Big Rumble Boxing Creed Champions use the Rocky/Creed property to market their fighting game. I’m naturally suspicious when games do this. Past movie tie-in games have proven to be more miss than hit. I started playing this game with low expectations but was met with a robust arcade fighter.
Boxing Creed
If you haven’t watched any Rocky movies or the spin-off Creed movies… Do yourself a favor and give them a try. The first one is arguably the best movie ever made about boxing and subsequently skyrocketed the career of Sylvester Stallone. That being said, Big Rumble Boxing Creed Champions uses characters from the movies and some characters from the VR game Creed: Rise to Glory to fill out its roster of fighters. Each character gets his own story mode consisting of different fights intertwined with story elements. Knowing something about the movies helps to get every reference but the cutscenes help to fill out the blanks in case you are not familiar with the story. Most characters’ stories will feature matchups from the movies but the people from Survios made sure to add some new matchups to surprise you. For instance, Rocky Balboa will obviously fight Apollo Creed and Clubber Lang in his story arc to match the events of the movies. Not mentioned in the movies is a fun trip to Mexico where Rocky ends up fighting a local street fighter. These additions expand the story beyond what is already known making it more fun for long-time fans of the movies.
Arcade boxing
Boxing games these days tend to go for realism with a complex control scheme and a steep learning curve. Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions does not take that route. The game went for an arcade feel with fairly easy controls. With just a button for a light attack and one for a big attack, the game will have you punching in no time. Each fighter has a few combos that can be learned from the menus. A grapple move is available too to mix things up. Using the directional joystick in combination with punches alters the way they get executed. Timing the special moves is a bit tricky but with some time spent in the training mode I figured out how to perform these quite consistently. Throwing enough punches or defending well fills up your special bar. Once full this allows your signature move to be performed and potentially land you that final knockdown to K.O. your opponent. Defending is done by guarding or sidestepping. Timing a counter after guarding at the right moment extends your next move to packing some extra punch.
React accordingly
With a fairly simple control scheme, Big Rumble Boxing Creed Champions is easy to learn. As you progress through the story mode of each fighter, you’ll encounter harder fights where just button mashing won’t be an option. Guarding at the right time, avoiding the heavy punches through side-stepping and countering moves will make all the difference. If your opponent chooses to be more defensive and guard all the time, you’ll need to adjust your tactics. Punching these types of opponents relentlessly will not yield much result. Use combo’s to deplete their guard meter and go to town on the guy when he’s unable to guard anymore. Using your finisher at the right time could also make a big difference in the harder fights. When your opponent is almost down, a finisher could end the fight earlier. When your opponent uses a finisher it is hard to guard against it. Having your own finisher ready to counter a finisher from your opponent might be the best tactic to really get ahead of your opponent.
Fill out the roster
Completing a story mode for a fighter will unlock new fighters to fill out the roster. This will take you about half an hour per fighter depending on your skills and the difficulty setting. Beyond the new fighters, outfits and arenas are unlocked also. These can all be used in the versus mode where you decide the match-up and location. Playing against A.I. fighters is a lot of fun at the beginning. After getting through a few stories the game starts to feel a bit stale. Because of the limited moves, things start to feel a bit like rinse and repeat. Normally this is the part where we talk about the awesome online mode but sadly there is no such mode. The game is playable against a friend but only when that friend is physically present in the room with you. This feels like a missed opportunity.
Pumping music
The visuals are in line with the gameplay. Since the gameplay went for a more arcade approach the fighters all have this cartoony feel. They look like their counterpart from the movies but don’t feel exactly real. It might upset some people but to me, it felt quite fitting. There are a few different arenas to fight in. Most of these are just a standard boxing ring with a “different” generic background. Nothing special to be fair. The few fights that take place outside the ring mixed things up but all in all, I found the arenas a bit lacking in originality. From rather plain surroundings to awesome sounds… The soundtrack is lifted from the moves featuring all the hits including Eye of the Tiger by Survivor and the Bill Conti epos Gonna Fly now. These add so much awesomeness to the game. Each time one of those hits started I felt like running up a set of stairs and raising my hands high to the sky like Rocky did in the movies…
Conclusion
Big Rumble Boxing Creed Champions does what is advertised. They deliver on the arcade fighting front and add a nice touch of Rocky/Creed flavor to elevate the experience. The lack of an online mode is a strange choice from the developers potentially limiting their sales. On the other hand, If you want an easy to pick-up boxing game featuring Rocky, Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago, and many more… This is the perfect game for you.
