Fight Night Round 2
Fight Night Round 2 (also known as Fight Night 2005) is the sequel to Electronic Arts' Fight Night 2004. It was released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube consoles in 2005. It was the only Fight Night game in the series to be released for GameCube. The GameCube version also contains Little Mac from Nintendo's "Punch-Out!!" series as a playable character. This was part of a deal Nintendo had with EA Sports to have Nintendo's intellectual properties appear in EA franchises. Gameplay. "Total Punch Control", a control scheme introduced in "Fight Night 2004 , returns in Fight Night Round 2. With Total Punch Control, movement and most maneuvers, including punching, leaning and blocking, are performed with the left or right analog sticks, modified by the left or right triggers. For example, with the default controller configuration, moving the right thumbstick up and to the left will cause the fighter to throw a straight punch with his left hand, while holding down the right trigger while performing the same movement and then holding will cause the fighter to raise his guard to the left side of his head, ready to attempt a parry. Fight Night  Round 2" expands upon the Total Punch Control scheme with the addition of another feature, the "EA SPORTS Haymaker". An EA SPORTS Haymaker is a more powerful version of one of the basic power punches (hooks and uppercuts) and is performed by pulling the analog stick back before performing the movements for a regular punch. If it connects, a Haymaker causes quite a bit of damage, can stagger the victim and may cause an instant knockdown, regardless of the victim's health or stamina status. If blocked, the Haymaker does very little to no damage while consuming a great deal  of stamina from the attacking boxer. If parried, the attacker is pushed off-balance and is left vulnerable to a Haymaker or combination attack. Other features include: Reception. "Fight Night Round 2" received favorable reviews, more so than the first game, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. In Japan, "Famitsu" gave the GameCube and PS2 versions a score of all four eights, for a total of 32 out of 40. Contactmusic.com gave the Xbox version a score of nine out of ten and called it "the king of boxing titles". "The Sydney Morning Herald" gave the game a score  of four stars out of five and said that "Controls work beautifully and patience and timing are crucial." "The Times" also gave the PS2 and Xbox versions four stars and stated: "Combinations become instinctive and defence second nature. Throw in an engrossing career mode, as well as the facility to create your own boxer, and you finally have a heavyweight boxing game." However, "Detroit Free Press" gave the PS2 version three stars out of four and stated that, "There are some things that made me grimace, such as the repetitive commentary and sluggish movement for online play." The game was  included on "Game Informer"'s "Top 50 Games of 2005" list. IGN ranked it as the 93rd best PlayStation 2 game. The staff claimed that the series got its start with "Round 2".