Fight Night Round 2

The original Fight Night conquered the boxing genre with its unique dual analog setup. While the game didn’t make an appearance on the Gamecube, this year things will be different. Now appearing on all three consoles, EA is certainly hoping that the Gamecube version will do just as well in the market. So far the game appears to be coming together nicely. Boxers look very realistic and in proportion to their real life counterparts, and it appears that an emphasis will be placed on the damage models (how boxers reflect the hits they have taken throughout a match). Based on the trailer EA has released, it appears that the in-game motion will be very fluid, and hopefully the controls will retain this level of responsiveness.

EA is once again using its EA Trax line of music for Fight Night’s in-game soundtrack, though currently it appears as though much of the music will be rap based (and this fits in with the boxing theme somewhat). It is not known if any boxers will lend their voices to the game, but it would be a nice touch if this happens.

As with most of its similar titles, Fight Night Round 2 will emphasize character creation. This means that EA’s impressive character creation system will return. And it’s likely that the player will be able to take their custom fighter from the bottom and work their way up in a robust career mode. The original Fight Night used a unique dual analog stick configuration that helped to breathe life into the genre. However, details have yet to be revealed on how this will transfer over to the Gamecube. Here’s hoping that EA will be able to pull something off that retains the sense of uniqueness, or else we may be looking at nothing else than a standard boxing title (remember Knockout Kings from the N64 days?)

Word has been going around that the Super Nintendo classic Super Punch Out will be included in the Gamecube version of Fight Night Round 2. While this has yet to be directly confirmed by EA or Nintendo, here’s hoping that it does happen. It would be a great incentive to Gamecube owners, as the game is a classic.

Fight Night Round 2 appears to be coming together nicely. If the unique control setup can survive the transition to the Gamecube, then we could have a hit on our hands. Only time will tell, and luckily we only have a little big longer to wait, as the title will hit store shelves in March.