Def Jam: Fight for NY

Def Jam: Fight for NY is a 3D fighting video game developed by AKI Corporation and EA Canada and published by EA Games. It was released for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox on September 21, 2004. The game is the second main installment in EA's Def Jam-licensed hip-hop video game series, and the direct sequel to Def Jam Vendetta. It was ported to the PlayStation Portable under the title Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover in 2006, and was followed up by Def Jam: Icon in 2007.

The game features several rappers, including Lil' Kim, Snoop Dogg, Method Man & Redman, Slick Rick, Memphis Bleek, Lil' Flip, Scarface, Ghostface Killah, Fat Joe, Mobb Deep, Ice-T, Xzibit, Capone-N-Noreaga, Ludacris, Crazy Legs, Busta Rhymes, Bubba Sparxxx and Sean Paul as well as the voices and likeness of other celebrities, such as Henry Rollins, Christopher Judge, Carmen Electra, Baby Chris, Jacob Arabo and Kimora Lee Simmons.

The gameplay is expanded from the original game, which was primarily a wrestling game. Fighters can choose one, two, or three of five fighting styles. The fighting styles are Streetfighting, Kickboxing, Martial Arts, Wrestling and Submissions.

Additionally, Def Jam Fight for NY emphasizes the use of the game's various environments and the surrounding crowd to cause damage. Tossing the opponent against barriers gives fighters an opportunity to inflict massive damage to their opponent by slamming them into the wall headfirst, ramming a door or gate in their face, or using other features of the environment. The crowd will shove a fighter back into combat if he is thrown into them or gets too close, sometimes holding a fighter and leaving them open to attack. Some spectators carry weapons, and will offer them to the fighters, or even attack a fighter if they are held by a nearby onlooker.

Momentum is gained by successfully performing moves, countering, and taunting the opponent. The rate at which momentum is gained is affected by the fighter's Charisma stat, which like other stats varies between fighters. Created fighters can set their own charisma with a combination of clothes, tattoos, and jewelry; the more expensive, the better. A fighter with a good set of clothes, extensive tattoos, or laden with jewellery can often fill their momentum meter in just a few moves.

When the momentum meter is full, a fighter can activate it, which results in a Blazin' Taunt. In this state, the fighter is said to be "Blazin", and can pull off a Blazin' Move, a powerful and brutal attack personalized for each character. A created character can learn every single Blazin' Move in the game, but can only have up to four usable at any one time.

Though the game focuses on mixed fighting styles, the only way to win a fight is through Knock Out or Submission. A character can be made to submit by putting them into submission holds until the health bar of a single body part is depleted.

Knock Out is achieved through a unique health bar used in the game. Health is composed of two bars, the first bar representing a fighter's consciousness and ability to fight (displayed as an opaque light green), while underneath it is the fighter's physical wellness bar (displayed as a semi transparent dark green). With every hit, a fighter's consciousness will fall quicker than their physical wellness. However, whenever a fighter is not losing health, their consciousness meter will recover up to the maximum current physical wellness. When a fighter's consciousness is lowered to a very low point, the entire health bar will turn red. This indicates that the fighter is in danger of being knocked out. Knocking out an opponent in danger requires the use of strong hits, Blazin' Moves, and environmental moves such as slamming an opponent into the wall, or achieving a double team move with a crowd member, or using a weapon (like a pipe, a bottle, a wooden bat, a shovel, etc.). It is possible to knock out an opponent by beating down their health while their physical wellness remains very high. As a fight wears on, physical wellness will eventually fall low enough that when a fighter's consciousness recovers to the physical limit, it is still too low to turn green. This is sometimes known as permanent danger, meaning a fighter is permanently in danger of being knocked out.