WrestleMania X8, Will It Help Make The Game Line-up For The Gamecube A Great One!

Written By Steven Brown

     After the release of WWF Raw is War on the X-Box, and WWF SmackDown: Just Bring It on PS2, it is time for THQ to release the first WWF game on Gamecube. That game is WrestleMania X8 (that’s eighteen not X 8). Some of you may be thinking "oh boy a another wrestling game" while others are thinking " OH HELL YEAH!" Those who are pessimistic about WrestleMania X8 (eighteen) need to read this carefully as this is going to be a wrestling game like no other. The most noticeable aspect of WrestleMania X8 (18) is the 42-man roster. This game will not only include well-known names such as The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, it will also include former WCW/ECW wrestlers; DDP, Booker T, The Hurricane, and fan fav Rob…Van…Dam.

     Now if that isn’t enough of a treat, WrestleMania is now going to include the newly acquired NWO. That’s right kids, Kevin Nash "Diesel" (beep, beep), Chico…oh; I mean Scott Hall, and the man whose name will be synonymous with wrestling…Hulk Hogan! As of right now, there are 35 different matches including; singles, tag, cage, TLC, Hell in a Cell, and a royal rumble. In place of a story mode, WrestleMania will have a challenge mode; basically you choose a super star and work towards a particular belt, reminisant of Raw. What wrestling game could possibly be complete with out a create-a-wrestler? We don’t know how in depth the create mode will be, but at least its there. In addition to that, the game will also include the option to create your own belt. There will be six different venues in which to wrestle, three of those will be Raw, SmackDown, and the granddaddy of them all, WrestleMania. You will have a variety of different weapon with which to attack your opponents with. For this reason with are expecting hardcore matches.

     Unfortunately, there will be no fighting amongst the crowd or backstage. WrestleMania X8 will play a little slower than the SmackDown series, but still promises to bring you some of the feel of the series. Attacks will include a variety of kicks and punches and will be executed by pressing the B button for punches and the trigger for kicks. If the wrestler does any trademark taunts while attacking, these will be performed by pressing the punch or kick button repeatedly. A basic grappling system will be implemented. To perform different grapples you will have to press the D-pad and A, much like SmackDown. Unlike SmackDown, the move will almost happen instantaneously. If you choose to throw the opponent into the ropes it will require a combination of A and Y. You will also be able to make your opponent submit, and they will do so after a certain amount of damage has been dealt. You will want to mix up your attacks so you can quickly fill up your popularity meter, which is located underneath your wrestler’s name, enabling you to use a finisher or special move. Once you have filled up the popularity bar, you will be able to use your finisher at any time. If you continually use the same moves, your popularity will not increase.

     Much like when watching wrestling, nobody likes seeing the same moves over and over, well, excluding the Multiple German Suplex. To do the finishers you will have to press A and B together. You will also have a "momentum" meter to the right of your popularity meter, which will show the "heath" of your wrestler. If you are doing well, the meter will be red and if you are about to be pinned the color will change to blue. There will also be a reversal system that will allow you to reverse almost any move. The left trigger allows you to reverse grapples and the right trigger allows you to reverse punches. When you press them simultaneously, you can reverse finishing moves. This doesn’t mean that this is going to be a game of reversals; this just allows you to play using more strategy. As of right now most wrestlers will have two costumes you can choose from by pressing the L or R triggers when choosing your wrestler. The lighting details are amazing even though the game is only about 75% complete. There is one flaw in the game. You can only have four wrestlers and a ref in the ring at once. We will keep updating as more info becomes available. With so many wrestling games already released, and some disappointment in some of the ones in the past you can see that this is looking to be one of the great ones. Hopefully Nintendo can have a great wrestling game that can help their line-up of great games.

Publisher   THQ   Developer   THQ   Platform   Gamecube   Player   One To Four player

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