WWE WrestleMania XIX

"A surprising New Wrestlemania blows X8 out of the Water"

We've all heard or read the reviews of XIX in the magazines. The basically call this game a piece of trash. In my opinion though, XIX improved every aspect of X8 and then some. I'd even go so far as too say that XIX rivals that of No Mercy. It's not quite there, but its as close as we've gotten since No Mercy. A great game, but far from perfect, XIX is a must have for any Wrestling fan.

Graphics: 6 / 10. They can be choppy at times, but do not interfere in the gameplay. A great improvement over X8, but some character models just... don't look quite right. The Madden-esque replays are also an enjoyment, as I've always been looking for a Replay feature of any kind since No Mercy.

Control: 5 / 10. Too many buttons need to be pressed at the same time to do simple things. To ''steal'' an opponents finisher you need to hit 4 buttons. L+R+A+B. While they may not seem to difficult, it is when you're in the midst of a heated battle. Otherwise, the controls revert mostly back to No Mercy, with weak and strong grapples. That I enjoy.

Sound: 10 / 10. This is simply where XIX excels to it's maximum. The sound is incredible. Every move connects with the mat with a unique sound. The weapon shots are incredible, metal sounds for a chair, glass sounds for a light bulb. The ropes, the turnbuckles, all add to the symphony of sounds. Even the crowd cheers and boos this time around, all making for a more realistic feel... And of course, the signature ''ding'' for a low blow is still there, revamped and still ringing loud and clear.

Gameplay: 7 / 10. With all the match types from the last game, XIX is still just as good in this area as X8. And while we don't quite get to defend titles in exhibition mode, the new King of the Ring allows you to defend the Raw and WWE championships, as well as the Raw / SD Tag Team Titles. Not exactly what we wanted, but close enough. The tables have also been fixed in XIX, so your opponent won't slide off. And if I'm not mistaken, the table glitch has been fixed, so you won't find yourself mysteriously frozen...

Revenge Mode: 7 / 10. Some people hate it, some people love it, some people only play it for Shopzone money. I like Revenge mode. It's more unique then any ''Season'' mode in any other game. It reminds me of the old Final Fight games, and you know, it never hurts to piledrive a random security guard now and then. If for nothing else, just play through it to unlock all of the Shopzone items, and you can never look at it again.

CAW: 9 / 10. Wow. That's all I can say. If you hated X8 because of the crappy CAW, then you'll ove XIX. While not AS in depth as SD:SYM, XIX still has more then enough features for just about any Wrestler you'd ever want to create... With pieces from T-Shirts, to Breastplates, to Wings and Swords. Yes, Wings and Swords. Also new to XIX, you can have 8 Special attacks, and once you unlock the EX-Specials by going through Revenge mode, you will be able to have more then one finisher per position. I don't know of anyone wo would need more the 8 Finishers. But here is where CAW shines: The Entrance. There is SO much to play around with for your Entrance, that I alone spent an hour customizing mine. Lights, Pyro, camera angles, when the text box with your name comes up, everything. You can even have your entrance be in cinema mode, ala Golddust's Entrance, or even have Matt Facts accompany you to the ring.

Other Pluses that I enjoyed:
Mattitude Facts
Sliced Bread #2
Shining Wizard
Steiner Screwdriver
Expansive CAW
Excellent Sound
Excellent Gameplay
Body specific Damage
BLOOD

Other Minuses that I disliked:
Not all musics in due to copyright issues
Choppy graphics at time
Revenge can be tedious
Somewhat difficult controls
No weight detection

Buy or Rent? Buy! Wrestlemania is so much better then X8, and almost on the level of No Mercy. There is so much to do in XIX that you won't be able to put it down for weeks. THQ has done us good this time. And although Wrestlemania XX will be the game to own, XIX is the best that you can find out there today. Great Gameplay, Great CAW, and just great Wrestling. Any fan of WWE or Wrestling games should pick this title up as soon as possible. 7/10 is being harsh, as XIX has laid the Smackdown on all of its competition!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/12/03