The Wild Rings

"Mixed martial arts meets dream fights on the Xbox!"

Hey! My review of ''the Wild Rings'' Mixed Martial Arts simulator on X-box.

Let me preface my review by saying that this game is an attempt to simulate the world of Mixed Martial Arts combined with a bit of what if.... what if Mike Tyson fought an amateur wrestler type what if that is :) , the inclusion of pro-wrestlers and Japanese wrestlers means the game has garnered quite a bit of interest from the wrestling community but... this is not a wrestling game and it makes no attempt to be one either... that said on with the review..

Presentation:
First off I will talk about presentation. the games presentation though a bit old school and utilitarian for my tastes gets the job done effectively, is quite easily navigable and is easily picked up by those who can not read Japanese... even the possibly complicated caw is not too hard to decipher for those who can't read Japanese so all round I would say this is a safe import in that respect. Actual in game presentation and trimmings are sparse especially when compared to similar games... ring entrances and music is all pretty similar, entrances and the like are not changeable and things like pre match beat ups, etc are non-existent. Basically presentation gets the job done and is not offensive to the eye but could be improved for a more modern feel.

Graphics:
Graphics are the next thing I will touch on. The graphics of the fighters along with their motions etc are excellent, the crowd and rings are also well done with the first few rows seeming to be 3 dimensional figures rather than flat textured cardboard people. If you watch the crowd clapping for too long though it does seem strangely too ''in rhythm'' and a little strange. The blur effect when a critical hits is also cool, on the other hand once again trimmings are sparse with no blood, bruises or any real sign of wear and tear.. the fighters do show signs of pain but only after a particularly strong attack and don't really seem to be in much pain when being bent or stretched by the opponent. The animation is good but the lack of variety in falls etc means you see the same thing over and over which becomes quite noticeable when you get used to it.

Game play:
Game play is next. Ok this is where the game grabbed me, how long it will grab you for is the question though... I think if you really tried to master the intricacies of each style and you played the game multi player then it would be very enjoyable, the game has characteristics similar to those of a fighter, by this I mean the exact range and recoil of a strike or throw needs to be taken in to account to avoid your opponents attack and then to rush in and attack them. Different styles bring different ranges, speeds and travel distances on their strikes, take downs etc so considering your own strengths and those of the opponent becomes paramount. The actual setup of the controller is not changeable which is disappointing but the standard setup is not too bad though it's uniqueness takes some getting used to. Each style has two abilities each of which are assigned to a shoulder button for example pro-wrestlers have showboat (like hulking up with the hulk, etc) on the left trigger and tie up on the right trigger, karate has kickboxing style hug on the right and deflect attack on the left, boxing has dash on the right and weave on the left and so on and so on... the face buttons except the Y button represent three strikes (light, medium and heavy) and the Y button is run. Left analog moves your character and depressing the left analog stick blocks. Right analog is used to get up on the posts and manipulate a downed opponent. The d-pad is used for taunts.

Game play is relatively fast with the option to increase or decrease the speed of the game in the options, because this is an Mixed Martial Arts game and not a wrestler most of the game will be strikes or throws to knock an opponent down followed by stomping, mounting, applying a lock, etc. The flow of the game is very different to a wrestler with throws quite easily avoided by strikers, indeed trying to go for throws too often will lead to getting hit and knocked out very quickly when up against a strong kicker or puncher. I found that wrestlers are better off knocking down with a strike then applying a ground throw (giant swing or leg lock etc) or if the opponent is a little tired using the right analog to pick them up at which point they will be stunned and you can throw them with ease. Carefully playing the strengths of your style against the weakness of your opponents style will win you the match. Wrestlers for example are almost impossible to throw for your average Ultimate Fighting Championship style character so I wouldn't suggest going for the tackle against a fresh wrestler or you'll get reversed.

Finally in regards to game play, the game in an effort to balance play has cut down the moves of wrestlers to something more realistic, basically your wrestler won't have 50 throws and he won't really be able to do many of the more fancy ones because A:they are not realistically feasible in a real fight setting and B:because the boxers and K-1 guys have very few moves except strikes so wrestlers had to get a move cut so the move lists were more even. Again pro wrestling fans beware you will more than likely feel, ''hey why do these guys have so few throws??''.

The Create a Wrestler Mode:
Ok now on to the Create a Wrestler Mode mode. The Create a Wrestler Mode mode is excellent and revolutionary in some respect but a little shallow in others... how so.. well first off making a wrestler is easier and more straight forward than in almost all other wrestlers. There are 5 sections, profile (with name, country of origin and date of birth, etc), costume (includes face and body size), parameters (skills, power and abilities), move set and logic. profile is self explanatory, you can select a weight, height, name, etc. Costume has each body part labeled (face, hair, chest, arms, waist, thigh, legs and feet) and a list of options in each area. The options given are the only ones, you can not change the color of an option separately, the option itself comes with a preset color, this applies to hair and faces as well. No tinkering of these parts is possible. That said the amount of faces and hairstyles is extensive so I am sure most will be pleased :) . Parameters is the section I would call revolutionary with it's role playing game style of assigning attribute points to strength of each of the four main body areas (legs, arms, torso and head) as well as assigning points to six skills which are kick, punch, jump, grapple, throw and submission. Finally there is a list of 24 abilities which is very cool, there are even some zero point abilities which are actually weaknesses (would have been cooler if choosing them gave you extra points). Some of the abilities include, old wound to leg, arm, etc so if you work that area chances of it being critically damaged are increased, weak spot hunter is the ability to get critical hits often, energy recovery fast is the ability to regain energy quickly, tough is the ability to take blows without going down easily, loose jointed is the ability to escape or endure locks for a long period, etc. Move set is where you choose your fighters moves, you basically have around 75 moves from long range strikes to throws to ground strikes to top rope moves. Note most styles don't have a total of 75 moves, boxers for example have no throws and wrestlers have fewer available strikes so you will probably double up on strikes in slots... finally logic, I am actually not quite sure what logic does but I think it has something to do with tailoring the AI for when you fight them or perhaps for if you want to simulate matches?? I'll look into it soon :)

Some random points....

* Each of the four body parts is represented in one body icon, they each start as blue or green (blue being strongest) and as they take damage move into yellow then red. If your head is red for example any head blows will knock you down much easier meaning the opponent can then proceed to have his way with you while you are on the ground.
* The match rules are very flexible allowing you to turn off/on critical, KO's, give ups, submissions as well as being able to choose rounds on or off, round time, no. of downs etc. All of this lets you recreate Ultimate Fighting Championship, K-1, Pride or pro-wrestling match conditions.
* The game comes with 100 hundred pre made fighters all of which are modeled closely on real life pro-wrestlers, Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters, K-1 fighters, etc. To get them perfect requires just a little tweaking.
* 50 free slots are also provided for making your own guys.
* The 11 styles included are pro-wrestling, total fighting, boxing, lucha libre, amateur wrestling, kickboxing, judo, karate, Japanese pro, shoot wrestling and sumo.

Finally to sum it all up, I like this game despite it's flaws and the fact it could obviously have done with more development time. Graphics are nice and as a competitive game it offers a lot of strategy that could make for some tight fights. The game has an excellent Create a Wrestler Mode which could eat up a lot of time but on the other hand modes are limited and beyond going through a championship twice and defending your title a couple of times there is not much to do. Also beware this is not a wrestler, it is a very different type of game more like a Pride type thing so...

Final score 7/10 (6/10 +1 for fun factor :) )

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/16/03, Updated 04/16/03