Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions | Nintendo Switch Review
Updated: Nov 19, 2021
Developed and published by Survios, Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions is an arcade style boxing beat em’ up. It is available to buy right now on Windows PC, PlayStation, XBox, and Nintendo Switch. For the purpose of this review I will be looking at the Nintendo Switch version and I was playing in handheld mode.
Inspired by the Rocky franchise you get to see and play as all of your favourites from the movies including Rocky Balboa, Ivan Drago, James ‘Clubber’ Lang, and Apollo Creed. As a massive fan of the movies, it was exciting for me to see all of these fighters back in action. We do get treated to some official songs from the movies. Eye of The Tiger and Gonna Fly Now are both in the soundtrack which really adds a wonderful nostalgia to this game. I think Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions looks wonderful with cartoony, almost comic book style backdrops and character models, it really fits the game well.
Training mode in Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions lets you beat up on your opponent without retaliation. This is great for getting to grips with the controls to start off with or to practice your combos as you get more comfortable with the gameplay. There is also a Versus Mode where you can pit yourself against any of the available fighters.
The game's Arcade Mode also serves as a story mode which does not have much depth to it. There is some lifeless on screen text and you get occasional grunts from the characters. During your playthrough with each boxer you get to star in your very own training montage where you hit punch bags, run on the treadmill, do some pad work and even hit the famous sides of meat you see Rocky punching in the movies. I liked this addition as it added a little extra to what is somewhat of a bare-bones package. There are 10 fighters to choose from in the beginning, each with their own unique little story and a further 10 unlockable characters can be won by completing each fighter's story mode. Each boxer has their own special “SUPER move” which can only be used by filling up your “SUPER meter” You fill up the meter by landing punches on your opponent. They have done a decent job in making each boxer feel unique in his movement and punching style. Mindless button mashing won't really get you anywhere in Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions except for an express trip to the canvas. The combat is tricky and you will need to put together combinations of punches and blocks along with some well timed dodging in order to be successful in dispatching your opponents. This is surprisingly difficult to master, even on Rookie difficulty. I found the movement of the boxers around the ring to be a little bit sluggish which also adds to the difficulty when your opponents don’t seem to face the same struggles.
In addition to the game modes mentioned there is also a local multiplayer option where two players can go head to head against each other. For this part of the review, Craig and Tina were playing on the same Nintendo Switch in docked mode with the following words to say:
Craig: The local multiplayer versus mode did add a little to the overall gameplay, and it was good to play against Tina, but I think that the game could definitely benefit from having an online multiplayer mode, and the option to play against friends. Maybe it is something that could be added at a later date through an update to the game. For now though the versus mode was more of a little side-step while the right hook of the game's lack of proper online mutliplayer mode sends you crashing to the canvas with the timer count at 10 for that K.O.
Tina: I had plenty of fun taking part in the local multiplayer, although I did see the canvas more times than I would have liked. I agree that this game would benefit from online multiplayer becoming available. I particularly enjoyed the fact that by spamming the Y button, you can get up after being knocked down, but the more times you are knocked down, the harder this becomes. This is the real reason why my opponent won - not because he was better than me, because he isn't. I request a rematch. I can already imagine the endless fun of having game nights with everyone taking turns in a knockout style tournament.
In my opinion though this game suffers greatly from the lack of online play and once you have unlocked the 10 hidden characters which can be done in the space of a few hours, it really leaves little in the way of replayability. For those of you looking for a boxing sim to replace EA’s amazing Fight Night franchise, this is not it. This reminded me more of Ready 2 Rumble Boxing from way back in the N64 days. Overall I found this to be a very enjoyable and challenging game however it does lack any real depth and the decision to exclude an online mode hurts this game pretty badly in my opinion. With Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions, we shouldn’t expect the array of features that come along with a full price title but I really feel that online gaming is somewhat of a standard option in 2021. This is a nice game but it is by no means a knockout experience that will keep you going back for more.
PaultheBrave09’s Rating: 3 left jabs out of 5.
For more information on Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions use the following links...
Survios - Developer | Publisher | Facebook | Twitter | Website
Many thanks to both Koch Media and BH Impact for the Review Keys.
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