The changes might not jump out at you straight away, but once you get going the improvements become noticeable and eventually play into your boxer selection and strategy. The most obvious of which is your boxer’s height and reach. If you pick a tall guy with a long reach you’ll want to stay on the outside, keeping your distance while throwing in a few straights and jabs; whereas if you choose a smaller guy with a shorter reach you’ll want to get in your opponents grill and start drilling him with uppercuts and hooks for some explosive damage. Essentially it’s a case of a Muhammad Ali type outside fighter or a Mike Tyson style inside guy – the games two cover stars. The type of fighter you choose will shape how you play the game, so you’re constantly trying to play to your strengths whilst stopping your opponent utilising his, thus dictating the pace of each bout. It’s a fantastic system that adds depth to the madness as you begin to build different strategies for each fighter.

And that’s just the tip of the bloodied and bruised iceberg. One of the big new mechanics of Fight Night Round 4is the counterpunch; an, often times, devastating move that can change the whole outcome of a fight in one person’s favour. You could be up against the ropes with no way out, but if you time a block or weave correctly, the game will slowdown for a split second allowing you to come back with a thundering counterpunch, dazing your one-time cocky adversary as you move in for the killer blow. It’s not some kind of game breaker that unfairly shifts the advantage to someone else, though. The counter is a common occurrence throughout most fights, but it becomes deadly in the latter rounds when both fighters are at their ends, particularly when up against human opponents. There’s no better feeling than avoiding someone’s haymaker and coming back with one of your own. Counterpunches pack a much grander visual impact and it’s extremely satisfying to pull off.

Especially in conjunction with the returning analogue controls from Round 3. Quick flicks of the stick will result in speedy straights and jabs, while you can turn and flick it upwards for hooks and uppercuts. It may not be quite as precise as simple button presses, but they’re extremely intuitive and enjoyable to use as you really feel like your putting some weight behind each hit. Different modifiers will result in blocks, weaves and haymakers, so you’ll be sizing up the best in no time. However, it you are struggling with the controls there’s sadly no other layout. Face buttons have been thrown out the window so it’s analogue control or bust. A patch can remedy this if enough people complain, but it’s odd that it wasn’t implemented in the first place to at least give people the option, regardless of how good the default control scheme is.

Once you’ve adjusted to the controls you’ll eventually want to make your way to the legacy mode; Round 4’s new and improved career mode. Don’t get your hopes up, though, it’s not the drastic overhaul we were hoping for. It essentially consists of two menus: an e-mail inbox and calendar, and both are pretty redundant. You’ll receive e-mails from your manager basically giving you useless information that you’ll never care about. It’s often about new kids arriving on the block or a new champion in the specific weight divisions. It wouldn’t be so bad if it actually showed you who these guys were, but instead he’s just letting you know that you can exit back to the convoluted menu system and find the information there. Why it couldn’t be implemented into the e-mail I’ll never know, it just seems really pointless and you’ll probably never bother looking at it again.

And the calendar is just as inane. You use it to schedule your next fight and train, but this could have been done anywhere. All you end up doing with the calendar is choosing a bout and then simulating through the months until you can fight; it basically amounts to watching dates countdown until you can actually play the game. There’s definitely a lot more to this career mode than before, but it’s full of needless menus that take away from the actual fights. There is some added interaction thrown in with training, but these events are fairly lacklustre as well. You’ll have one training session before each fight where you can choose what area of your fighters skills you want to improve upon; so performing different combos on a heavy bag may improve your fighter’s arm strength, while sparring will help with his speed and ability to sustain hits. They’re okay to play but they can be needlessly difficult at times and auto-training doesn’t seem to have that much of an affect on your progress so it’s easier to just skip it all together.

And you’ll want to just to get to the actual act of fighting, especially when it’s with a created character. You see, in legacy you can choose to take one of Fight Night Round 4’s 48 licensed fighters from bum to the greatest of all time, or create a guy yourself and take him on the journey instead. This can be done with your basic sliders, but if you have the option you can scan your actual face in using an EyeToy or take a picture with a digital camera and upload them to the EA Sports official website. From there it’s a case of setting up the markers on your face and generating everything in. It can be a bit hit and miss but when you get it right the results can be laughably uncanny, and you can choose to upload it for everyone to see.

There seems to be a decent community building up already with an abundance of user-created fighters going up for download. And of course a big part of Fight Night is taking these guys on yourself in any one of the games online game modes. You have the basic ability to jump into a quick match or create a session, but the main pull will be the World Championship. Here you’ll choose a weight division and then use your created fighter to take on the world. Everyone’s stats are the same so there’s no unfair advantage for anyone; you’ll need to keep fighting people until you eventually get a chance at winning a championship belt yourself. A few players will hold one at a time, and they’ll obviously keep changing hands as it’s constantly placed on the line. It’s an enjoyable system that adds to your basic leaderboards, and it should be fun to see some rivalries develop as everyone’s contesting for the glory of a championship.

Luckily the game runs smoothly both on and offline; at a blistering 60fps, nonetheless. Once again the graphics are outstanding, one-upping the visual fidelity seen in the first game; and with that smooth framerate the animations have come a long way. You’ll see individual muscles flex as a fighter goes in for a punch, and their facial expressions excellently represent their current predicament. The collision detection is also much improved with each and every punch making contact just how they should. It truly is a marvellous game to look at with all the elements combining to create a spectacle for the eyes – and occasionally the ears. The commentary team do a good job of describing the action while also throwing in some neat little anecdotes and discussions on the sport. Eventually it does begin to repeat and can drag; particularly throughout the legacy mode when you’re constantly referred to as “him” if you’re unlucky enough to have an unpopular last name.

Fight Night Round 4 has raised the bar from the previous instalment. The new and improved mechanics are fantastic, adding some much needed depth and strategy to the game and combining it with intuitive controls that anyone should be able to get to grips with. Whether you’re playing online or off, the art of playing the game is sure to please, it’s just a shame it comes undone when you have to deal with needlessly confusing and impotent menu systems that could have been easily streamlined for better use. Regardless, if you’re looking to play with friends or take on the world there aren’t many better fighters out there. This is a sure-fire knockout.

Does this game deserve to cut down the nets?

Gameplay

It is hard to argue with the game’s uncanny ability to recreate, almost flawlessly, how a player moves, cuts, commits fouls, and even shoots. However, it takes some time to adjust to shooting, especially 3s and long-2s, because shooting is all about timing. Each player is different, which can be very frustrating. Rhythm is the most important part of shooting, and each player is different based on their rating and shot motion. Some players shoot exactly at the apex of their jump, while other have a hitch and may hold the ball longer before releasing it. The more frequently you play with the same teams, or at least types of teams, will help you develop better timing for your shots. Rhythm and timing also imply to shooting free throws. Regardless of the level of difficulty, if the user is good enough at them, the shooter’s free throw rating has almost no effect. This becomes frustrating if your opponent is very good at free throws.

Like playing FIFA, mastery of both control sticks can make a huge difference. This is one of my flaws, and it allows my opponents to steal the ball from me more than a few times per game. This is a common problem amongst the gamers I interviewed, all of whom voiced frustration that in the game oftentimes when a player will drive toward the bucket, the defender will magically strip the ball and force a turnover. Understanding when to spin and how to control the dribbler is crucial for enhanced gameplay. It allows you to not just score and have more possessions, but creates some exciting moments in the game. Know that it will take time to master the control sticks and correctly timing both shots and dribble moves. The payoff is not just winning games, but winning in style.

Crowd

I had hoped that the impact of the crowd would be huge in close games because every sports gamer dreams of a game where there will actually be a good way to replicate home field advantage. Unfortunately, the crowd impact is a miss. The crowd will be loud and shake the camera if the game is close and late, but overall, it has little effect on the outcome, leaving me sorely disappointed. A momentum meter, like the ones featured in previous versions of the game, would have been a welcome addition. It is always fun to see how one’s performance in the game would realistically affect the crowd and momentum for each team.

The CBS presentation features the familiar overlay and theme song.

Announcers

As with all sports games, be prepared to grow quickly tired of the same phrases from the same voices. The good thing is that both ESPN and CBS worked on this game so there are 5 different announcers rather than 3. It is nice to have Dick Vitale and Gus Johnson in the same game, because it allows the player to choose who they want to broadcast each game. They compensate from having constant color commentary with cut-ins of the crowd and people like Erin Andrews. Announcing never adds much value, but it can ruin a game. EA gets a passing grade for having both ESPN and CBS, although a few more colorful and situational lines would make the game experience significantly better. Presentation is very important and overall the game does a very good job of it.

User game experience makes all the difference when playing, especially against friends. This game is worth the investment if you have a good friend with whom you can play. My advice is rent the game before you buy it if you are not a huge NCAA Basketball fan.  I give the game a four because it is a lot of fun to play, but it certainly clangs off the rim, and fails to be a slam-dunk.

My first experience with Sonic was in 1992. Now, seventeen years later, I look at what the Sonic franchise has become and I am disappointed. Once a distinct character, Sonic has been reduced to a supporting actor in the Nintendo universe (the most fun I’ve had playing as Sonic in the past five years was when I played Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games). Clearly, the Sonic series hasn’t aged well. I wondered, then, if there was a series from my childhood that has done so. Is there a game series that is known for quality gameplay, consistent innovation, and meaningful impact in popular culture? I answer yes: the NHL series of video games by Electronic Arts. Because of these factors, it is the best video-game series of all time.

NHL then...

The previous statement may offend some videogame purists. They’ll point to the fact that Super Mario Bros. saved the industry after the great video game crash of 1983. They’ll point to the emotional storytelling of Final Fantasy VII. They’ll point to the epic scale of The Legend of Zelda series. They’ll even point to Madden NFL and claim that it’s a better sports series. Those purists are wrong.

If they claim that Super Mario Bros. is the best series, they need to accept that SMB2 was a re-skin of Doki Doki Panic and that the series’ offering for the GameCube, Super Mario Sunshine, was a letdown and certainly not a classic. If they claim that Final Fantasy represents the ultimate in video game series, they haven’t played a Final Fantasy game since 2002. If they want to claim that Zelda is the best series, they’ll be ignoring the CD-I system (maybe that’s for the best), the fact that there was no reason to make two Oracle games, and that there has been no proper Wii game in the series. If they claim Madden is a better sports series, then they skipped the 2006 through 2009 iterations and think that the newest generation of video game systems started yesterday.

So this leaves us with the NHL series. My first criterion for a great series is that it always offers quality game play. Here, the NHL series delivers in spades. From its humble days as NHLPA Hockey ’93 on the Sega Genesis, the NHL series offered a degree of realism not seen in sports games of the time. It translated the fast paced nature of the game of hockey to the home console. While the graphics are nothing to look at now, back then they represented quality never before seen. Everything was included in these early games: lightning-quick slap shots, punishing body-checks, and crisp passes. In the later days, as the series grew and added more features, the core gameplay always remained true to the sport that inspired it.

...and now

But a tradition of quality gameplay isn’t enough, which leads to the next criterion: innovation. It is here that the NHL series comes up in spades. NHLPA Hockey ’93 was the first game in the series that obtained a license from the player’s association to use actual player names in the game. This importance of this acquisition cannot be stated enough. Instead of scoring with Center #27, the game showed that you scored with Jeremy Roenick. The NHL series acquired such a license two years before the Madden NFL series, which did so in Madden NFL ’95. Another such innovation was the introduction of the skill stick in NHL 07. This feature mapped the hockey stick to the right analog stick and provided for fluid gameplay. Performing dekes, an essential part of hockey, used to be next to impossible. Now, they could be done in a life-like manner. Finally, NHL 09 introduced Be A Pro mode, which lets the player control one player throughout the entire game. This immersive experience could be used in a franchise-mode-style of play or online, where you could play with eleven additional players. These innovations are characteristic of the NHL series of games.

Gameplay and innovation, while important, don’t make a series the best. Those two elements when combined with a strong impact on popular culture do. Everyone recognizes the theme song from Super Mario Bros. and they know where it’s from, even if they know nothing about video games. Did the NHL series make that impact? An examination of the evidence proves that it certainly did. In a 1994 Sports Illustrated article entitled “Hot Not”, E.M. Swift writes about the NHL’s increasing popularity over the NBA (look how long that lasted). One reason for this popularity was the NHL series of video games. Swift quotes EA’s VP of spoils marketing, Don Transeth, “It’s big in England. It’s huge on campuses. And a lot of these people are learning hockey through the video game.” The NHL was able to expand its reach through the NHL series of video games. Additionally, who can forget this classic scene in the 1996 film Swingers with Vince Vaughn, Patrick Van Horn, and Jon Favreau? (NSFW)

In conclusion, the NHL series is the best videogame series ever. It’s consistent- a quality game is released every year. It’s innovative- many of the game’s features have set the standard for sports games. It’s had a meaningful impact outside of video game culture- just look at Swingers. While many purists will be busy enjoying their classics, I’ll be sitting on the couch, plugging in my old Genesis, and firing up my copy of NHLPA Hockey ’93. It’s time to make Wayne’s head bleed.