BY RICK TITTLE

When developing a sports video game, it is usually a must to acquire the official license of the professional league based upon that sport.  In other words, Madden Football would be pretty weak if it had fictional teams instead of the real NFL teams.  So while Electronic Arts has no affiliation with UFC (THQ has cornered the market on that), they decided to make a <a id="_GPLITA_0" title="Click to Continue &gt; by Vid-Saver" href="http://www.sportsbyline1.com/book-reviews/306-ea-sports-mma.html#">mixed martial arts</a> game anyway, thus the new EA SPORTS MMA for the XBOX 360 and PS3.

The game is not a completely fabricated title, because Strikeforce (an actual MMA league) is included in the game.  The rings, which can be octagonal or square, are pretty legit and the controls remind me of the Fight Night series.  Therefore the analog sticks are heavily involved, as are strategic passes.  These passes can be real or decoys, and each brings a shudder to your opponent’s joypad, which is a good tool in having ruses seem threatening.

You can have exhibition fights (pick up and play, more or less) and a <a id="_GPLITA_1" title="Click to Continue &gt; by Vid-Saver" href="http://www.sportsbyline1.com/book-reviews/306-ea-sports-mma.html#">career</a> mode, as well.  I found that the AI opponents got very difficult to master and thus a bit frustrating after a while.  The ramp-up is pretty stark after a short time.  There is a tutorial called “MMA 101” which is fairly useless because it seems more than self-explanatory, so real in-the-ring experience is the fastest way to get better.  But the best part of career mode is the travel around the world.  Not for sightseeing, but for the different disciplines learned by different teachers – this is what puts the “mix” into mixed martial arts.  The humorous Bas Rutten make sure to keep things light with his funny voice-overs throughout these training sessions.

Online is strong with “Live Broadcast”, a way to fight someone one-on-one for bragging rights.  Eventually you can make up your own card and invite others online to participate.  It’s pretty cool.  The only knock on this game is the fighting itself, because like most of the games in this genre, it can become a bit stale after a while.

The worldly favor and raw action of this title are certainly worth a go if you’re a fight fan, however.  I give it a 7.5.

Rick Tittle can be reached at <a href="mailto:rick@ricktittle.com">rick@ricktittle.com</a>