing the face buttons for throwing punches, with the shoulder buttons used for modifying blows, signature moves, and so on. The plus side of this is that the controls aren’t quite as intimidating as Fight Night’s, meaning that gamers from diverse skill levels shouldn’t feel too lost at the get-go.

Unfortunately, that’s about where things start to unravel. The actual in-ring gameplay leaves much to be desired, as the simplistic controls lack the technical proficiency of EA’s Fight Night series. Spamming away at the face buttons lacks finesse, and the button mashing gameplay just feels cumbersome. The hit detection is also very off, as punches will often not connect properly and even sometimes will go right through an opponent’s body without any damage done. This is death to a boxing game, and the awkward controls definitely sully Prizefighter. When your boxers simply go at each other and clumsily pound face like Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, it kind of kills the mood of the sport.

It’s not all bad in Prizefighter, however. The game’s career mode is a definite step in the right direction, and the robust fighter roster is quite impressive, featuring well-known classic fighters like Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis as well as modern pugilists like Shannon Briggs and Kelly Pavlik. Additionally, the online modes (while fairly par for the course in terms of game modes), run pretty smoothly with minimal lag.

Graphically, Prizefighter is a mixed bag. While the fighters, especially the licensed ones, look quite good and the environments are pretty nice, the animations are pretty lousy and look jerky and robotic.

The sound effects fare quite a bit better than the graphics, as the voice work and crowd noise both sound very good, and the ability to unlock new ring entrance music is a nice touch. The commentary could use some work.

Prizefighter shows some promise, as the career mode offers an interesting alternative to other boxers and the story is very well done. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t deliver when it comes to the actual sport itself, and will likely leave you disappointed.

Gameplay: 6.0
Prizefighter fails to properly grasp the sweet science, with awkward controls and overall lack of finesse. The collision detection issues range from annoying to frustrating.

Graphics: 6.5
Good boxer models and decent rings are mired by jerky and robotic animations.

Sound: 8.0
The ring music is great and the rest of the sounds are pretty decent, but the commentary could use some work.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.0
The game’s story presentation is very impressive, but unfortunately the overall gameplay elements can’t back it up.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Pretty average game modes, but otherwise performs well online.

Overall: 6.0
Prizefighter’s production values are pretty high, but unfortunately the gameplay took a back seat and fails to capture the essence of boxing.