Rocky Legends is a 2004 boxing video game by Venom Games based on the Rocky film series. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox and is a sequel to the 2002 video game by Rage Software, Rocky.
Unlike its predecessor, Rocky Legends allows the player to take control of Rocky Balboa, Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago in their respective careers before taking on their famous encounters with their opponents. Players can also use the Fight Purse to buy and unlock new boxers, arenas and other extras.
The game contains examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: The game sheds light on the smaller details for Apollo, Lang, and Drago. Apollo fought Duke right before he decided to retire and train him. Lang was in prison when they held a boxing match prison event, before Lang would be released to pursue his own boxing career. Drago was a USSR soldier before being hand-picked to become a fighter.
- Alternate Continuity: It is possible to play through Ivan Drago's campaign and defeat Rocky in the exhibition match.
- Apollo Creed's campaign ends with him confident of his victory over Rocky and indifferent to the idea of a rematch
, negating the premise of Rocky II and the subsequent sequels. It's entirely possible for Apollo to win this fight with an early knockout, denying Rocky the chance to "go the distance". - Averted with the other two campaigns. Rocky's matches with Apollo Creed and Clubber Lang go straight to the rematch, and the final fight with Tommy Gunn takes place on the streets, like the fifth movie. Respectively, Apollo and Clubber's campaigns end with their first match against Rocky.
- Apollo Creed's campaign ends with him confident of his victory over Rocky and indifferent to the idea of a rematch
- Another Side, Another Story: Drago, Clubber and Apollo have their own campaigns.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Drago's campaign ends with him knocking out Rocky.
- Crowd Chant: The crowd will chant the boxer's name ("Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!") when they are being introduced, have knocked down their opponent or won the match.
- It's a Wonderful Failure: If you lose three times in your career, the game is over, with your character reacting to it accordingly.
- National Anthem: Soviet National Anthem for Ivan Drago and La Marseillaise for Alain Girard.
- Near Victory Fanfare: "Going the Distance" plays during the fight when a boxer is in low health.
- Produce Pelting: In some smaller boxing arenas, the audience will throw bottles and tin cans at the ring. These, of course, don't do any damage.
- Starter Villain: Zale for Rocky's campaign.
- Version-Exclusive Content: Depending on which version of the game you get, the PS2 version has Paulie as a playable character, and the Xbox version gives us Ludmilla Drago as a playable character as well.
