Finally, the WWF has come to the
Game Boy Advance! Trying to give some competition to Fire
Pro Wrestling in the action sports market, THQ pulls out the big boys of the ring.
Surprisingly this game has been one of the least hyped titles ever to bear the WWF brand
name. Once you play it you will fully understand why. Never before has a sport with some
depth had a game so shallow in so many areas. There is a multitude of ways that
you can take wrestling with you. There is the typical exhibition mode as well as a
gauntlet mode that pits you against the other 24 superstars one at a time until they are
all defeated. This is similar to the Royal Rumble, but in this you start with four people
in the ring and you have to throw your opponents over the top rope until youre the
last man standing. Rounding out the rest is the king of the ring tournament. For those who
want to prove themselves worthy of wearing federation gold, the season mode is for you.
Season mode plays out like WWF TV as you take on various superstars in a variety of ways.
It pains me, but THQ has a password system to track your progress. It would have been so
much better if they would have a battery feature to save as you go. Also where is the
create-a-wrestler mode to develop our own superstar with?
If
you have ever played a wrestling game before most of the match styles should be familiar
to you. There are a total of five match styles. There are the single, tag, triple-threat,
handicap, which is one on two, and finally a cage match. The 25 wrestlers consist of the
main event wrestlers with some middle and low card ones thrown in as well-- Austin, Rock,
HHH, X-pak and Tazz to name a few. Do not look for any WCW wrestlers as this game was in
development before the story hit the airwaves.
The
graphics bring me back to the days of the SNES and the WWF RAW game that was released on
that system. The characters have that same familiar look to them only slimmed down just a
tad. They move as if they have been wrestling every night for the past twenty years. It is
nice that they have the entrance themes for the wrestlers complete with photos of
wrestlers in poses to help along the story. I was wondering what was going on in the
developers heads when they designed the "adrenalin meter". It is confusing
and difficult to determine if you are beating your opponent or not. This combined with the
control problems make you want to take the game and mail it to your worst enemy to play.
These
control problems are so horrendous that any shining spots in the game are overshadowed by
these acts of pure evil. I dont know about you, but when I purchase a wrestling game
I want wrestling not just fighting. If I wanted a fighting game I would buy one specific
for my needs. WWF Road to Wrestlemania literally is a button mashing fighting game. The
reason behind this is there is no way to perform a grapple even if the computer felt sorry
for you and stood still while you attempted to pummel them. Your only hope for survival is
to repeatedly bush the B button and hope they fall down with laughter long enough for you
to score a pin fall. Coupled with the poor movement, there is just no way to play this
game without having an ulcer form from your rising blood pressure.
There
is so much better out there for the game boy advance that games like this should get lost
in the shuffle. Hopefully THQ was just experimenting with new types of game play and will
eventually release a handheld version of WWF wrestling that will remind us of the stellar
titles found on the PlayStation. Stay away from this game at all costs unless you like
pain. For those die-hard fans out there stick with Fire Pro Wrestling. Road to
Wrestlemania is a one-way trip to nowhere.