K-1 World Grand Prix Review

Developer	Konami
Publisher	Konami
Genre	Sports

Although no longer on the cutting edge of the “real fighting” trend that has swept pay-per-view operators since the 90’s (that title probably belongs to Pride FC), K-1 kickboxing is still reasonably popular. And while the rules aren’t as versatile as those of other fighting leagues (all fighters remain standing unless they’re knocked out), the sport itself is worthy enough of a game – or so says Konami, who has been churning the titles out in Japan on a regular basis. With K-1 World Grand Prix, the series returned to the states after a long hiatus – but with UFC games dominating this corner of the fighting games market for quite some time, is the latest K-1 title capable of restoring the series?

Gameplay – To the fans, K-1 World Grand Prix should be a dream come true. As far as realism goes, including the occasional one-hit KO, the over-extravagant pre-match proceedings that sometimes last longer then the actual match itself, and lots of disturbingly powerful strikes, the game scores big. Never before have I played a closer simulation of K-1 fighting that didn’t involve me biting down on a mouth guard and hoping for the best. But this is both a strength and a weakness.

Those who watch K-1 events as they would a NASCAR race (holding your breath for a crash) will likely be disappointed with K-1. At max, there are four hits to a combo, none of them anywhere near as extravagant as the 10-hitters you’ll see in fighting games like Tekken or Soul Calibur. What’s more, there are few signature moves, and in order to win, most fights must be played quite defensively – almost the antithesis of what other fighting games require for mastery. And the sheer difficulty of the game as you’re first playing it is almost cruel. This one is definitely not for casual fans of the genre.

But even after the realism is looked aside, the game is far from a fantastic piece of work. The controls feel a bit sluggish, something which can cost you many a match as you’re trying to score precision strikes past an enemy’s defense. The fighting system simply isn’t deep enough – the four face buttons correspond to each fighter’s limb, and the only way you can perform different moves is by tapping a directional button before you attack. The game has you perform pre-set combos by pressing the R2 button and any of the main attack buttons, and boring KO moves by pressing R1 and any of the main attack buttons, leaving gamers looking for some more hands-on play with a bitter taste in their mouths. And despite a cool Revival mode, which is 20-odd historical matches that you have to finish the way they ended in real life (with a body jab, or a high kick, etc.), there simply isn’t enough to the game to keep you playing. The career mode forgoes a create-a-fighter option and instead only allows you control of the too-small roster of real K-1 fighters, the strategies for whom can be figured out in a matter of a weekend, if you’re willing to give up that much time. And while there are plenty of unlockable secrets (one in particular being an odd sendup of Rock-‘Em Sock-‘Em Robots that’s good for a few giggles), none of them add much, if anything, to the overall experience.. As far as the gameplay goes, K-1 World Grand Prix is stuck in a limbo between realism and fun, and only when it forgoes one does the other appear. Unfortunately, the game is more realistic then it is fun.

It’s curious, however, that Konami chose to release this game when it did. The Japanese release date of this was last November, and since then yet another edition in the K-1 series has been released in Japan, probably with several improvements. I can’t imagine it would’ve taken this long to localize a fighting game with little text to begin with, but at any rate, their choice leaves us with an outdated game.

Graphics – For a game in which so little goes on, you’d think the character modeling would be able to surpass any other fighting game. And while the fighter models look real enough (a few errors here and there but nothing too serious), there’s nothing spectacular in those models or anything else – noticeably absent is the lack of damage modeling, with the exception of a minor facial bruise if a fight goes into the later rounds. The card girls who walk across the ring between rounds with various bits of information are neither sexually attractive nor informative, and everything looks rather plain.

What saves the game’s visuals are some of the most spectacular knock outs I’ve ever seen, even if it’s usually the A.I. performing them on you. Your fighter will slump to the ground in a dead faint, sometimes spin a bit before blacking out, and plenty of other brutal details that are sure to make you wince. The rest of the game’s animations are mostly up to par as well, but it’s the knockouts that are most impressive.

Sound – Unfortunately, the sound accompanying the knockouts is tinny and understated, as is most of the rest of the sound effects. It’s curious as to how, when someone launches a kick at speeds in excess of most American highway limits, the only accompanying sound effect seems as though it could’ve been produced from a department store keyboard. There is at least a full introduction that’s about as accurate as they come to offset this slightly, and the music seems to exploit the Yngwie Malmstein guitar-shredding style that most fighting game composers bastardize, with a simply average score that doesn’t do much either way.

Overall Value - It’s hard to say what could’ve made this game more entertaining. Those out to find how accurate this game is will find everything they’ve hoped for. But the game loses its appeal quickly, as there is only so many times you can knock out a member of the same small roster before it gets old. Perhaps with more focus on depth, (ooh, and a create-a-fighter mode and less sluggish controls), concerns probably addressed in the recent Japanese release “K-1 World Grand Prix: The Beast Attack!,” the game could’ve been a better contender. But no matter the individual details that the developers included, the result is a game that, for a number of reasons, is less fun then getting hit by Bob Sapp. And that’s no fun at all.

Review by Adam Matlock