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Oh yes, it was worth the wait

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 16
Date: February 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I was anticipating this one for awhile, as the release date was pushed back multiple times, which initially caused me to worry, "Are they pushing it back because it's so awful they dare not release it?" Well, KK2k1 is finally here, and the wait was worth it.

This series always had so much potential in its earier incarnations. But the boxers were always too unresponsive, play was too slow, and sometimes the AI was a little too brutal to the point where what was meant to be a boxing sim turned into a Ready To Rumble style arcade slugfest. Well, fear not, as the control problems have been solved, and we are left to gaze upon the best modern console boxing game available.

KK2k1 has TONS of real guys in all 3 weight classes: Ali, Frazier, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson, Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Butterbean (!), Hagler, Camacho, De La Hoya, Spadifora, Julio Cesar Chavez, Hurricane Carter (from the movie "The Hurricane,") Jake LaMotta (from the Deniro film "Raging Bull,") Rocky Marciano, Frank Bruno, Alexis Arguello, Ike Quartey, Pernelll "Sweet Pea" Whitaker, Jack Dempsey, and even more that I can't remember right now. Not to mention the female boxers. The roster is almost perfect (Though no Tyson, he's got his own really awful boxing game on PS1, and no George Foreman.) There are even a few hidden characters, like Oakland A's slugger Jason Giambi.

There are several modes available to fit all tastes. Slugfest mode basically echos the Ready To Rumble series, you take 2 boxers, with a very close camera view, and you just wail on one another. Exhibition mode pits any two real boxers against one another (regardless of weight class.) Career mode is the best though. You create your own boxer, then put him through a series of fights, just like in the old Punch-Out for NES. The guys you fight in that mode are classics! An old gray-haired guy with the nickname of "Old Bones," and other colorful characters. The fights start out easy, against no-names in sleazy corner fight joints. Then they progress to longer bouts in more impressive venues against real opponents. You not only get to customize yor boxer, but you also get to choose your gym, and your training team, each of which gives you between-match points to build your character's ability levels. There are also training sessions between matches that supply you with more points to better yourself. Very realistic, and very fun. The last mode is a "Fantasy Fight" mode that pits real boxers (often of different time periods) against one another in "what might have been" scenarios.

As for the gameplay, it is top-rank. Each boxer will have punches that work for him. As far as traits go, some boxers are speedy, some have awesome stamina, or maybe great power, some have sturdy chins that take a beating, and some get cut very easily. The combinations make every fighter different, and you have to know what they do/don't do well so you can plan accordingly. Wailing away at the head of someone with a 99 rating for Chin will be like wailing away at a brick wall. Each fighter has strengths and weaknesses that must be found and exploited. This includes your champ as well.

There are 4 basic punches mapped to the four buttons: jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. Body punches are achieved by holding L2 and hitting those same buttons. There are many different punch combos to utilize, some work better than others depending on your boxer. The control is very easy to learn, yet takes time to master. It isn't nearly as difficult to dance around the ring as before, but if there is one problem with the game, it is the same one that has plagued this series from the beginning: getting out. It is easy to come in and land punches, but backing up to get out isn't always as responsive as you would like it to be, resulting sometimes in your opponent getting a parting shot that wouldn't have landed if the control had moved your guy when you told it to. But other than minor control stickiness like that, there is really nothing bad to be found.

There are real fight venues (Madison Square Garden, Caesar's Palace, Wembley UK) real referees (Mills Lane) real ring announcers and real commentators that make other EA Sports games sound ultra-lame in comparison .... No doubt about it, this game is the pinnacle of boxing titles. It has all the realism of a real fight and all the fun of the best console boxing games to come before it. Did I mention the great soundtrack from rappers that can actually rap? Well, it's got that too .... This game has everything going for it, and gamers like me that have been waiting for a good boxing game for ages will eat this up. 2001's first "must-have" PS2 title.

Great game, but no Madden

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: February 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

EA Sports did a good job with this game but it could have been better. First some positives...the game is very realistic. It has real boxers, cornermen, and referees. The game has fighters in every weight-class including the women. The punches need to be timed and you just cannot go into the ring versus a good opponent and start pushing buttons. The crowd looks good and the graphics are terrific. The movement of the boxers is also realistic. There are different fighting modes and levels of play. The easy is way to easy, and the normal gets too easy after you become powerful in the career mode. The fight commentators are good and they don't repeat themselves like in Madden. Now the negatives...Why does EA allow you to beat this game in the career mode? I had a record of 23-2 and was able to beat the game. Like Madden, you should be able to box until you want to retire. All the great boxers have at least 50 wins and you are forced to retire after 23. The game should not end so soon. Also in the career mode, none of the other fighters' record changes but yours. It seems as though you are the only one fighting. They should have it so you schedule your fights and the other fighters win and lose as time goes on and everyone gets reranked, so it is harder to climb to the top. Even after you beat someone the loss does not go on his record. Also, in the career mode, you become too powerful too quickly. You are given training points after you train between fights. The training points determine how good of a fighter you are by determining things such as your speed, quickness, stamina, recovery time, ease to cut, etc. However, the training points are too easy to get and too many are given out at once. I had 100 in every category my 2nd to last fight, and I was invincible. You should have to fight some fighters twice so you can get more victories and you become powerful slowly. After you move up in ranking, you cannot rechallenge anyone lower than you, even if you had a close fight. An annoying part of the game is that the announcers and referee mouth does not move as they talk. Also the ref is not in the ring as you box, you just hear a voice. Also walking out you don't have a robe on and there is no one around you. A huge mistake in the game is the training mode. Your sparring partner cannot hit you with the hook, so you are unable to block it. Also it is nearly impossible to throw the cross, low hook combination. You lose training points because you are unable to do certain things in training mode and the computer doesn't recognize that it is making the mistake. And the main reason why I give the game 4 stars is lack of button recognition. Sometimes the game does not recognize the buttons you push, especially when you have to push 2 buttons at once. All in all, I think it is the second best title for PS2, but far behind Madden. I think it is defintely something you should buy, but EA has to make some improvements. And for the person who said Ready 2 Rumble 2 is more realistic, are you kidding me? No one should ever listen to that person's opinions about games. KO Kings is based on realism. Ready 2 Rumble is supposed to be fun and comical, not realistic. And that is what it accomplishes. Again, I would recommend that you buy the game, it is a good one for a serious gamer who likes realistic sport games. And for those of you looking for some tips. The secret to be successful against a good opponent focus on hitting the body. Use your jabs and crosses in the first few rounds to the body. You will notice that when you hit him in the stomach during later rounds he stops to cover up. This is when you let lose to his head by throwing you specialty punch or strong upper combination. In the 7th and 8th rounds you can hit him in the body and it takes away a lot of power and sets up the knock out. Or if the fighter's cut rating is low, circle and jab and double-jab to the face. By the 3rd round you should have him opened up and you can focus on landing combinations and jabs to the eye so the doctor stops the fight. What not to do...don't go in the ring trying to throw a bunch of uppercuts and knockout blows, good fighter will eat you alive. Set up combinatins with the jab and blocking shots. The best way to knock someone out is going to the body and when he covers up go the head. The combinations starting at the body and working up is effective while the boxer is in the corner. You should always keep the person against the ropes, by standing back and just throwing jabs to the face, and follow up with combinations to the body when he covers. To beat the game you must learn how to defend yourself. Use L1 and L2 a lot. If you slip by a punch you have time to throw a jab and combination, but watch out for combinations, you don't want to let go of the L buttons too early and get caught with the follow up punch. And d_critique opinion is always reliable.

Buy this instead of horrible KO Kings 2002

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: March 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Let me start off by saying that this is a FAR superior game to the newly released KO Kings 2002. The controls are great, you can actually choose to throw a punch to the body (unlike KO 2002)and the graphics are great. You really feel likwe you are boxing. KO Kings 2002 is nothing but a button mashing mess with no skill or control, plus a virtually non-existent career mode. The career mode in this game is one area that could have been improved (but thank goodness it is not half as bad as 2002) there is a very limited create a fighter feature, and only 17 contenders to face as you climb the ladder. There is also long and frequent loads. yet, again, after playing (and returning KO 2002) I am so grateful for what this game does have and really love the actual gameplay.

Very Good Graphics & Gameplay But Too much Loading Time

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: February 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is visually and responsively pretty good, the graphics and gameplay are very good. However the major drawback of this game is all the loading time. It loads before the game, after the introductions, between rounds and after the fight when the decision is made. The Boxers come to the ring with no enterage and no robe. When you knock out someone in real life the ref doesn't take both boxers to the center of the ring for the decision (do the people who design these games even watch boxing??). Also you can't fight created boxers in exibition mode or against eachother. One last thing, the damage to your opponents is very limited. You can hardly see the cuts, there is no drippings of blood and very little swelling of the eyes or face. Overall the game is pretty disappointing, especially with the supposed enhancements of PS2. (Rent before you buy!!!!)

One of the better games out there

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: May 15, 2001
Author: Amazon User

So far i have been pretty disappointed with the ps2 and their lack of quality games. I know there are a lot more good games on the way such as GT3,MSG, etc... but thus far i haven't seen one must buy game. Some people will say madden is the greatest game ever, but they have obviously never played NFL2k1 for DC and rigth now i am a little disappointed i traded in my DC. But knockout kings has been the only game so far that i have taken a real liking too. anyone claiming that the ps version is just as good obviously has no clue about boxing and should be playing ready to rumble. first here's the good: the boxer's graphics are absolutely stunning and even in slo-mo you can see a nasty cut open or a mouthpiece come flying out. the game play is VERY realistic, unlike other versions. on the ps version you could just win by clinching and repeatedly pounding a guy, here you have to use strategy; counterpouching, blocking, ducking and jabbing are all used effectively and are usually necessary to win unless you have a big time tysonesque slugger. if you go into a match with a better opponent and just start mashing buttons, you will get clobbered as you should. the ability to throw good combinations in this game is also a great bonus, and i don't mean hitting random buttons quickly. they are also 3 distict boxing styles and unlike other games each style carries with it different strengths and various forms of punches. KK's features many of the greatest boxers ever including even the newest of champs and rising stars but still no tyson(damn them). also kk's has one of the best soundtracks i have heard in a while..... now the bad. this is a pretty short list; yes loading time is a bit long, especially for a high powered system like this but it is not something that takes attention away from the game at all. although the boxers and the stadiums are beautifully detailed, the crowd is one of those generic "let's take the same 6 cardboard cut-outs and fill the whole arena with them" crowds. the only other thing i can find wrong with this game is that the career mode is a bit short. although the number of star boxers in the game is great, the amount of lesser knowns available to fight on your way to the top is very limited, most boxers aren't fighting david tua or vernon forrest in thier 10th pro fight. i was hoping that at least you could continue to fight the good boxers again but you basically get to fight eveyone in that weight division once (if you win) and will finish roughly 20-0, i feel added lower class boxers and challenger rematches would have greatly helped this department. So overall i have to say that the those few probs are not nearly enough to lessen the great qualities of the game, in my opinion it is definitly worth buying but might be better to rent first(for you R2R,blitz losers who have no clue about real sports). The game is mostly free of minor inconviences and seems well designed. i say forget the other pieces of trash that are out right now (including all the terrible baseball games) and get this to tie you over until the summer frenzy starts...enjoy!!

The Best Boxing Game Ever Made

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 11
Date: February 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is without a doubt the best boxing game ever made and believe me I've played a lot. It utilizes all of the power of the Play Station 2 engine. The graphics are great, the game play is smooth, and the fights are very realistic. I actually boxed my way to a decision victory in an 8 round fight, no knock down, but great action.

The training in the career mode is a lot of fun, I especially like the fact that you get to spar, and it's a great way to learn new moves. If you are a boxing fan and want a realistic boxing game that employs strategy not just slugging, this game is a must. This and Madden 2001 are the two best games for PS 2 so far!

Pleasantly Surprising

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: February 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I've played the other versions of Knockout Kings on other systems (PS, N64, etc.), so I just thought that this game would simply be a graphically enhanced version of the other games. But it's much much more than that. For starters, the graphics are top notch. The differet knockdown animations, the way that the faces of the fighter change throughout the fights, and the textures of the boxers themselves are simply awesome. Graphically, this game has no weakness at all. Backing up the great visuals is great sound, with actually a wide variety of music that might suit many different tastes. But the most important aspect, I feel, is gameplay. The problem with the other boxing games was that they dimply weren't deep enough, and quite honestly got pretty predictable and boring after a while. That isn't the case here. There's actually lots of strategy involved, and there is an element of surprise in different matches that prevent the game from getting too predictable. There are also a great number of different modes that will keep you playing this game for a while. In all honesty, I think that you'll definitely get your money's worth with this game. I give it 4 stars. Buy this one with confidence.

A pleasant surprise

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I was amazed at how fun this game was; it has a lot going for it: good graphics (although not spectacular), awesome career mode, loads of fighters, realistic boxing (ie: use strategy to win) and punches. The downside? Loading takes forever (even between cutscenes!), maddeningly difficult at times (when you fight legends, for example, even if you have the best possible fighter, your opponent will still throw and land punches faster than you).

Overall, I highly recommend it, especially as a change of pace from the ultra-unrealistic Tekken and SF series. A thinking man's fighting game!

As fun to play as Ring King

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: February 15, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Years ago Ring King was the best two player boxing game around. Now with Knockout Kings 2001 you can have all the gameplay of Ring King with awesome graphics and real life boxers. It's almost like your controling real people in the ring. EASPORTS did a great job with the motion capture, the boxers move like their real world counterparts. I also like the fact that the real boxers have personalities similar to those they've demonstrated in the ring. The "real time" commentary is great, although it can screw up from time to time. The game takes a little getting used to, but after an hour or two you should be familar with the controls and the timing. I would recommend this game anyone.

solid purchase

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: March 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

well following madden has been very tough for EA sports. nba live was ripped apart by disapointed gamers, and nhl recieved luke warm reviews. this game however should do a lot to restore and reiterate what makes EA so great... and thats realistic gameplay. every version of KOK has improved on details and accuracy. this version is no diffrent. you no can no longer win by just pushing buttons. (if thats what your looking for then buy ready to rumble! but its not real boxing). obviously the graphics are tremendus. i read another amazon review that said they were the same as PS1's... thats just absurd. if you are not blown away by these graphics i suggest you throw in a PS1 version and compare for yourself. i do however have 2 small complaints. [1] loading time could improve [2] create a boxer options are much more limited then even the PS2 versions. i suspect they rushed this a little. overall, this is the most realistic boxing game ever. you may find a few flaws but that is expected with a new system.

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