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Wrestling is one of the biggest forms of entertainment around the world. Here in America wrestling has caught on like never before thanks to the WWF and guys like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, and the boss himself Vince Mcmahon. The World Wrestling Federation has brought wrestling back from the cartoonish themes of the 80's and made it an in your face, realistic (as realistic as it can get) portrayal of sports. If you put the WWF name on anything it'll make money these days. And luckily for us, in this case, it's pure gold. In Wrestlemania 2000 you have your pick of over 50 WWF Superstars. From The Rock all the way to Pat Patterson(why?). Using a tweaked engine from WCW Revenge, Wrestlemania manages to add more moves and more features than any other wrestling game that has been released in the states. Don't listen to those "other" guys, Wrestlemania is a large improvement over any previous games using this engine. Once you start playing this game you won't stop till it's time for Monday Night Raw. Gameplay As I said earlier, it's using a tweaked version of the WCW Revenge engine. At the base of the system there are just two offensive buttons. Sounds pretty simplistic eh? Well it is and it isn't. It's based a little on timing, a little on luck and a lot on skill. In any given situation the longer you hold down the button, the stronger the attack. There are generally two levels of strength whether it be a grab or a strike. So if you want to be able to really punish your opponent then you'll have to take a chance and go for the stronger attacks. Now of course it's not just a button mashing fest, it's actually quite far from it. There are two main defensive maneuvers as well. There is the evade button and the block button. If someone tries to grab you and you push evade then you'll throw their hands away. If someone tries to punch or kick you and you push block then you'll block and punch or kick back. So there is quite a bit of skill and luck involved. A great addition to the defensive system is that now when you have the ability to do your finisher, if you block a punch or kick your character will reverse it into their finisher. This makes for some fantastic finishes and transitions. THQ has also added many more reversals. I'd dare say that all of the big moves have reversals. And many of them can be reversed in more than one way depending on the style of the characters. This time around the characters have more moves and more situations in which to perform moves. Not only that, but they also have almost every signature move that the wrestlers perform. For instance when you're the Rock and you do the "Rock Punch" you'd swear the Rock was on your screen. They got all the mechanics and all the little nuances of the wrestlers. It really brings you closer to the game. From taunts, punches, kicks, and specials; it's all there. There are also more moves per character this time. I'm not sure how many each character had last time but as I said there are more situations and they've added moves for when your press left or right on the D-Pad. This time wrestlers have a sitting position when you pick them up. You can either pick them up to bring them to their feet or leave them sitting up to put on a sleep or a low drop kick or things of that sort. Overall there is so much new offered here that it really separates itself from the last games. Now, the crown jewel of the game. The Create-a-Wrestler feature. This is one of the most functional, convenient and fun CAW's I've ever seen. The sheer number of moves and taunts that you can perform is almost staggering. I can't even begin to tell you about some of them. I was just happy that they left a lot of the Japanese moves in the game. A lot of the moves in the game you'll only see overseas. But thanks to guys like Edge, Christian and the Hardy Boyz you'll be seeing them hear soon also. In addition to new moves, they've left in all the moves from the previous games so you can find the diamond cutter and the dreaded eyepoke combination. You can adjust everything from what your wrestlers face looks like right down to is left kneepad. They have the most customizable CAW in any american wrestling game thus far. Not only can you create your own wrestler but you can mess around a bit with existing wrestlers. There are two roads to go here. If you edit a pre-existing character you can only adjust his looks, no moves or taunts. But you CAN clone him and go from there. The only problem with this is that your cloned wrestlers don't show up in a couple of the games modes of play. Namely "The Road to Wrestlemania" and "The Royal Rumble". I'll get to that later. However you can rest assured that you'll have tons of fun making and playing with your created wrestlers. There are almost too many gameplay modes this time. You've got the obligatory Singles, Tag and Rumble matches. You also have Cage matches( absolutely great, extremely well done), First Blood matches, King of the Ring(Singles or Tag), Create a Pay Per View, and Road to Wrestlemania. Road to Wrestlemania is the most interesting perhaps. You start off by picking your wrestler and your partner for those all important tag matches and then you embark on your quest to become WWF champion. You'll go through Raw, Heat and many of the PPV's. You'll have to fight at least 50 matches and win a couple of key matches to accomplish your final goals. There are all sorts of nice little story elements and twists thrown in too. It's also the only way to unlock the hidden characters. You'll have to go through more than once to get all the secrets so you'll be playing for a while on this mode alone. Once you are done with it though, the other modes keep you VERY busy. Making your own PPV's and King of The Ring's and such. I almost feel like a little Vinnie Mac. Overall the gameplay is pretty much flawless. The ebb and flow of the matches can be fantastic with two skilled people. One thing I really like is that generally if you are really better than the person you're playing you can come out on top. Also like I mentioned earlier there are lots of reversals in the game and that really makes it as exciting to watch as it is to play. Great gameplay, period. Sound Probably the only semi-weak point of the game. If you've ever played WCW Revenge then you know what to expect as far as music goes. While the actual tunes are different the same tone and sound are still present. You do have the option of turning the in-game music off but it's not so irritating that you need to. In fact you may not even notice it during your matches. The sound effects are pretty good though. The punches and kicks are great and the sound for when you hit the mat or get hit by a chair are all pretty much on target. The reason I said that the sound was only semi-weak is because they were able to include ALL of the wrestlers theme music. This in itself saves the sound department. When your favorite wrestler is about to come out you'll KNOW he's coming out. They didn't have time to put in all the current theme songs but they have many of the current ones and some are from a few months ago. It really adds something to the Rumble when the crowd chants "3! 2! 1!.......Do you smell what the rock is cookin?..". They did a great job fitting it all in. Graphics The graphics are similar to previous installments but there is a lot more detail involved in the characters this time. They've included all the tattoos and chains and costumes that you see in the WWF. Heck, they've even got Jerry Lawler's outfit. There is still a bit of clipping here and there but it's nothing that distracts from the gameplay. The only time there's any slowdown in the game is during some cage matches when the camera zooms in to get a good view of the action. Other than that, the game is smooth like butter. Something that I really like this year is that the mat bounces up and down when someone gets slammed or dropped onto it. It adds a lot to the atmosphere of the game. Like I said before, they've got almost all the animations of the wrestlers signature moves and you can really see how much time they spent on it. The guys at THQ went all out with the intros this time. From D-Lo's Jello neck walk to Undertakers slow brooding walk, it's all there. They also put in all the intro taunts that wrestlers do. Austin goes to all four ring posts. The rock stands on the second rope outside the ring. Undertaker turns the lights on. Everything's in there. Great job THQ. Overall If you're a WWF fan or just a wrestling fan in general I'd have to whole-heartedly recommend this game. If you're a WCW fan I can guarantee you can make your favorite wrestler. They've left in all the moves from the previous games so you can make just about anyone you want to. It's the most playable wrestling game released here in the states. I really don't have anything left to say. If you don't have it, get it. If you have it, go play it. Nuff said. Additional Media:
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