Yes, I am aware the Rocky series of movies is
regarded as one of best of all time, and certainly the one that helped Stallone attain
greatness on the silver screen. I'll also admit that I enjoyed watching each of them for
about the the first fifteen times or so. Fifteen?!? Well, how am I supposed to avoid them,
when every network and cable movie channel has shown the damn things about a billion times
each? Consider them the VCS Combat of movies.. everyone's seen it and everyone
knows what it is. How about the video game version, you ask? Let's just say I'd rather
watch a Rocky marathon on TNT than play this dud.
Rocky Super Action Boxing for the ColecoVision is based on Rocky III,the one made famous by Mr. T and "Eye of the Tiger" (quick, name the group that did the song!). You take the part of either the Italian Stallion or Clubber Lang trying to beat your opponent senseless in three sixty-second rounds. The cartridge allows you to play against another gamer or against the computer at any of four skill levels.Using the buttons on the pistol grip of the Super Action Controllers you make your boxer throw a punch to the head, a punch to the body, put up his guard or drop into a crouch. When the fighters get too close to each other they go into a clinch. The joystick will move your man around the ring, although the fighters cannot circle each other.
The scoreboard shows each fighter's level of daze and fatigue. When the daze level shows your man has advanced amnesia it means one more good hit will send him to the canvas. At the same time, if your opponent is ready to see stars, you can move in for the coup de grace. When the fighters go down they stay down for a mandatory eight-count, unless the referee decides to stop the fight (don't worry, the ref’s not a video version of Richard Steele.) The bout lasts ten rounds and the scoring is displayed after each sixty-second round. The winner dons the heavyweight belt (whether WBA, WBC, IBF or WBO isn't clear) and does a victory strut to a famous movie theme. Guess which one.
Among the boxing contests available on classic systems, Rocky's technical presentation is inarguably the best. The animation is astonishingly fluid and detailed, and the Rocky music is superblydone. However, for those qualities I could have rented Rocky III on video tape. The boxers move as though they were sloshing through ten inches of snow. Not only that, but they can't even leave their half of the ring! Although Intellivision boxing has this same shortcoming, at least it offers additional features not available on Rocky, such as the ability to build your own fighter, emphasizing strengh, speed, endurance, speed and other attributes. Activision's boxing isn't as versatile, but it allows you to hammer away relentlessly, and if it's action that you're looking for, it moves many times faster than either of the more so-called "sophisticated" cartridges.
Rocky only LOOKS like a boxing game. It's really only an excuse to show off Coleco's acumen with graphics. This is a case of Coleco compromising the gameplay for something that would look great in ads and in the stores. But then again, the same could be said for many games in the ColecoVision library. Shame on you, Coleco.
