Black & Bruised is a cartoonish take on boxing with 18 different boxers, each with their own personality and fighting style. There are five different modes including multi-player, exhibition and a story mode told with CG with each boxer's life story is played out in story mode. Each boxer has a different special attack and power-ups can be picked up to use in matches. There are 30 different facial expressions for each boxer reacting to punches and misses giving them a life-like appearance.