Review: MMA Supremacy (360)

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Recently, we had the opportunity to get our hands on 505 Games and Kung Fu Factory’s newest release MMA Supremacy. Initially, when we tried the games out, we had high hopes, as fighting games of all genres seemed to be stepping up a bit, and becoming more relevant of the past year or so. With that being said, after actually playing MMA Supremacy, and fooling around with it a bit, we discovered a lackluster experience that left us wanting more. The gameplay was slow and complicated, the graphics were decent at best, the animations were stiff and slow, the characters and their locales were bland, and the boring game modes left more to be desired.

Now usually, I start my reviews with the gameplay I experienced. I began by playing some basic matches in story mode. It became abundantly clear, after just a few matches, that the experience would be extremely repetitive. Each fight seemed to have a familiar feel, as the same basic moves were executed until one fighter finally went down for the count. The same basic, underground heavy metal music, litters every fight, making it hard to distinguish the battles from each other. While playing through my story mode, I used Malaipet, the Muay Thai specialist. That never mattered however, as i found that a standard boxing format, sprinkled in with a bit of grappling and a kick or two was the best method to best the computer opponents. That goes the same for most of the characters as well, the grappling and ground fighting system is the best way to defeat opponents, due to the lack of damage average punches and kicks deal. This completely renders the different fighting styles, such as boxing, wrestling and judo, absolutely worthless. Kung Fu Factory could have done a much better job with differentiating the fighting styles by giving each style a specific set of moves and combos that were more damaging to other fighters than pounding their faces in while they are on the ground.

Let us dive into some more flaws for a bit. The game modes are as basic as they are in any fighting game; story modes, online play, training gym, tournaments. But the real problem here is the execution. The game modes all play the same, that means that when you are playing story mode, it is the same match as online play, or tournament, or any other mode. There were no fun and inventive modes to keep people interested. I understand MMA and the “one on one” format, but MMA fans want fun, excitement and blood, and this game simply only offers blood. The controls and animations are a similar cautionary tale. The controls are simple enough to learn, the the combination of actually trying to use them based on the slow character animations is appalling. After I push the punch button, I really don’t want to see my guy think about doing it, then doing it, when I push the punch button, I want this asshole to punch! The clunky animations are almost painful to watch, and can sometimes make a match a brutal thing to sit through. The moves were repetitive as well. After about two matches, I could tell when the computer opponent was going to block my punch, grab my leg during a kick, or try to kick me with the same move while I was on the ground. There was no offering of instinctiveness, only repetitiveness. Basically each match would painfully end with two guys, cuddled up on the mat, exchanging  punches to the face.

I honestly cannot recommend the game to anyone other than a die hard fan of MMA or someone who hates money, but MMA Supremacy is a letdown in its best form. Overall, the game is a complete bust.

 

PROS:

• Blood is good.
• Graphics are decent.

CONS:

• Bad mechanics.
• Slow animations.
• Boring, repetitive gameplay.
• Fighting styles watered down.
• Indistinguishable music.

Graphics 65   Audio 37   Gameplay 35 Creativity 30   Execution 34   Offset 40

4

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