Naturally, if a fighter comes in swinging and never avoids a hit, eventually someone is going to hit his button and knock him out. That’s where the strategy comes in. Fight Night rewards patience with their new counter-punch system. Counter-punching requires a precise block or a well-timed duck to initiate and, if you hit the other player, does quite a bit more damage than your average strike. Waiting an opponent out, taking shots when an opening presents itself and knowing when to clinch, make the difference between which column has a 1 added. Though, sometimes, luck does play a factor. There’s nothing more infuriating than a lucky 1 punch knockout, and it happens more than seems statistically reasonable. I’m OK with being knocked out, sort of, but not at the regularity that seems to show up in Round 4.

After winning, or losing, a fight, your rankings fluctuate. You need to achieve certain goals to get different rankings on the legacy scale, which is how you track your progress. The legacy scale determines how you’ll be remembered based upon your wins and losses. Of course, this changes as you progress but, much unlike Puff the Magic Dragon, fighters don’t live forever, so the choices you make today will reflect on your character’s legacy. Make them wisely.

Fight Night Round 4 provides exactly what I wanted - with only a few caveats. The training could be better. The load times could be shorter. The “lucky punch” could be adjusted. However, those are relatively minor points in an overall good, solid boxing game.