WWE WrestleMania XIX

"A Game That Finally Surpasses No Mercy"

I was Very Skeptical of This Game. I didn't have any faith that this would be good. I hated Every Wrestling Game that was Not an AKI wrestling Game or Fire Pro. I hated Every Smackdown game ever because they were not good Wrestling Sims at all. I hated Raw because... Well because it wasn't any good at all. I also hated WMX8 very much because it was one of the worst wrestling games I've ever played. Now WMXIX is out. And Do I hate it you ask? Well Judging from my score you can see that I love this game.

Graphics:
Great Character Models, Great Animations and the Stages look Great. They are not the best graphics on Gamecube right now but they are damn good. Wrestlers look like they should and that's great. Overall not much to say here that they are great despite minor clipping problems.
8

Sound:
Not Bad but Not Good. Some wrestlers are missing their theme music and for Some reason Yukes decided to use RVD's old music even though WMX8 had his new one in. I wonder what that's about. Sometimes the sound gets a little static in it when you power up for your specials but nothing major. Overall ok sound. But could've been much better
6

Create-A-Wrestler:
Just how I like it. Not overly annoying like Smackdown but not bad as WMX8. It reminds me of No mercy but enhanced. It's Simple enough to navigate through but it will let you create almost any wrestler. Overall it was just great for me but others may prefer a Smackdown type CAW.
9

Modes:
Everything's is there except the Elimination Chamber. Again No Casket, Inferno, or any other match the WWE used once or twice and never again. Main matches are there. HIAC, Ladder, Table, TLC ect. Good selection but I wish there was an Elimination Chamber. The Revenge Mode is a hit or miss type of thing. Some will like it and some will hate it. I personally liked it but if you don't, it's not a major deal. I mean who plays Story mode more than once anyway?
8

Gameplay:
Throw in WMX8, a dash of No Mercy, a pinch of Fire Pro and a sprinkle of Smackdown. You get Near Perfect Wrestling Gameplay. They took the look of WMX8 and improved it in WMXIX. They Took the Strong Grapples and Submission effects of No Mercy and threw that in. Now the wrestlers actually stay down like they used to in No Mercy. They took the basic grapples of Firepro and added them in. All That made for a great great game. But then they threw in the table and ladder concept from Smackdown. That's the only bad thing they did. The Ladders and Tables Slide like the do in Smackdown but they are not that bad thanks to the gameplay additions of No Mercy and Fire Pro. Not Perfect but it's close enough.
9.9

Overall:
Like No Mercy? Get This game
Like Fire Pro? Get This Game
Like Giant Gram? Get This game
Like WMX8 or Smackdown? Um... Seek Help lol j/k. If you liked WMX8 or Smackdown then you should also get this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/03