Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions feels confused about what it wants to be. If you want a boxing sim, it's kind of that, except the moves are limited and arcadey. If you want a sillier, zany boxing beatdown, it's kind of that, except the cartoonishness is discreet, and hidden behind more serious mechanics. If you want a fighting game, it's kind of that thanks to its health bar, except it's too simplistic to really occupy that space, and if you want a less fighty, more Smash Bros. game, it's kind of that too, except the health bar and unwillingness to lean into how silly it could be pump the breaks on this. I'm not sure what it is, really. If you want to know if it's good though... yeah, I think it kind of is.

Certainly, Big Rumble Boxing could be a lot better if it committed to one slice of its identity. It's a wacky arcade sim, and that's exactly what it should be, but too often it gets in its own way. It's a pseudo-sequel to the more serious VR title Creed: Rise to Glory, and there are symptoms of that here. While a VR boxing game in first-person needs to keep a lid on the silliness, a third-person arcade-fighter can run wild, but it only uses its full potential on very specific occasions. Each character comes with a super move, but most are just pretty standard blows. They might be powerful uppercuts, or a flurry of unblockable jabs, but they're mostly just, like, boxing stuff. Worse still, Adonis Creed, the title character, has such a slow move that it's easy to sock him on the jaw while he's still winding up. His father Apollo, also in the game, moves much faster at least.

Related: Interview: Big Rumble Boxing And Reinventing The Boxing Genre, Inside VR And Out

I get that Rocky is a fairly serious franchise. The first movie is an Oscar winning drama, and while the Rocky films got progressively sillier - much like Stallone's other major franchise, Rambo - the introduction of the Creed saga brought it back to the more balanced narrative of the 1976 original. Criticising it for being too serious a game might feel foolish though, except for the fact the game is not too serious. It's still quite silly - it could just stand to push the boxing a bit further. Items, powerups, less realistic moves, and less tactical punches could all make this game more like what it's clearly supposed to be.

Big-Rumble-Boxing-Creed-Champions

Actually in the ring, you have a decent enough array of moves in the classic light, grab, heavy mould, where pulling the left stick in different directions gives alternate variations, as well as dips and blocks on offer. There's no complex combos beyond the standard light, light, heavy moves, but you do start to understand the best ways to block, put your opponent on the ropes, and dip out of trouble as your time in the game goes on. Still, with fewer cartoonish aspects that push the game to exciting new places, the boxing can get stale if you do it over and over again. Big Rumble Boxing is definitely a party game meant to be played in a group, rather than a solo adventure for you to sink time and effort into daily.

Of course, there is a solo aspect to it, which comes in the Arcade mode. You begin with half the fighters unlocked, and need to either beat each character's story to unlock the other half, or face off against them in Versus mode, in a similar fashion to unlocking characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The story in each arcade ladder is... well. Rocky 5 standard would be generous. You don't buy this game for the story, but again, it's a little silly without committing to the bit. Just be daft, we already have Adonis fighting the doorman in the ring, then taking on the announcer. The ingredients are right there, but Big Rumble Boxing is serving them raw.

Big-Rumble-Boxing

Speaking of raw things, the Arcade mode also sees you take breaks in between fights in order to train, including minigames where you have to beat some meat. Hey, no giggling at the back, you. You also work the bag, jog on a treadmill, and practise your timings in a variety of minigames that seem like they'd be a lot more fun in VR. While I was hardly invested in the actual story of each fighter, it still felt strange to have to stop them every other fight to pound some rump. Hey, you were warned.

The game is also a great reminder of how few characters the Rocky franchise has. Eight movies, including the two Creed ones, and only a handful are worth caring about. Rocky, Apollo, Clubber, and Ivan Drago are there, along with Adonis, Ricky Conlan, and Viktor Drago, but then I'm honestly not sure if the rest are minor characters I've forgotten or just boxers that have been straight up invented. You at least get some good ones unlocked automatically, like Rocky and Adonis, but the game is smart enough to make you work for Clubber Lang.

Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions is a pretty good game, that much I can confirm. As for what game it's trying to be exactly, your guess is as good as mine. If you want to help Rocky beat his meat though, this is the game for you.

Rumble Boxing Creed Champions Review Card

Next: Daniella Pineda Just Proved She's The Perfect Faye Valentine