
<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thearmchairem-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">	Platform Playstation 2 Genre Sports Publisher Majesco Developer Digital Fiction ESRB T (Teen) Released Q1 2003

- Nicely detailed Graphics - Good amount of game modes - Fairly Simple Combos - Multiplayer can be enjoyable experience - Quick load times

- Game’s gameplay is tedious - Character taunts get repetitive - Game seems like mindless button mashing - Game plays more like an arcade fighter

Review: Dead or Alive 3 (XB) Review: Minority Report (PS2) Review: NHL Hitz 2003 (GC)
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Black & Bruised

Score: 6.0 / 10

Honestly before I played Black & Bruised (BB) I really hadn’t played any other boxing game on the Playstation 2. From what I have heard though Knockout Kings by EA Sports is supposed to be the king of all boxing games. The folks at Majesco and Digital Fiction have made an arcade style boxing game, which takes a new approach to boxing that many other games haven’t. But is it worth checking out?

BB seems to blend styles of arcade fighters such as Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Virtua Fighter, etc. The game gives your characters combo moves and power ups, which will in the end give you a major advantage over your opponent. BB has a lot of depth when it comes to game modes, which range from multiplayer to training to career, and included 14 cartoony characters.

While BB is a good-looking game, the same can’t fully be said for its gameplay. Most boxing games on the market require strategy to defeat your opponent. This title is totally different. BB feels as if there is no strategy required and all the games consists of is mindless button mashing. The game can be exciting for the first ten fifteen minutes, but tends to get old quite quickly. Each character has their own combos and special moves, but it feels more like an arcade fighter rather than a boxing game. The developers should have made a fighting game rather than a boxer.

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BB is quite faster than simulation boxing games. The combos are similar to those of Mortal Kombat’s as there is an integration of the joystick along with the buttons rather than just the buttons. The combos are not too difficult to execute. The AI tends to be a lot less forgiving than your friends ever could be. Thankfully the AI is not over the top cheap like in other fighting games. The game’s multiplayer mode is more rewarding and more fun. It’s quite

enjoyable to beat the snot out of your friend or foe that has been annoying you. You’ll be lucky to see any matches go beyond five rounds.

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The graphics look pretty good overall and the cel-shaded style is great, though it may not quite reach the level of Sly Cooper. The characters are well detailed. You’ll also see facial expressions, character damage and some personality traits as well. BB does have some cool graphical effects as contact is made by the punches. The loading times are also very thin as well. The background textures could have used a lot more work though.

The sound in the game does tend to be lame as well as repetitive. The characters tend to taunt each other with lame jokes and corny humor. One thing to note is that the character voices sound good, but too bad they weren't given more to say.

Overall Black & Bruised cannot emerge as a solid boxer. The developers seemed to have a pretty solid concept by making an arcade style game, but in the end the game falls short of what is promised. While the game does have a solid number of modes, the gameplay seems to be too repetitive and lacks strategy that other games have.

- Siddharth Masand

(April 5, 2003)