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Supremacy MMA Review (X360)

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Supremacy MMA Review (X360)505 Games
Supremacy MMA mixes MMA moves and rules with traditional fighting game mechanics. It is much more an arcade fighter like Tekken than an MMA simulation like UFC Undisputed 2010 or EA Sports MMA. The controls are simplified and you just pound away until your opponent's energy meter drains - no flash KOs or sudden submissions here. The idea is certainly welcome - get MMA style in a streamlined and easier to get into package - but the execution of the gameplay isn't exactly what we'd call fun. We have all of the details here in our full review.
Game Details

  • Publisher: 505 Games
  • Developer: Kung Fu Factory
  • ESRB Rating: “M" for Mature
  • Genre: Fighting
  • Pros: Knockout animations; Jens Pulver
  • Cons: Can't install to HDD; no real submissions; silly story mode; blocking/countering; poorly paced gameplay

Supremacy MMA is not an officially licensed game, so don't expect to see many familiar faces. It does feature former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver along with female fighters Felice Herrig and Michele Gutierrez in addition to a bunch of original characters created for the game. The concept behind the game is underground, unsanctioned, no-holds-barred fighting without all of the rules and regulations of "real" MMA.

The main single-player mode is a series of short stories for each of the fighters. They are the typical start from the ghetto/prison and work your way up the MMA ladder sort of thing. Only darker and grittier and "extreme" with lots of swearing. The stories are all pretty over the top and rather silly, and the characters are hard to root for just for the fact the game tries so hard to make them seem all hard and bad ass.

Other modes include a separate story mode for the female fighters, quick match, tournament mode (where you fight a gauntlet of opponents), training, and online play.

On another note, you can't install the game to your hard drive. Load times are pretty lengthy, too, which makes the lack of an install option pretty frustrating.

Gameplay

505 Games
The gameplay is where Supremacy MMA ultimately falters, though. The first thing you need to know is that this is not MMA, this is a normal fighting game wearing MMA shorts. You throw punches and kicks, can get in the clinch, take down your opponent, change positions and throw strikes on the ground, and perform submissions. The controls are simplified so you have a couple of attack buttons, a grapple / change position button, and a counter button with different moves being performed based on distance and position. You also fill a meter while you fight that lets you activate "Rush Mode", which gives you more powerful attacks for a short period.

It all sounds well and good, but in execution it just isn't all that fun. This is a fighting game first and an MMA game second, which means you fight until your opponent's health meter drains instead of getting flash victories like real MMA. You can perform submissions, but they just do damage and can't end the fight unless you do them when your opponent's health is already low. There are no flash KOs, you just punch away until their meter drains. There isn't even any sort of cage mechanic. Kind of boring.

The real problems, though, are that the A.I. can counter pretty much anything you do and the game has a strange slowdown during combos and grapple/takedown attempts in order to give your opponent an opportunity to counter you. It gives the game a strange pace when you can wail away with punches only to seemingly stop mid-combo so your opponent can counter you (you can also reverse their counter during this time).

Stand-up fights are somewhat pointless because standing punches and kicks seem to do very little damage. You are better off going for an early takedown, getting the mount, and hammering away with punches and elbows (which do tons of damage on the ground). Submissions also deal out damage effectively, but uses a remarkably stupid system where, when you are in a submission, you and your opponent have to flick the right stick back and forth and whoever fills a meter first "wins" by either doing damage or escaping the submission.

It also doesn't help that all of the fighters, no matter their style (boxing, wrestling, muay thai, etc.) all play pretty much the same. And the girls fight exactly like the boys. Some might be harder to take down than others, but the fights all ultimately end up playing out the same way in the end.

The controls are the final nail in the coffin here. The game feels very slow and clunky as there is always a half-second or so delay between when you press a button and when something actually happens. Strike or takedown counter buttons flash onscreen when appropriate, but the window for actually hitting a counter is tiny. You do eventually get into the rhythm of hitting counters on time and falling into the rhythm the A.I. fights at (strike strike strike, press counter button, strike strike strike), but it isn't what we'd call fun. Human opponents are more fun since they aren't so perfect at hitting counters, but good luck finding anyone online to play with. Local multi is available and decent as always, though.

505 Games
One positive thing we will say is that the game does deliver in the violence department. Bones break in submissions. Blood stains the mat as you pound away. And knockout animations (when your opponent's health bar drains, of course) are pretty cool as they grab whatever part was the final KO blow. In this way, the game is more fun to watch than it is to play since you don't have to deal with the bad controls or bland core gameplay or unfair counters and can just sit back and watch a bloody fight.

Graphics

Graphically, Supremacy MMA is okay looking. The fighter models look decent and faces swell and bleed just like they should when they get punched in the face. The environments you fight in, which range from cages to 4-sided rings to flat dojos, look okay. Dirty and gritty and run down, mostly, but it fits the theme of the game.

Sound

Bad voice acting. Generic heavy metal soundtrack. Nuff said.

Bottom Line

The core idea - MMA-style fights with traditional fighting game mechanics - isn't bad, it just isn't executed very well here. The game isn't particularly fun to play due to slow, clunky controls, poor pacing, impossible counters, and strange rules (no against the cage mechanic, no real submissions, no KO's, etc.) that pretty much take all of the MMA out of this supposed MMA game. As an MMA game, it is poor. As a traditional fighting game, it is poor. Supremacy MMA is in no way worth a purchase, but it can be a fun game to watch and you might get some fun out of local multiplayer, so give it a rental if you're desperate for a new fighter.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.

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