Get ready for this - Victorious Boxers is my favorite sports game on the Playstation 2.  Nothing against any of the other great games for the system; but, I just got totally and completely immersed in the amazing playability and depth the title offers.  NHL '94 for the Super Nintendo is the only other game I can remember having this much fun with.
    V. B. is based on a Japanese manga (I am sure the game's odd name was not a clue).  In the story mode, you start off playing as Ippo - a lowly boxer trying to become the champion of his weight class.  When you become the champion, you take the role of a pugilist in a higher weight class and lead him to the championship.  The game takes you through 4 different weight classes and 44 fighters.
    Throughout the story mode, you get quite familiar with your cornermen.  
They talk to you before and after fights, and in between rounds.  Well, you eventually learn why your trainer stopped boxing.  This is when the game flashes back and the player jumps into the trainer's shoes when he was a fighter.  The fights you have as your trainer are for pride and honour as opposed to a title belt.  Developers New Corporation did a stellar job oc incorporating a decent story into a fantastic boxing game.
   The control in the game is perhaps the best I have seen in a sports title.  Different button combinations allow for jabs, straight, hooks, uppercuts, and special punches to be thrown.  Not only can they be thrown while your boxer is in an upright position; but, they can also be thrown while crouching.  Crouching allows for players dig to the opponent's body.  Bodywork in the game is very important, just like in real boxing.  It diminishes the adversary's ability to recover from a knockdown.
    Movement in the game is also excellent.  Boxers can move around the ring or just from the waist up.  They can bob, weave, lean, and crouch with the utmost grace.  By moving, players and attack from different angles which influences the strength and effect of the blows.  Again, just like in real boxing.  Noticing a theme?
    V. B.'s graphics are cartoony but quite sharp.  The color palette is all over the spectrum.  The character models are bright and well done.  Each is rendered nicely from muscle tone down to the trunks.  Fighters' faces get bruised when they get pounded.  A few more arenas would have been welcomed.  The ones in the game could have benefitted from a bit more detail.  One exception - during the flashback fights, the entire screen looks like it is in the 1920's.  Great effect.
    The fighting animations are terrific.  The apex being the knockdowns.  Boxers go down according to where they are hit.  For example, a powerful body shot will make a boxer fold over and fall or simply go down to one knee.  There are multiple animations for just about every scenario.  Animations do hiccup once in a while when you move and end up facing away from your opponent.
    Music is not exactly necessary in a boxing game so do not expect much here.  There is some forgettable background music during fights, cut scenes, and menu screens.  Sound effects of punches connecting and being blocked do the job.
    The game was purchased for $25 used.  I get many used games.  If I'd paid $50 for it, I still would have gotten an astronomical amount of enjoyment from this title.  I have owned for at least 3 years and still stay up to the early morning playing it.  Massively recommended.

score = 9.3 / 10

- bman