Rocky
Media Information
Launched:	Xbox October 18, 2002 PlayStation 2 November 15, 2002 GameCube November 17, 2002 Game Boy Advance November 17, 2002
ESRB Rating:	Teen for violence (ESRB)
Discontinued:	Xbox November 17, 2002 PlayStation 2 November 18, 2002 GameCube November 22, 2002 Game Boy Advance February 10, 2005
Creator/Developer information
Developed by:	Rage Software
Platforms:	GameCube ColecoVision PlayStation 2 Xbox Game Boy Advance Sega
Connected media:	first 5 Rocky films in the film series

Rocky is a video game of the fighting game genre released in 2002 by Rage Software. The game is based on the Rocky movies.

In the game the player controls Rocky Balboa on his journey from a club fighter, facing opponents like Spider Rico, until his championship bout against Apollo Creed and beyond. The game sticks closely to to the movies with all characters being at least mentioned in the movies. Many cut scenes exist in which scenes from the movies are shown. A sequel was also made called Rocky: Legends.

GameplayEdit

The foreplay mirrors that of any other boxing game of its generation.

In Story Mode, the player takes control of Rocky Balboa fighting many opponents, either new or already existent within the film series. Regular boxing match rules apply to any fight: winning depends on how many punches the player has landed or if his/her opponent has been knocked down and not got up within a ten second time limit. The maximum amount of rounds in a match is fifteen, and a round may last for a maximum of 180 seconds. Story Mode also includes training minigames, where the player can increase Rocky's stats. Each individual minigame increases a specific stat:

• Punching Mitts: Strength
• Speed Bag: Speed
• Skipping: Stamina
• Sit ups: Determination
• Heavy Bag: Movement

Besides Story Mode, other modes include Exhibition Match, Sparring, and Knockout Tournament.

Audio/video content from Rocky film seriesEdit

The game's intro movie features film footage edited from the five movies showing the main boxers and ends with an advert for the Rocky DVD. The remaining five cutscenes feature CGI footage using the in-game character models and original film audio recreating segments from the films. The song "Gonna Fly Now" is the only one from the movie series featured in the game, the rest of the score being created in-house.

Game developmentEdit

The game was developed for Xbox and PlayStation 2 at the Newcastle upon Tyne studio of Rage Software. A derivative GameCube conversion was developed by Steel Monkeys in Scotland, and a GameBoy Advance version with different gameplay by Virtucraft. It was published in Europe by Rage Softtware, and in the US by Ubisoft.

Due to positive critical reception and sales, after the closure of Rage Software the developers of the lead version formed Venom Games to create a sequel, Rocky Legends, this time published directly by UbiSoft.