Wrestlemania XIX Impressions

[Professor S]

I rented WMXIX today and have spent a couple of hours with it. I started out by going straight to the Create a Wrestler mode, as any good wrestling gamer should. Let me tell you, impressed is not the word. The WM create a wrestler is phenomenal. An incredible amount of moves and outfits. There were moves in there that were obscure Inependent wrestler moves and Puroresu moves as well. The selection is better than even Virtual Pro Wrestling 2, which was much better than No Mercy.

I could already tell that Yukes has something with their new grappling engine as I went throuh the training mode, which is narrated by Al Snow which is a very cool idea.

So I had created my wrestler using the incredible library of moves and outfits, and then decided to give him a run in an exhibition match...

It was like trying to wrestle on crack. I'm not even going to yell about this. Yukles has failed MISERABLY yet again, and the worst part is if they had just SLOWED THE GAME DOWN it would have been better than No Mercy. I'm not kidding. This game has every feature you could want, a robust grappling system that allows you to do almost anything from any possible position, and an incredible Create a Wrestler. The rumors about AKI's team being hired by Yukes are definitely true, but they are still run by some speed freak who thinks that 5 million strikes in a match makes good wrestling. Pathetic.

They had to make an arcade fighting game and make all their hard work be for nothing. Its crap. Its a big fat stinking bore because they give you so much you can do, but you only have time to do the basics because your opponent hops right up from everything. I doubt I'll play it again as I like WRESTLING games, not bad fighting games.

Oh yeah, the reversal system sucks too. Reversals are fine, but when every stinking move can be reversed, why bother?

SCORE - 5.0 out of 10 (3 points for the great grappling system you can't use and the fantastic CAW, 2 points for the great sound, 0 for everything else)

[TheGame]

Have you played Raw 2? If so, how do they compare?

Watching some of WM XIX's videos (after playing Raw 2) gave me a headache because of how fast it moves. I don't even know if I want to rent it now... but I still will just because I gotta :p

[Blix]

You would've tought that Yukes would have learned by now. It's like they just like repeating the same mistakes. Seems like the N64 games will continue to be the best wrestling games ever created for a long, long time.

[Professor S]

Have you played Raw 2? If so, how do they compare?

Watching some of WM XIX's videos (after playing Raw 2) gave me a headache because of how fast it moves. I don't even know if I want to rent it now... but I still will just because I gotta :p

Raw 2 is much better than WM. Raw 2 was slowed down and had a tonj of features added. There really is no comparison in graphics and animation, as Raw 2 blows WM away. The only thing that I wish Raw 2 had that WM has is the sound and move set, which are both excellent.

[The Duggler]

Seems like the N64 games will continue to be the best wrestling games ever created for a long, long time. I know what you mean, but AKI aren't dead. So I wouldn't be suprise to see another WWE games made by them in the future. But until then, their def jam vendetta titles are good enough for me, way better than any of yukes crap.

[TheGame]

Raw 2 is much better than WM. Raw 2 was slowed down and had a tonj of features added. There really is no comparison in graphics and animation, as Raw 2 blows WM away. The only thing that I wish Raw 2 had that WM has is the sound and move set, which are both excellent.

What part of WM's sound is good? (or better than Raw's?)

as far as the core gameplay which game do you prefer?

Personally, I think Raw's CAW is good... I think the only lagging problem is making a CAW's face, not enough options. Plus you have to unlock half the outfits in the game, which kinda sucks.... I don't mind the pre-made intros.

[Professor S]

What part of WM's sound is good? (or better than Raw's?)

as far as the core gameplay which game do you prefer?

Personally, I think Raw's CAW is good... I think the only lagging problem is making a CAW's face, not enough options. Plus you have to unlock half the outfits in the game, which kinda sucks.... I don't mind the pre-made intros.

1) Sound - The sound of the crowd in WM is great. Nothing like wrestling as a heel and hearing the crowd chant "You Suck" over and over. It draws you into the match. I just like the fact that the music is very low during matches and allows for the sound of the match to take over, as opposed to Raw 2's horrific sound track. Why can't wrestling games come up with decent music?

2) Gameplay - I prefer Raw 2's by far, but thats only because its PLAYABLE. WM's engine is much better but its cranked up to 11 so you don't have time to do all the things that the engine allows you to do. Raw 2's is still quite good, but I think that if Yukes had slowed the game down, the gameplay would have been better than No Mercy. Instead its just a fighting game starring wrestlers.

3) Raw's CAW is good, but WM's is MUCH BETTER. The sheer number of moves you can choose from is staggering and smacks of Fire Pro with about 20 STANCES to choose from, ranging from Mysterious 1 and 2 (Abdullah the Butcher and The Great Muta) to Vale Tudo (Brazilian street fighting) to Emerald which was thrown in for just one wrestler recreation (Mitsuharu Misawa). In Raw 2 there were only a few unique moves to choose from that are not related to a current WWE wrestler. In WM there are DOZENS.

No many of you might be saying "Who the hell are those guys he mentioned above? Why do I care about them?" Well true, they do cater to us hard core wrestling fans who love nothing more than to create our favorite wrestlers from overseas and the indies to fight the WWE's biggest no talent humps, they also add something extremely important to a wrestling game... VARIETY. They allow you to create a wrestler who is completely unique to the US, and not just an combination of moves from WWE stars. It allows for personality to be shown i the ring with the wrestlers walk, stance and moveset. Its EVERYTHING for replayability.

CONCLUSION: When broken down into all of its individual parts, WMXIX looks like the best wrestling game ever made. But when all those parts come together, it becomes apparent that Yukes once again dropped the ball. They had everything going for them, and screwed it up by refusing to drop the myth that a wrestling game must play like button masher to be entertaining. Its not, and neither is WMXIX.

What is the most painful as a wrestling fan is that they were so close to greatness, and then ruined a game that could have been amazing.

[BreakABone]

I guess to each his own on certain issues. I found the original Raw to be too slow, and the sequel didn't look to improve it much.

I like the speed in XIX, it's not twitchy fast like SmackDown, and it's not so slow it's well "methodical" as JR would say.

And what exactly is wrong with having every move reversable? And if you want, you can just lower the rate so it's not as senstive.

[Professor S]

I guess to each his own on certain issues. I found the original Raw to be too slow, and the sequel didn't look to improve it much.

I like the speed in XIX, it's not twitchy fast like SmackDown, and it's not so slow it's well "methodical" as JR would say.

And what exactly is wrong with having every move reversable? And if you want, you can just lower the rate so it's not as senstive.

Well if you like Smackdown, then the game is great, but then again i don't consider Smackdown a wrestling game. Its a fighting game with wrestlers. To me a wrestling game is about timing, not speed. They are two very different things. What I love about Raw 2 is the speed. Its actually the speed of an *SHOCK* WRESTLING MATCH! I like to recreate the speed and psychology of a real match, and not just hit a series of unrelated moves and strikes hoping to score a win. WMXIX matches have no semblance of an actual matches. It is an arcade fighter. A WRESTLING game is a simulation of the actual event. Same with the reversals. If every move can be reversed no matter what... WHATS THE POINT? No Mercy's reversal system was perfect, it relied on several factors from stamina to spirit and health, not just mashing the R and L triggers hoping it will work.

To me, Smackdown is a bane of all wrestling games and I see little difference in the speed when WM is compared to it. Smackdown's unfathomable success is what has forced developers to speed up their games to the point that they are no longer really wrestling games at all.

Give me a molotov cocktail, and I'll burn Yukes to the ground.

As for lowering the rate or reversals, can you lower the rate of the game as well, so I don't think I just snorted an eighth of coke before playing?

[TheGame]

I guess to each his own on certain issues. I found the original Raw to be too slow, and the sequel didn't look to improve it much.

Define slow...Slow by comparision to _____??? is it slow as is "Not as fast as a game should be" or slow as in "Not as fast as a real match"?

[nWoCHRISnWo]

I didn't even have to play the game to tell you all that. I have absolutely ZERO faith in Yukes. Every single new wrestling game is supposed to be "amazing" and "It's like No Mercy!" but it NEVER is. Just making the grapples similar to No Mercy doesn't mean **** when as you (Strangler) said it's too fast and doesn't even play like a wrestling game.

I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever buy another wrestling game again, considering I'd rather play old FirePro games and No Mercy more than any of the new "wrestling" games combined.

I'll probably still try out WM XIX, but to me it sounds like an upgraded SD game. Fast, reversing everything, etc. but with better features like a great CAW?

[Professor S]

If you want soemthing more like No Mercy, get Raw 2. Its the closest thing out there in terms of gameplay.

[Bond]

Which game do you think has the best single player mode Strangler? (WMXIX and Raw 2 that is)