"A Total Embarrassment to Wrestling Games"

First of all, let me say that I was very reluctant to rent this, and as I write this, I'm getting ready to take it back and get something else (I rented it about an hour ago). This game is an absolute embarrassment to wrestlers and wrestling games alike, and Acclaim should be ashamed that they released this game with the hopes of mooching off of big names such as Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Snuka, and Rob Van Dam. Without further review, lets move on to the categories.

Graphics: 5/10
Who thought it was neat to make characters look like they were sculpted out of clay? Acclaim did. The characters look so bad it's almost vomit inducing. The muscles look like curled milk, and all the costumes fit the characters like a glove, whether they're wearing something baggy or not. It's obvious that Acclaim didn't change the Attitude/WarZone graphical style at all besides making the animations just a LITTLE less robotic, which might I add, are still choppy and unrealistic. Someone please let me know when you can grapple with magnets on your arms so that I can take advantage of that in real life...

Sound: 6/10
The wrestler's themes are pretty good. Although some of them aren't there for licensing reasons I guess. The character grunts and moans, however, are absolutely pitiful. It sounds like they recorded someone tossing and turning in their sleep, and put it into the game. Some of the groans actually made me yawn, since yawns are contagious :-/ The slaps and mat sounds haven't changed since WWF Warzone on the PSX and N64 either.

Gameplay: 1/10
I never liked the Attitude engine, and guess what? Times don't change. This game suffers from the most horrendous controls you've seen in a game ever. When you press the control stick, it's like the characters can't move for some strange reason. But 5 seconds later, they decide to walk. The running against the ropes is comically fast and choppy, and the wrestling engine more than pales in comparison to No Mercy by AKI. If you like painful experiences, you'll like the gameplay here.

Replayability: 0/10
Why play it at all in the first place? 10 minutes was all I needed to realize that the game was sluggish, hilarious, and all out bad. You won't ever want to play another Acclaim wrestling game after playing this garbage.

Try or Buy?
NEITHER! AVOID THIS GAME AT ALL COSTS. If you have to dodge bullets just to stay away from this game, do it. The only thing getting this game a score of 3/10 is the fact that it 1) turns on, 2) works, and 3) is on Gamecube :) If it were on any other system it would get a 2/10, and if I weren't being so nice I would give it a zero. Again, AVOID THIS GAME AT ALL COSTS. It will serve you well in the future.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/02, Updated 06/08/02