WWF Wrestlemania 2000 Review

You know what I think about wrestling games! If they get it right then I'm the first one to buy the game. Although there are in the region of five million fans of professional wrestling in the UK, we generally tend to stay in the closet about it. It's not something we shout about, but we like nothing better than to pick up a joypad, sit down with a few mates and batter the bejesus out of each other in complete safety.

Wrestling games on the N64 have traditionally fitted into one of two categories. Acclaim's WWF series looked and sounded great, but had no real depth of gameplay, and THQ's WCW series looked a bit cack but had wrestling mechanics deep enough for any fan to drown in. Now THQ are representing the WWF, which means that the best licence and the best engine are tag-teaming at last.

Basically, the game runs on the engine of its two WCW/NWO forerunners, World Tour and Revenge. This is not to say we have been cheated, as to change such a good engine may have been a bad idea. What it needed was refining, and that is what we've got.

Often seen as a button-basher's system by the naive, THQ's wrestling engine works on a very complex - yet simply interfaced - system, which allows for realistic wrestling matches and around 120 moves per character. Grapples are applied with the A button, and further commands will unleash either weak moves - punches, arm wringers - or power moves such as a suplex. This helps make sure that your match builds to a climax. You can't just go straight in with your baddest moves, as they won't work. Using less risky moves, you first have to wear your opponent down to a state where they can't argue. This is where the 'Attitude Meter' comes in, doing away with energy bars in a stroke of genius. Energy, as such, is infinite. Attitude, however, denotes your wrestler's mental and physical state. It is increased by ass-kicking, or by fans' approval at your actions, but it is decreased by receiving a drubbing. When Attitude is positive, wrestlers reverse moves more easily - tapping R at the right moment can reverse almost any move - and are less prone to being a victim of reversal. At the top end of the scale is 'Special'. In this state, your wrestler is unbeatable, and can pull off deadly finishing moves. If the meter drops to 'Danger', your wrestler is prone to submitting or being pinned.

Grapples can be applied in at least sixteen different ways, allowing a wide variety of moves such as suplexes, submission manoeuvres, top-turnbuckle frankensteiners, double-team moves and irish-whip moves. More variety is added by the way that you can use the ropes, apron and turnbuckles to send your wrestler skywards for a variety of flying moves such as plancha dives. Outside the ring, there is plenty of fun to be had with foreign objects pulled from the crowd - dustbins, tables and chairs are all waiting to be administered painfully to your opponent's head.

The previous THQ games suffered in comparison to the Acclaim titles only on the presentation front, and this is where most of the improvements have been made. Wrestlers' entrances are now much more important, and feature fireworks, music and movements that you'll recognise from a WWF show - X-Pac's crotch chops are accompanied by X-shaped green fireworks, D-Lo Brown shakes his head like the bad mutha he is and the Rock raises the People's Eyebrow to his millions of fans. It's enough to make a WWF fan cry with joy. Well, maybe.

This time, a create-a-player mode has also been added, allowing you to name and create wrestlers from scratch, and then use them in upcoming bouts. It's no better than Attitude's, but it ain't no worse either.

THQ have made sure that there are enough options here to keep you enthralled for ages. Basic match types include single, tag-team and cage matches - the latter especially works far better than Acclaim's interpretation. To up the ante, you could go up against 30 other superstars in a Royal Rumble match, win through three round-robin brackets to become King Of The Ring - chortle - or take your wrestler on a year-long trip to Wrestlemania, with the goal of becoming WWF champ on the big day itself. If you've ever fancied being a promoter, you can even design and create your own wrestling pay-per-view event. Most impressive is the character list. They're all here - and crucially, only about six weeks out of date - an amazing feat for a game that has been in development for over a year.

The graphics and sound don't quite match up. Topping Acclaim's crystal clear sound-bites and hi-res visuals was never really on the cards, but THQ have had a go, with video running on the Titantron and plenty of details on the wrestlers. Unfortunately they still look pretty polygonal, and you can occasionally see straight through them.

The sound is probably the game's biggest failing. Although all the WWF themes are reproduced, the quality is not as good as Attitude's and the horrid guitar music still remains throughout the matches, without sampled commentary or wrestler-speak to accompany the action.

While one-player WWF Wrestlemania 2000 is only really going to appeal to the fan, in multiplayer mode it's for everybody. Few games on the N64 can match the hilarity of a four-man, all-in rumble.

The only thing that I found mildly disappointing was that the number and range of impressive aerial manoeuvres has decreased from Revenge, simply because the WWF employs far fewer cruiser-weights than WCW. However, this is a small price to pay for being able to open a can of 'Whup Ass' as Stone Cold Steve Austin himself.

Overall, WWF Wrestlemania 2000 is an improvement over predecessor WCW vs NWO Revenge, and a better all-round game than WWF Attitude. It has its flaws, but it's the best wrestling game you can buy. Like Smackdown, THQ have given this wrestling game almost the perfect balance. Buy this game forthwith, if not sooner!

Score: 8.5/10.

This review was added on 26th May 2000 by nGaming user Andrew_Booth.