There’s certainly no shortage of boxing games when it comes to the Nintendo Wii. It’s the perfect fit for the sweet science, when you think about it. Oddly enough, aside from Wii Sports, very few have had even a small amount of success at nailing a decent control scheme. That’s where 2K China comes in. They’ve been given the unenviable task of porting the largely mediocre Don King’s Prizefighter from the Xbox 360 over to the Wii. While this is roughly the same game, the changes here do make a difference. The question is; do Wii controls make a game that was largely viewed as sub-par better or worse? Let’s find out. 

Gameplay

Don King’s Boxing follows the same basic premise and presentation of the 360’s Prizefighter game. Choosing story mode will allow you to watch a documentary-style program that follows your boxer, (knows as "The Kid"), as he fights his way from scrub to World Champion. Most will be able to take or leave the fictional story of your boxer. The style is effective, but the story of "The Kid" is far less interesting than the actual gameplay here.

Control-wise, this is a far superior game than its big brother on the Xbox 360. Having played all manner of boxing titles on the Wii, this is the closest to a boxing simulation that you’re going to find on the Wii. Using the Wii-mote and nunchuk, you punch exactly as you would in if you were really boxing. Thrusting straight will jab, winding back and around will land a hook, and uppercuts are done by winding your arm downwards, then quickly thrusting upwards. All of this works relatively well. The only problem is that the Wii-mote isn’t as accurate as it could be, which may be fixed when the upcoming Wii Motion Plus is released, but for all intents and purposes, you should be able to land the punch you were intending with a fair degree of accuracy. As far as the Wii goes, this is definitely the most accurate motion-controlled boxing you can get, though it’s still limited by the technical deficiencies of the controllers. 

Defensively, you’re looking at a similar set up to Wii Sports. Dodging and leaning requires you to tilt the Wii-mote and nunchuk in the desired direction, while blocking simply has you pressing the A button. The system here works well enough on its own but there is an added method that helps in spades. Don King’s Boxing uses the Wii’s Balance Board peripheral, and might I add, it uses it quite well. The idea behind this is that instead of using just the nunchuk and Wii-mote combo to provide effective defense, the Balance Board will allow you to dodge and lean with more efficiency, and really makes it easier for your hands to focus solely on offense and blocking. This is what sets the game apart from most others out there. The ability to weave your body around in a realistic manner, (and one that’s picked up well), adds so much to the experience, that it’s almost a necessity to have in order to maximize your enjoyment of the game. 

Unfortunately, there were elements that I didn’t like. In Fight Night, if your opponent is being knocked to the ground after several critical punches, chances to come back and win were slimmer after each knockdown since the stamina and health is directly connected to the way your fighter was behaving, and punished you if you weren’t using tactical combos to beat your opponent. In Don King’s Boxing, you can knock your opponent three, four even five times before the game awards you with the win and often, a crazy comeback happens that will make you lose your mind. During one of my matches, I knocked the guy to the floor four times in the first two rounds then; he recovered and suddenly started to throw random punches, putting me down to the floor once, then a second time in the same round. He ended up winning by technical K.O. and all that after emptying my opponent’s health and stamina bars to make him eat the mat four times. Simulation aside, this kind of realism isn’t making the cut here. It’s not a big deal but can become infuriating.

Additionally, the training mini-games, whether you’re using the Balance Board or not, are relatively unbalanced. While most of the training games are hit and miss, for the most part, you can make them work. The same cannot be said for jumping rope, though, as it’s the main offender here. The controls just aren’t accurate enough to pick up the motions that you’re required to make, and this can make leveling up boxers a chore. I’m sure there are several people out there who will have ways to exploit the weakness of the controls here and make it work, but for those just looking to have fun, stick with the actual boxing and you’ll be much happier in the long run.

Finally, there’s no online component and that really hurts the Wii version. The inclusion of an online multiplayer would have made for a fantastic addition to a genre that’s severely lacking in online modes on the console. For a first time run, testing the waters, I understand why there’s no online, but it would have made an already solid game that much better.

Graphics & Sounds

Visually, Don King’s Boxing looks okay. Not great but just enough to get you by. The venues are bland and the lighting effects are lacking. Fighters look serviceable, but aren’t nearly as polished as they could be. In essence, it all looks very generic and uninspired. There’s just no flare, whatsoever. Is this caused by the technical limitations of the console? Perhaps, but I’m sure they could have done better. The video’s shown during the career mode look great, which is a surprise, given the Wii’s history with terrible video compression. All in all, it’s a decent, but not stunning package.

Don King’s Boxing looks okay. Not great but just enough to get you by.

As for the audio department, it doesn’t impress. It’s simple and straight to the point. Commentary during fights is present but it could’ve used more work. Voice-overs from trainers are just below average and the soundtrack doesn’t fit very well with the context of boxing. There are some good tracks on there, but there are also some questionable inclusions in the alt. rock department. It’s nice to have a mix, simply to differentiate itself from the Fight Night series, but some more effort was needed in picking the included tracks.

Value

Gamers who are desperately looking for a nice sport game that will keep them active, will find something good in Don King’s Boxing. The game offers a good array of training mini-games and a deep Career mode. The lack of multiplayer does hurt the game a little. Still, the fact that it supports a two-player local mode via split-screen is better than nothing. The 40 dollar price tag might make you look at other alternatives like Facebreaker or Ready 2 Rumble Revolution, but when it comes down to reliable controls, especially for a Wii title, you will have more fun playing Don King’s Boxing.

Conclusion

We have to applaud 2K’s initiative to offer a solid boxing alterrnative on the Wii. While Don King’s Prizefighter on the Xbox 360 was not the game many boxing fans expected it to be, the Wii version is certainly more fun than that boxing game found in Wii Sports and certainly more efficient than Ready 2 Rumble Revolution and Facebreaker. The arrival of the Wii MotionPlus technology could really help Don King’s Boxing to become an important and successful franchise on the Wii.