Game makes button mashing thing of the past

Boxing fans, please bow your heads in reflection. Today we say goodbye to button mashing.

Who’ll be first to say amen?

You know button mashing. Virtually every boxing game since the classic 1980s “Punchout” has required it. You pound buttons repeatedly to punch your opponent or to rise from the canvas after a knockdown. I hate it. It hurts my hands.

So now it’s time to rejoice. Raise your gloves into the air, people, and give thanks for “Fight Night 2004.”

This game has revolutionized three key areas of video boxing in which the winning strategy historically has been – you guessed it – button mashing.

No longer do we have to hit A or B or X or Y to throw a series of haymakers. You want punching? It all comes with a twitch of the right thumbstick.

Twitch it hard up and to the left to throw a stiff left jab. Twitch it more softly up and to the right to throw a right rabbit punch. Launch a vicious left uppercut by jamming the stick down to the left, then swirling it up. You get the idea.

The left thumbstick, in conjunction with the left trigger, offers the same type of precise control for defense. Hold the stick up, and your fighter holds his gloves high to block a jab. Hold it low to block low on a body blow. Lean it left or right to bob and weave.

Ah, but the best change is what to do when you hit the canvas. Rising to your feet after a knockdown always has been the pinnacle of button mashing. The harder you fell, the faster you had to hit the buttons to regain your feet.

When you are knocked down in “Fight Night 2004,” the screen image blurs to simulate seeing triple. You must move both thumbsticks to line up the images – essentially clearing your head – before the referee counts to 10. Not only is this a fun new challenge, it emphasizes the fuzziness of getting hit in the face with a haymaker.

These controls are great but not perfect. They take a good while to learn and aren’t as responsive as I would like.

The faces of the 32 licensed real-life boxers are sharp, especially in close-ups that show bruises and cuts, but their movements sometimes are suspect. Was that a knockdown or a seizure?

The modern soundtrack featuring stars such as Puff Daddy is fine, except I don’t think Rocky Marciano entered any ring – as he does here – while bopping to hip-hop music.

But, listen, these are nits. The overhaul of boxing in “Fight Night 2004” is nothing short of spiritual.

So long, button mashing. Hallelujah.