Just because PC VR now has two major boxing games that try to lean on realism, doesn’t necessarily mean that one game is effectively better than the other for producing cardio results — or fun!. On one side of the ring stands The Thrill of the Fight; tried and tested over multiple years. On the other, stands Creed: Rise to Glory; a new contender in its own right, which has succeeded at bringing that AAA flair to VR boxing.

What you might not realize at face value is that, because both games operate so differently in their gameplay mechanics, they both offer something fundamentally different from one another.

The truth of the matter is that you’ll get distinct benefits out of both games in terms of experiences as well as in terms of exercise potential. But today, I want to focus on how practicing in one game carries progress over into the other.

Play The Thrill of The Fight Often? You’ll Have Better Form in Creed: Rise to Glory

Listen. You already have to block punches, duck away from punches, and return punches in The Thrill of the Fight like you’re Adonis Creed himself. When you get into Creed, the basic setups of each fight will feel instantly familiar to you.

What you need to know about Creed, however, that doesn’t apply to The Thrill of the Fight, is that your avatar has stamina that’s independent of your own stamina. If you get knocked out, you can sprint in place to wake them up — and that’s more dependent on your own stamina — but for the most part, you’re relying on a health bar, essentially. A health bar that determines whether or not you can hold your hands up or throw punches.

And that’s actually why playing The Thrill of the Fight will make you a better fighter in Creed: Rise to Glory. When you already know where your hands need to be (from experience), you will have more psychological control over the flow of the fight regardless of your avatar’s stamina.

Play Creed: Rise to Glory Often? You’ll Be More Mentally Strong in The Thrill of the Fight

Creed: Rise to Glory slowly ramps you up and prepares you for tougher fights as you play through its campaign mode. And if you play a lot of PVP, you get used to the flow of matching against other players online. Creed is set up to be more rules-based, more balanced, and more fun.

That said, playing Creed takes you halfway across the battlefield to preparing your body for The Thrill of the Fight; a hyper-realistic boxing game that is mechanics-based, unbalanced, and often weighted against you in stark contrast.

This contrast makes The Thrill of the Fight the much rougher, more punishing and more willpower-bending experience between the two. But it’s much easier jumping into a game like The Thrill of the Fight having first played through Creed: Rise to Glory, where you learned how you should move in a VR boxing game.

Having the knowledge that you can stand up and win fights is key to surviving the countless onslaught of attacks and parries you must withstand in The Thrill of the Fight. At least so you can buy yourself enough time to knock your opponents out.

Both Games Give You Sheer Cardio Punishment

Regardless of what you get out of The Thrill of the Fight or Creed: Rise to Glory, both games are going to work you to the bone. I’m talking about HIIT levels of heartrate propulsion and calorie burn.

After all, the muscle and cardio strength you develop in one game will carry with you into any other VR game, sport or activity you partake in. Take it from any of the people who’ve lost pounds playing in VR.

Conclusion

Both Creed: Rise to Glory and The Thrill of the Fight are legitimate buys on PC VR systems for the boxing workout aficionados out there.

Both are also great games on their own merit, with Creed: Rise to Glory being an offshoot of the Rocky Balboa IP and The Thrill of the Fight having the strongest mechanics in any VR boxing game thus far.

Creed has the PVP, and TOTF has the ridiculously challenging enemies, and both end up better games for their distinctions.

Which of the two boxing games do you prefer? Let me know in the comments.