Fight Night Round 3

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• 3 new Impact Punches, with high risk and high reward - put down your opponent or get knocked on the canvas. Players are only one punch away from the entire dynamic of the fight changing!
• Clench down on that mouth guard, rookie! Super Punch lets you feel the impact of a devastating punch, as the boxer's face ripples from that blow
• Design a fighting style all your own, and see how you match up against the authentic signature styles from the world's best fighters
• Establish rivalries by intimidating opponents before the big fight with heated press conferences, trash talkin', and fights at weigh-ins
• Watch ESPN Classic footage of real-life bouts or re-create the greatest fights from past and present

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000CRSBKC
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4 x 0.8 inches ; 1.6 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: February 20, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,879 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #16 in Video Games > Sony PSP > Action > Fighting
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Sony PSP

Fight Night Round 3

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kind of like a really well-done Fight Night Round 2.5, this is a fantastic portable boxer., March 6, 2006

By 

Miketheratguy (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Fight Night Round 3 (Video Game)

THE SHORT: The title IS misleading- as far as arenas and unlockables, this is pretty much Fight Night Round 2. But it does have some new additions, and either way the gameplay itself is great: Excellent graphics, short loading times, full commentary, create-a-boxer, and smooth control. Ignore the whiners, this game is great on the PSP, it's just not really worth the name "Round 3".

THE LONG: I love Fight Night, and always have- starting with the original game and working up to last spring's Round 2, I always loved the boxer control and realistic approach. Round 3 just came out, and I'm sorry but I can't compare the home version to the PSP one since I'm waiting for the 360 version, a system I don't yet have.

What I CAN do is tell you how the game is on its own, and how it compares to the home version of Fight Night Round 2, which this game is almost exactly like.

For those who are new, you don't have much at all to be worried about. In this game, you take control of a well-known or created boxer and rise up the ranks by picking your outfit, trainer and cutman, and fighting your way to the top. You'll fight a bunch of randomly generated opponents (since there's only so many real characters in the game) and at the top of the heap you'll face the champ of your weight class. And like in real life, you then defend your belt. The game doesn't end if you lose, you just have to regain your rank. Fight until you choose to retire, or are too old to continue. This is the general progression of the game.

Between each fight, you'll train to power up your body to be fast, powerful, defensive, or a balance of all 3 in several areas, training in 3 levels of intensity. You'll also get to decide who you want to fight, taking into consideration how much money each one's worth and how much time passes before each (because more time in between fights means a shorter career). But if you tire (or retire) the character you choose, you can start fresh with another character and have access to any of the dozens of trunks, gloves, and gear that you unlocked with the earlier character.

The fights themselves are great. You can switch control schemes, but default classic control means you move with the analog stick and throw punches with the face buttons (high and low, left and right). Shoulder buttons are for dodging and throwing body blows. It's pretty much exactly like earlier games in the series, which means that it's very intuitive and doesn't take long to get the hang of. I've played the game before, so I have an advantage, but I should still point out that on easy, I retired my first character with a 65-0-0 record. That means I wasn't beaten once. It gets harder when you turn up the difficulty, sure, but for beginners or those looking to just have fun you'll definitely find the game fun and not frustrating. I've heard that powerful haymaker punches are too tricky, but what can I say, I've had no problems. You get hit with them much more on higher difficulty, but I don't think they dictate the fight by any means.

As for what happens during the fight, it's pretty much exactly like Round 2 on the home systems. The graphics are great home system quality, very smooth and without slowdown or hiccups. The camera zooms and pans, and you can easily see the sweat and blood bounce off the fighters. Facial detail is excellent as you can see specific damage that has been done, not only during cutman segments but also the fight itself. The action is called the whole time by professional ESPN commentator Joe Tessitore, who like last game does a tremendous job. The comments are almost always current with the action and very specific to what's happening in the fight. He'll scold a fighter for a low blow or even mention that the ref may call the fight for all the damage you've done to the left hand side of your opponent.

In all, it's a great game if you want a fun portable boxing game. It's even got wireless multiplayer, which I only tested against a friend nearby but which seemed to work fine. It's the only one for the PSP, but honestly would be the best regardless until a perfect port of Round 3 (or future) is released.

Which brings me to those who've played the game before, and to those wanting to know some deeper specifics of this game. If you are tired of Round 2 or just plain want this game to be totally new (as the name implies), you'll be disappointed. That's because this is almost exactly the same game. There's some different stuff in the details, but arenas, unlockables, create-a-boxer, and commentary are all the same as far as I can tell. It's honestly my only complaint, and it's a big one if you go in blindly.

But here's the deal: FNR2 was a great game, and it's pretty much the same here. I mean, it looks just as nice and plays as good as you remember. Transitioning from the home controllers will be a bit awkward at first, but not nearly as hard or frustrating as some of the reviews have suggested. If you had a good time playing Round 2, you'll have as good a time with this one.

What's different is small but interesting and adds to the overall solidness of the game. Randomly, you'll gain a rival as you go through the ranks, and he'll periodically challenge you. It doesn't matter much if you want to keep fighting or not, but it's nice to see a magazine appear showing your rivalry. Until a game comes along that really gets into the outside details of boxing, things can't develop much further than this anyway.

In addition, you can now earn bonuses during the fights by throwing them a little- sometimes a contract will give you a cash boost if you suffer a knockdown in a certain round, or win using an illegal move. It's a little touch that adds some strategy. In addition, your cut of the purse is no longer as cut and dry- factors such as your rank, title situation, and trainer/cutman fees will eat into how much you actually earn per fight. It's realistic and is another step towards feeling like a more complete boxing game. There are still lots of charity events and prmotional fights so you'll always be busy.

Lastly there are rival scenarios outside the career mode. This involves taking control of famous fighters in their most famous bouts, ranging from Ali / Frasier to B-Hop's controversial fight in 2005. You can complete history, alter it, or just play all the way through. You get massive cash awards for completing these challenges which you can use in career mode. Sure, it's just more fighting and not much of a change, but it's something new. For this stuff though, it's very important to note that the balance seems to be a removed training session- that's always automatic now.

In total, I find this game just as fun and addictive as Fight Night ever was, because quite honestly it's the same thing but with a few extra tweaks. I'd recommend it to anyone who liked the others, or to someone looking for a fantastic boxing game for the PSP in general. A lot of the negative stuff I'm hearing seems to stem from the fact that the game's not really the true part 3 advertised on the box, which I admit is pretty cheesy. But if you don't need this to be the next sequel in the series, then I'm sure you'll find it fun. Give it a try.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much better then I expected, February 28, 2006

By 

Naz (New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Fight Night Round 3 (Video Game)

I am a huge boxing fan who is very picky when it comes to boxing video games. I loved Fight Night 2004 but hated Fight Night Round 2. Even though I purchased Round 3 for the PSP I was simply hoping for a passable game. After having played if for a few hours, I can now say that this is more then just passable, but is a great game. It does have some flaws: for instance the haymaker is launched from the top left button that you also use for swaying, so that when you sway and then counter you often automatically throw a haymaker. They should have mapped the haymaker differently (Maybe have you press both top buttons).

Still, the game is tremendously addicting. It has an awesome create a fighter mode that is pretty much a mini art game by itself. the graphics are PS2 quality and the controls really become intuitive after an hour or two. All in all, a must buy for PSP owners.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprising, May 30, 2006

By 

Archangel (Indiana) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Fight Night Round 3 (Video Game)

This one I got it first for the PSP and then for the PS2. Control is more difficult in hard fights for the PSP version so you should start a career while you get use to them with less challenging fighters; however, uppercuts are a lot easier to throw on the PSP by pressing 2 buttons simultaneously than in the PS2 using the joysticks. Graphics in he PSP look better, round announcing chicks are hot and the sound of every bone crushing punch is noticed. With not many boxing titles in any platform and very few fighters on the market for the PSP this one is a must buy.

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