UFC: Sudden Impact

GameSpy

A step -- albeit a small one -- in the right direction for the series. The gameplay has been deepened, as has the career mode. Where it still needs work is in the presentation.

PGNx Media

The gameplay is very similar to previous games. If you haven’t played any, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Next Level Gaming

I think the game modes are lacking, and the fighter creator is very rudimentary. But the controls and gameplay are still as good as they used to be.

GameZone

It's a simpler fighting game, but I think that the UFC followers will really get into it. The cheap price doesn't hurt either.

Weekly Famitsu

6 / 7 / 7 / 8 - 28 [Vol 802; 30 Apr 2004]

3DAvenue

Overall UFC isn't the worst wrestling/fighting game around and does a good job in feature many different disciplines of fighting but lacks the polish to push it from moderate game to decent game.

Game Informer

The matches themselves typically last less time than they take to load. [July 2004, p.115]

RealGamer

The game feels fairly lacklustre and gets old fairly quickly.

Thunderbolt

A very average fighting game in a market cluttered with good alternatives, so I can't really recommend it.

Frictionless Insight

While there are some very basic, jam-the-buttons-as-fast-as-you-can, fun moments to be had with the game, in general, there are similarly-styled, better games at comparable prices.

GamePro

The drawback in executing these moves comes in the form of slow button response. It’s tough to pull off a counter if the buttons don’t register at the exact moment, and it’s hard to attack with a flurry of side-step combos when, in combination with a button press, the directional pad and analog stick just don’t react efficiently.

Armchair Empire

A mediocre fighting game that doesn’t provide any new ideas.

Stuff

You can duke it out in one weight class in the Champion Road mode, but it’s more fun watching flyweights pepper lumbering hulks with a couple of kicks, take ’em down and elbow them into oblivion.

GameSpot

Just another languid translation of the exact same game you've been playing since the days of the Dreamcast. Sudden Impact is pretty much on autopilot in every aspect of its execution, presenting just the bare minimum to make a playable UFC game.

Cheat Code Central

Same old tired gameplay with a new name a big-ticket price tag...I haven't seen so much rehash since I caught Pauley Shore's act at the Comedy Store in L.A. a few years ago.

GameSpot AU

UFC:Sudden Impact just doesn't deliver enough that hasn't already been seen in existing UFC titles.

Game Chronicles

It’s only appeal lies in playing with your friends and settling a grudge match. The stilted and repetitive gameplay may bore you quickly, and even more so played solo.

Adrenaline Vault

While it’s hard for UFC fans to go too far wrong at that price, Sudden Impact isn’t exactly a joy to play with its dull visuals, antiquated sound and clumsy, monotonous gameplay mechanics.

GMR Magazine

Despite the evolution of the UFC itself, the series has gone absolutely nowhere. [July 2004, p.92]

Gaming Age

While the budget price makes UFC: Sudden Impact easier to afford, in the end, it’s still a bitter pill to swallow.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

You can button mash your way to victory, trust me. Even the hardest of hardcore UFC fans should pass on Sudden Impact. [Bryan; July 2004, p.98]

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

There's a respectable fighting engine at the game's core, but nothing was done to really make it worth your while. [July 2004, p.96]

G4 TV

It retails for only $20, which is hard to beat. On the downside, you can probably find used copies of old UFC games for even cheaper than that, and many of them are better than Sudden Impact.

RewiredMind

The frontend system looks like it has been pulled from a PSone title and the loading times are about as quick, whilst in the octagon, the fighters seem to have lost a little definition and gained a few of the dreaded “jaggies”.

Worth Playing

Sudden Impact is just a slightly damaged version of the game we’ve been playing since the waning days of Sega’s Dreamcast.

PSM Magazine

There's nothing here you didn't already pay for with "UFC Throwdown." [July 2004, p.34]

Game Revolution

The wet slapping sound of a fist traveling across a face is a sound I’ll always hold dear, and Sudden Impact sure does deliver in that department.

Computer Games Magazine

This is the most disappointment I've ever felt playing a game. [July 2004, p.7]

Cinescape

I kept telling my girlfriend while I was playing, "It has to get better once you get into the actual story." Truth be told, THERE IS NO STORY. It’s just the longest character creation mode I’ve ever seen.