Finally wrestling has come back to the GameCube. “Wrestlemania XIX” is the long-awaited sequel to last year’s bomb “Wrestlemania X8.”
Wrestling games have been popular for fans and non-fans alike for years offering hours of fun in both single player and multi-player modes.
“No Mercy,” for the Nintendo 64, is considered to be one of the best wrestling games ever. Since then, no wrestling game has compared to its gameplay and overall fun factor.
Publisher THQ and developer Yukes stripped down and rebuilt everything from the ground up creating XIX, hoping to be the next “No Mercy.”
Gameplay
Veterans to wrestling games should be more acquainted with the grapple system for XIX than they were for X8. This grappling system closely resembles “No Mercy.”
XIX offers an in-depth tutorial mode hosted by Al Snow for those who are unfamiliar with any previous wrestling games. In a “Tough Enough” setting, Snow trains you to become familiar with the controller and how to execute more complex moves. The controls are easy to pick up, allowing gamers to begin immediately without any awkwardness.
XIX offers Revenge mode. This is the game story mode, which consists of 25 mission-based stages to complete. Basically, the superstar chosen has been stripped of the WWE title and kicked out the WWE by owner Vince McMahon.
Stephanie McMahon, Vince’s daughter, hires the fallen superstar to help her take over the WWE from her father by breaking Vince’s wallet, and thus, being forced to sell the company to her.
In order to do this, your superstar must halt construction at the “Wrestlemania XIX” arena construction site, stop Wrestlemania merchandise from selling at the shopping mall, slowing the trucking crew in the parking lot and stop Wrestlemania supplies from reaching their destination at the harbor.
Revenge has to be the worst idea for a story mode in wrestling game history. It mainly involves throwing construction workers, security guards and random WWE superstars off a ledge or balcony of some kind. Revenge has absolutely nothing to do with wrestling whatsoever. And to make matters worse, some of the stages are difficult to complete.
Fortunately, XIX offers other game modes than Revenge. Exhibition offers a multitude of matches including Single, Tag Team, Triple Threat, Fatal 4 Way and Handicap. From there, the types of matches are endless. The game gives Normal, Hardcore, Ladder, Table, TLC, Cage, Ironman and Hell in a Cell matches with nine other in-match options to choose from.
Players can compete in the King of the Ring for the chance to win one of four title belts either in singles competition or tag team matches. The most impressive feature in XIX is the Create-A-Superstar mode. XIX’s CAS is the most thorough of any wrestling game to date.
In previous CAS, the models for the body have been limited to select body styles. But now, gamers have control of aspects ranging from superstar entrances into the ring, appearance and personality. The CAS allows gamers to create personalized logos, tattoos and shirts in the all-new paint editor.
Creating the appearance involves such details as height, weight, skin color, face and hair, which allows to adjust length, width and spacing of almost all parts of the body. This may be used, for example, when creating the face, the nose, eyes, jaw, cheeks, ears, forehead and mouth.
True wrestling gamers will appreciate the extent of control for the superstar entrance. XIX allows complete control of what the superstar does coming down the ramp and in the ring. Also customizable are the length of time before the superstar appears from behind the curtain, firework displays, lighting effects and camera angles. Customizable moves, costumes and abilities (basic, attack, and defense) all allow for hours of gameplay just for creating a superstar.
ShopZone hosted by Stacy Keibler allows the purchase of unlockable items to use for the CAS from the cash earned in Revenge. Gamers can purchase additional parts (accessories, hair styles, ect.), entrances (moves and effects), wrestling moves, weapons and ability points here.
Graphics
XIX developer Yukes spent a great deal making this game look as close to the real thing as possible. The graphics are a beautiful representation to the actual superstars. The entrances alone make it difficult to tell whether you are playing a game or watching WWE programming on TV. The superstar game models look very much like their real-life counterparts. Each superstar has an immense amount of detail, ranging from their faces and hair to their tattoos.
The graphics are not perfect, but they are getting there.
Sound
The sounds of “Wrestlemania XIX” are greatly improved since its predecessor. There is nothing like being a heel, or bad guy, and beating up on The Rock and hearing “You Suck!” chants coming from the audience. The in-match music is lively, but not enough to get sick of after the first few matches.
Overall
“Wrestlemania XIX” is a great improvement over “Wrestlemania X8.” This installment offers a nice balance between Playstation’s “Smackdown” series and “No Mercy.” The game engine offers smoother gameplay than X8, but this game is not perfect. Some obvious flaws exist, such as not having all the superstar original entrance music or not having your favorite superstar included in the game. XIX is a good step up and an excellent multiplayer game. THQ and Yukes have learned from their previous mistakes. The series can only get better, and that’s the bottom line.