REVIEW: Fight Night Round 4 floats like a butterfly and bites off your ear - GamePro Sports - Athletics' virtual news collides with reality's top headlines, rumors and gossip

RIP Gatti, you'll live on in this game and all your ESPN Classic highlights

The speculating has ended, the hoopla has passed and when the smoke cleared there was no doubt that Fight Night Round 4 emerged bigger, better and more badass then ever before. Indeed, it's now impossible to overlook what is easily the best boxing game of all time. But FNR4 is not without its flaws and with such stiff competition in the simulation sports genre, it's quite possible that this incredibly enjoyable game could get passed up for Sports Game of the Year.

FNR4 is a victim of its own polished play, boasting realistic graphics and gameplay that is pound for pound better then any fighting game out there – even UFC 2009 Undisputed. Because the fighters are so perfectly rendered, the glancing blows so fluid and the AI so advanced, its easy to see where the game is lacking: the presentation.

I have a love/hate relationship with the game's presentation. Don't get me wrong, it is better than Fight Night Round 3's, but it falls short of the bar set by UFC 2009 as far as accurately portraying the real deal. Once you look past the flashy sparkles and laser lights, the rings walks are very generic, with Joe Tessitore spewing out irrelevant and uninteresting information like, “he's really focused, look at his confidence.” It would have been better if he at least told us the fighter's record, how many knockouts he has and added some commentary about previous fights. However, once you get to the ring Freddy Atlas joins Tessitore and provides literally some of the best in-game commentary of any sports game.

Stepping out of the bright lights and into the dimly light gym in Legacy Mode is one that is generally satisfying, although it too is not without its drawbacks. On paper Legacy Mode seems deep; there's a robust menu system, a calendar that allows you to schedule fights and more mini-games to train your fighter with then I care to mention. But after playing for a while you'll notice that the fighter's attribute system is quite shallow. With 12 attributes rated 1-100 and only a maximum of three training sessions between fights, it's nearly impossible for your boxer's skills to keep up with his rising rank. This results in your undeveloped boxer taking on the top contender for the world titles, which typically ends in vicious beat down after vicious beat down until your skills can catch up with your rank.

None the less, with revolutionary features like Photo Game Face and the Highlight Reel on easportsworld.com, FNR4 can continue to be fun outside Legacy Mode, especially if you take your created boxers online. Unlike UFC 2009, FNR4 has no problems on the interwebz and runs at a fairly smooth clip. And with a new DLC pack coming out soon, adding in face button controls, some fixes to Legacy Mode, a new venue and more, FNR4 can only get better from here. Keep your eyes peeled for me on XBL and look forward to future GamePro Fight Nights.