Career Mode is the bulk of the single-player game. You start off as a novice boxer and must make your way to the top. Along the way you'll face numerous fictional and real fighters. There's a great deal of customization you can do to alter your pugilist's appearance; it's not quite on the same scale as Tiger Woods, but there's more than enough variety. Along with the competition, there are a number of training games you can engage in. You can opt to auto-train, but it's far more beneficial to master the training games yourself as you'll get a bigger boost to your attributes.

As your fighter continues to win, he'll earn money. This can be used to unlock numerous features in the game, ranging from new clothing, new tattoos, new entrance music, new effects for your entrance, new venues, new ring girls, new signature punches, and so much more. Some of the features are pretty cool, but after a while I found the unlocking aspects a bit dull. I earned all this money and didn't care what I did with it.

When the Sandman comes callin' you can't resist.
That said, Career Mode is a really satisfying experience. You get to face dozens of boxers using different styles. This really helps you round out your game. Initially, your opponents will be chumps, but after a while you really have to search to find your foe's weaknesses. My only misgiving with Career Mode is that you cannot change weight classes. This feature was originally planned for the game, but was omitted at the last second. This would have been a more accurate representation of a boxing career since pugs generally fight in higher weight divisions as they get older. In many cases, their fighting styles change. Think of Oscar De La Hoya's career for instance. He was knocking out most of his foes during his younger days at lightweight. Most of his welterweight and junior middleweight fights required him to use more of his boxing skills since his power didn't carry up.

In addition to Career Mode, you can opt for a single bout, choosing from some of the world's top fighters. The fighters come from a variety of eras and weight classes. There are bound to be some omissions that disappoint boxing fans, but I understand how messy licensing can be so I don't really hold that against the game. Hard-core fans will dig fighters like Bernard Hopkins and James Toney, while every gamer out there should know Muhammad Ali.

Visually, I really liked the game. There's isn't really a whole lot to dazzle with in a boxing title -- you have a ring and two fighters. The models were excellent, if a bit exaggerated it terms of muscularity. The faces were what really impressed me. The models look just like the real thing, and as a boxing fan it really made me mark out. There are other nifty features as well, such as cool knockdown physics and awesome replays, but they were more ancillary features to me.

Ouch.
What I didn't really like was the game's sound. The trainers often give sound advice, but after a while they get really repetitive. The music is what really got to me though. It seems as if EA was borrowing a bit from Def Jam Vendetta and focused on licensed hip-hop tracks. It didn't seem congruous to me though. Sure some fighters march to the ring to hip-hop, but just as many do not. Many Mexican fighters, for example, have ring entrances set to traditional Mexican music. Some fans will dig the songs, but I didn't really like the whole "Def Jam" tone of the game.

The Xbox version gets the edge over the PlayStation 2 version in terms of graphics and load times. If I had to pick between the two, I'd go with the PS2 iteration. The Type-S controller wasn't nearly as comfortable as the Dual Shock 2. On two occasions, the Type-S actually gave me blisters from all the Total Control Punching movements. Furthermore, the lack of online play decreases the Xbox version's overall value. That said, if the Xbox is the only console you have, this is still an excellent game to have.

Fight Night 2004 is the best boxing game I've ever played. The Total Control system really differentiates it from any other boxing title ever made. There's some room for improvement, but EA Sports has created an incredible foundation for its boxing games. As a boxing fan and a gamer, I was floored by the game and can't wait to see where the series goes. Fight Night 2004 is the start of a glorious championship run.