Customer Reviews

Don King Boxing

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After I bought the Wii and got hooked on Wii Sports Boxing, I began looking for a more realistic boxing game that was more challenging and expansive. Naturally, when I saw that 2K had hooked up with Don King for a game I was excited. I was really hoping for a game that would have the size and depth of EA Sports Fight Night, but would successfully integrate the Wii movement based controls creating a game that was both fun and a good fitness tool. Unfortunately, the game is just not what it could be. In career mode, the story and the training are not integrated. I think it would be better if training exercises were required in between fights to get ready. However, while training improves the user profile, it is not directly associated with the fighter in career mode. I was also disappointed that a lot of the greatest boxers of all time are no where to be found in the game. Naturally, they took the few guys who are still around that Don King seems to have a relationship with along with some classic fighers from the past. Still, no Ali, no Foreman, no Leonard. On the plus side, the fighting itself is far better than Wii Sports. The movement recognition is better and the fights are more challenging. You can't just sway back and forth and punch when the other fighter misses. All in all, it's a good game if you're in it strictly for how bad you can beat down your friends or computer opponents, but it doesn't reach the full potential of a Wii boxing game. Until EA Sports puts out Fight Night for the Wii, this is probably the best true boxing game out there.

Only played a few minutes, but to this point the game is not that impressive. The balance board doesn't add much to the game, and you can also play without it. It's used for dodging and ducking, without it you just move the Wii Remotes. Somehow the Wii Sports Boxing feels more intuitive and you can just do a lot of punching rather than positioning. This game has basic punches jab, straight, and uppercut.

Also, there are few recognizable name boxers in the game to start such as Joe Louis and Norton and you cannot create your own boxer. The story mode is all documentary video clips and on my tv they are a little grainy. The boxers during fighting look ok.

Overall somewhere in the middle I think, but no where near a great game to get excited about, and reasonable to pass on if you so choose.

If all I cared about was the in-ring boxing with all its strategies, then probably I would be a lot hotter about Don King Boxing. The actual fighting is pretty good: You get tired and need to rest, need to block and dodge based on what's coming at you, and can stun your opponent giving you another opening. These are things that make a boxing game more realistic and after a bit of learning I'm starting to enjoy myself in the ring. This is why I have the fun set pretty high, if all I care about is fighting (which is probably the case for a lot of people), it's pretty fun.

That's where the fun ends, however. The actual story mode appears to be completely lineal. I had gotten the idea that'd I'd be making decisions along the way: Do I party or train? Fight a guy for the money or look for a real challenge? Instead it's whether I won or lost, and even that doesn't appear to disrupt my career too much. Listening to assorted people tell my story is pretty cool... for a few minutes. Then it gets downright monotonous.

The training mode takes everything good I've seen from other games, and throws it out the window. While it has some good points (heavy bag is pretty fun), it makes other things almost unbearable. I tried combination punching and got miss after miss even though I knew I was throwing the right punches at the right time. Doesn't make me want to keep trying. But supposedly training (that is, training well) will make your stats go up in career mode, so it's hard to avoid doing it.

Whoever wrote the manual needs to get their facts straight about some of the boxers featured in the game. I was stunned at some of the stuff I was reading because it's completely wrong, or at least out of date. This doesn't affect the gameplay but lowers my opinion of 2K Sports.

Overall I go back and forth between enjoying myself and feeling like I wasted my money. Consider carefully.

I had great expectations for this one. Unfortunately, it seems like Don King boxing was hashed out and shot off the production line. I think the makers had little else in mind than banking off of the success of Wii Fit.

Gameplay is decent - but the graphics are third rate.

The only real rendering is the boxers - who are all the same model with different skins, and the rings - which are all the same model with different skins. Despite this, load times are disparagingly long; not a good idea for anyone looking for a workout.

As mentioned, zero customization. In training mode, there are a few more interesting boxers to choose from - but none you can use in the actual game.

The animated .gif people cheering in the crowd are reminiscent of a crappy sega-genesis wrestling game.

It took a mere few hours to complete the entire game and unlock all boxers and boxing rings.

I got this game last week and have played it three times for a total of two or three hours. If I never played it again I would already have gotten my $ [...] worth out of the game.

The game tracks jabs and straight punches pretty well, with hooks it is hit or miss and sometimes double punches, and the upper cut is done by moving the controllers up not by doing a normal upper cut punch.

The balance board can be used for ducking left and right. I like to place the balance board diagonally to the TV for a more natural stance with one foot forward of the other. The game can be played without the balance board as well and is just about as much fun.

In a three round fight which lasts nine minutes you can end up throwing hundreds of punches and can work up a sweat. There is definitely a real exercise component to this game.

No doubt in five or 10 years there will be much better motion boxing games but for a place to start this is pretty good. The fact that it is only $ [...] makes it a real value considering how much fun and exercise can be gotten from it.

Edit: Having played this game for several months I can add this: If the controls were better this would be about a perfect boxing exergame. Unfortunately the 60-70% accuracy of the controls makes the game mode extremely difficult to progress through. It still has value as an exergame though. What I do is play in exhibition mode, and fight in the lightest weight class. The fight will usually go the distance, which gives you 6 minutes of vigorous exercise per fight.

DK Boxing for the wii is pretty good. The reviews out there are pretty accurate. After that it's a matter of taste so I recommend try before you buy.

Pros
Controls capture about 80% of the punches I want to throw. In contrast to wii boxing, the left jab is hard to effect, while the left uppercut and hook are much easier.
Moderately Fun
Historical Fights Bring Back Good Nostalgia

Cons
Depth perception is a problem
Not clear when you hit and when you get hit
The story mode of the kid was wasted on me.
Training mode is repetitive. It would be better, and seemingly not so difficult, if the program constructed specific exercises based on previous performances.
Tutorial seems to have some bugs where you get stuck

Wii boxing is too goofy to have any real fun. This is by far the best Boxing game the Wii has to offer. I thoroughly enjoyed the story mode. Each fight gets progressively harder and in between there's a mockumentary chronicling your character, The Kid. It has some well known fighters and personalities like Joe Calzaghe and Mario Van Peebles.

The replay value is high because of the multi-player factor and the intriguing matchups like James Braddock vs. Ken Norton. My complaints were the slow response time for punches. I'm a weekend warrior boxer and I was trying to throw real combos. My naivete was curtailed when I realized it's just not real boxing. You need to carefully time your punches so they become combinations. Once you get that down, the fun factor kicks up quite a bit. I recommend this game for Wii aficionados and boxing fans.

This game could have been fun. This game could have been a great work out. Yet in the end it wasn't but a waste of my money.

I love boxing and needed something to do during the winter months to stay in shape. You can definitely work up a good sweat but its not so intense that you can only play this game to stay in any sort of shape.

Don King Boxing is a nice extension of Wii Sports. You pick a boxer to be and train as hard as you like to be successful. The gym where you train looks gritty enough and your trainers look like they were cast in a movie. But this game does make you work, even if you have to endure Don King a little. It's a good boxing workout for anyone who wants a realistic atmosphere for boxing and not family oriented gameplay. One very big plus is the music -- I don't know of any other game where you can play with James Brown singing behind you. (Another song featured is the original version of "Harlem Shuffle," a song I loved when the Rolling Stones did it. The original is even better.) Anyway, this is a very enjoyable game. Not the best workout, maybe, but one that will get you moving.