UFC Throwdown
Score: 85% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Crave Developer: Crave Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Fighting
Graphics & Sound: Most of the competitors in UFC Throwdown don't look all that bad. In some cases you can even tell them apart by their physical build. However, as with any large family, there will always be a few freaks and outcasts. Some fighters look as if they are suffering from a degenerative disease, what with their disproportional limbs and awkward gaits. But if you can look past the few bad apples, the graphics are actually very solid and nothing harsh to look at. The sound and music could use a complete reworking, or at least a good addition to. The handful of tracks get on your nerves after you've heard them about a hundred times each, especially the tune for EVERY fighter's entrance into the ring. Once the fight begins, the music stops completely and the ambient sound will be permeated by huffs, puffs, and something sounding like thighs getting slapped. It's not bad, if that's your cup of meat.
Gameplay: UFC Throwdown is a fighting game at its core, and thankfully doesn't try to be anything else. Based on the popular Ultimate Fighting Championship tournaments, this game offers over 25 real UFC fighters, each with their own moves and fighting techniques. The fighting styles, including pit-fighting, kick boxing, and sumo, to name a few, are surprisingly different from one another, and learning how to master and compete against all of them is a real challenge. The few basic game modes are not unlike what we've seen in other conventional fighting games. The Arcade mode lets you take any fighter down a long hard road of brutal fights against any of the competitors, where you can unlock other players and new fighting styles. The UFC Tournament mode is division specific, limiting your fighter to take on other fighters in their respective weight class. Throwdown also offers a Career mode, which is very well done, save for the fact that you don't have too much control over what your fighter looks like. Affecting their height, weight, and skin color is possible, but depending on their primary fighting style will pretty much determine what they look like in the end. Looks aside, the skill management part is great. You essentially take a fighter from the bottom of the barrel and train him to become the next UFC Champion. Skills are acquired on a level by level basis. Every level you go up, you can pick a fighting style to train in. Sticking with one fighting style or cross training in them is your choice, but the elements are there to either let you create a well rounded fighter or totally screw yourself into being permanently mediocre.
Difficulty: Conventional fighter fans might find this new fighting system a little awkward at first, but getting a hang of it is only a matter of time. Because of the many different fighting styles, you're going to have to do a lot of cross-referencing with different moves and techniques. Once that's out of the way, then the real challenge of fighting your way to the top can begin. The difficulty is pretty balanced, with early opponents being very easy, and later opponents taking advantage of every fault in your defense. Unless you're completely no good at fighting games, you should find Throwdown balanced enough.
Game Mechanics: Performing moves in UFC Throwdown can be slightly tedious at times, though not altogether impossible. There are two punches and two kicks, and from there you can combine and/or string them together, executing a plethora of devastating attacks. The biggest drawback to the moves is that they're not labeled. You'll be pulling off triangle, triangle, square instead of a double-jab hook combo, which can be quite confusing at times. Taking on your opponent while standing is only half the battle. Grappling them to the ground is the center of many styles of fighting. Once both you and your opponent are on the ground, you have many different options, depending on the position. You can either be on top, bottom, defensively or offensively. You can even be riding your opponents back, which allows you to deliver bone cracking donkey punches to the back of their cranium. Despite its superficial setbacks, UFC Throwdown is a pretty solid fighting game. For fans the actual UFC, this is a must, as it will let you do on the screen what you'll never be able to do in real life. For the rest of us, if you're in the mood for a fighting game that's a little bit different, this might be a good idea to check out.
-Snow Chainz, GameVortex Communications AKA Andrew Horwitz
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