Knockout Kings 2000

The Knockout Kings 2000 came out in the late nineties, when console boxing was in its heyday. It was made by Black Ops Entertainment, and published by EA Sports: for Nintendo 64, PlayStation and Game Boy Color, where the pocket version had a different name. The players were offered to enter the ring against the real stars of that time. The emphasis is on the reliability of the movements: strikes, blocks, dodges and clinches are laid out according to buttons, and the expenditure of force forces you to think with your head, and not wave your arms without stopping. You can fight in a standing position, work on the body and press against the ropes, but for greed it’s easy to get a counterattack to the jaw. In addition to individual fights, there is a career mode: the path from a little-known fighter to the title, with a choice of opponents and a gradual increase in characteristics. There are also training battles, where it is convenient to master combinations without consequences for your track record. Separately, it is worth noting that judges’ notes work in fights, so you can win on points, and not just by knockout. Fatigue accumulates over the rounds, and the fighter who saved his strength at the beginning looks fresher in the second half of the fight. Hence the tactics: sometimes it is advantageous to give up a couple of rounds in order to catch your opponent later. There is also a table with a track record: you can see how many battles have been won and how many have been lost, and this encourages you to replay unsuccessful matches. Today the graphics show their age - angular models and stiff animations. But for its time, the game provided a rare combination of arcade accessibility and boxing logic, which is why it is still remembered with kind words in retro companies.