73% Impressive Ring Walks Detailed Boxer Creation   Extremely Difficult

Win or lose, the name Iron Mike Tyson will always prick up ears. Perhaps that is why Codemasters picked up the Tyson licence to use him in their new boxing title. With Iron Mike and fifteen other top heavyweights on board, Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing certainly looked on paper to be a certain winner, especially with competition relatively sparse and limited at best. 

The game's graphics are beautifully polished. While the ring entrances and fight replays are nicely done, sadly the visuals inside the ropes are lacking. Once in the ring I learnt fast that trying to fight up close against a computer opponent is suicide. No problem I thought, I'll get on my bike and pepper him with jabs from the outside. Forget it. The boxers are so stiff and immobile, it's like trying to control a monolith. By the time I moved a foot backward, Dominick Guinn, the easiest opponent landed as many as six punches in a second. This is something that became very common. 

Every fight is like fighting in a phone-booth. There is no scope for any ring craft, because all the action is toe-to-toe. Things pick up once you master the dodge and cover up controls by using the right stick, but this effectively KO's any chance of using the punch buttons on the left hand side of the pad. Without a doubt, Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing is the hardest boxing game I have ever played. 

Trying to squeeze in so many punches, combos and defensive moves was never going to be easy and perhaps Codemasters were being too ambitious in doing so. It's not all bad though. The boxer creation is refreshingly flexible and the training mode will at least allow you to go three minutes with Mike Tyson to work on a technique, before being bounced off the canvas in game mode. 

The best chance to progress in the game is too use a pre-defined fighter like Malik Scott or Audley Harrison. On doing so increases your chances of mixing it with the better guys like David Tua and Hasim Rahman, though the shear difficultly of the game (both control complexity and opponents) is sure to have players spitting out their gum shields early.

If we're being honest, Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing is not a sim, but a beat 'em up with boxing gloves. Ironically this might appeal to the hard core arcade gamers who are familiar with "Dead or Alive 3" or "Mortal Kombat" rather than the market such a game is probably directed at. 

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