Sports Brothers » Sports Video Game Reviews

Fight Night Round 3

tim — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 23:33:36 +0000

Well the most realistic boxing game is back for a 3rd round. The folks at EA haven’t changed much, and that’s a good thing. The punch system is still the same as the other Fight Nights. I have only played the PS2 version, and the graphics are very good, and that is saying something. The game has some flaws that I’ll have to point out

Where are all the fighters>
Fight Night Round 3 has added some a few fighters like Marvin Hagler, and Oscar De La Hoya, but have lost many other fighters. Why no Shane Mosley or Antonio Tarver? Or Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather? Floyd is considered by many to be the best boxer around, yet he is no where in sight. Also the Heavyweight division has lost some of its legends (No Liston or Marciano.) The Light Heavyweight Division is the biggest joke, four fighters? Come on.

Knockdowns look goofy
I know that in boxing when a fighter goes down, it’s not a pretty site, but Fight Night Round 3 takes it to a new level. I think the way fighters go down in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out look more real than this.

On the plus side, there are some nice new features, like new power punches. The Stun Punch is awesome to use, and you get to see a first person point of view on what its like to try and whether a storm when you are on wobbly legs. There is a new ESPN Classic rivals mode, where you get to relive classic matchups like Ali vs Frazier, or Hagler vs Leonard.

All in all, this is a solid game, and maybe I had too high of expectations. If you like the other Fight Night games, you will like this one.

Rating: 7.8

Mario Superstar Baseball

tim — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:31:55 +0000

I know, this game has been out for almost a year, but hey it’s a so sports day so far. When I first saw Mario Superstar Baseball, I was hoping it would be like my favorite baseball game of all time, Baseball Simulator 1,000. While the game does have powers that can be used on the mound, and at the plate, it is only for the team captains. Still each power is fun, and has the right system for limiting cheating.

Mario Baseball is a very fun game, something which baseball games tend to not be. It is very colorful, and has Nintendo’s long list of characters. Picking a team can be a long process, since you have to pick each position for a game against your friends. You can use the random button to avoid that. The team captains are obviously the best players. The secondary characters have their own niches, and are fun to use. Challenge mode is very fun, and it gives the game a nice replay value.

Where are all the stadiums? There are only 6 in this game, each one has its own quirks, such as coin boxes getting in the way of pop ups, and Piranha Plants eating balls, and spiting them all over the field. The graphics are nice, and colorful. This is a very family friendly game. The mini games are fun as well, and Bomb-omb derby is fun, I wish that you could have a homerun derby in each staduim.

Pitching is really simple, batting on the other hand, might take a little while to get use to. You can do a “charge swing” which will hit the ball farther, but if not done right, leads to many pop ups. Fielding takes some time to get use to a well, and you will need to know where to put certain characters on the field, such as don’t put slow guys in the outfield. The biggest flaw in the game is baserunning. The A.I is not very good at advancing baserunners, and even trying to run manually can be quite a task. Get use to double plays, and even triple plays.

This game has a lot to offer, I won’t spoil much, but out of the Mario sports titles, this is one of the best. The clunky baserunning gets in the way a lot in this game though. Play Ball!

Rating: 8.5

Super Mario Strikers

tim — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:16:25 +0000

A soccer game, on a sports website? Well, this is Mario Soccer, so it’s nothing like the real thing. If you’ve played other Mario sports titles, this one isn’t going to take long to understand. Mario and other Nintendo All-Stars play a fast and frantic style of soccer. This game has body smashes, items used to hurt your opponent, goals that are worth two, and much more.

First off, this game is great with friends or enemies. Nintendo is always good with multi player games, and who doesn’t want to throw a red shell at their friends? The items in this game come straight out of Mario Kart, so once you get an item, you’ll know what it will do. There are plenty or unlockable stadiums to play in, the graphics are nice, but since the action mainly focuses on the field, you only get a small scope of how everything else looks. There is a shot called a “Super Strike” that if done right, is worth 2 instead of one goal. The shot is simple to learn, and can become annoying after a while. The game goes to a cut scene you can’t skip, so get use to that, the 2 shot goals are important if you want to win. Only the team captains can do the Super Strike, so it’s not super cheap.

My main gripe with the game is the lack of players. In any other Mario game there are several players to pick. This game has 8 captains, 4 side kicks, and a goalie, that can not be changed. I would have love to have been able to have Luigi and Waluigi on the same team. Oh well. Sadly Bowser is not playable in this game, he only shows up every now and then, and breathes fire on both teams.

I do like Super Mario Strikers, but I feel that there could have been so much more in this game. If you want to play a fun soccer game, that isn’t hard to learn, this is your best bet. If you like realistic soccer games, go with FIFA or Winning Eleven.

Rating: 7.8