"Could have been a lot better"

WWF Attitude was the next wrestling game released after War Zone. It featured an expanded roster, more match types, and a better create-a-wrestler mode. Here is my review.

Graphics - 6/10
The graphics in the game are decent, nothing spectacular. Each wrestler looks modeled pretty well and their faces look like their real-life counterparts. The animations are pretty poor though (when a punch is thrown, the wrestlers don't ball up their fists and it looks more like a forward slap.) There are no titantrons (entrance videos), assuming that they wouldn't fit on he cartridge.

Gameplay - 5/10
First, let's start with the pros about the gameplay. The roster is now expanded and there are about over 30 wrestlers (such as Road Dogg, Gangrel, Christian, Dr. Death, and Edge to name a few). The Challenge Mode is replaced with a Career Mode. It's pretty long and will keep you occupied for sometime (that is, depending on your skill level). This time around, Acclaim has added more match types. The match types include: Handicap (1 on 2 or 1 on 3, Survivor Series, Triangle, Lumberjack, Stable Match, and much more.) You can even set up match modifiers for certain matches (cage matches, hardcore in which you can use weapons and pins count anywhere, first blood and 2 out of 3 victories).

Now, the cons of the gameplay. Remember how Warzone gives you the button combination system to perform moves? Well, its back. This isn't a complete problem, but most of the time you have to be quick at performing moves of your opponent will reverse them. Most of the time when you do moves, you will end up doing either a wrist lock of a suplex. Speaking of your opponent, the AI is much harder even on the Easy setting. Most of your moves will be countered once you tie up with the opponent, and once you are down on the mat, they will show no mercy at all. What's worse is that the pin, pain and stun meters are now gone. So it's pretty difficult to keep your opponent on the ground most of the time. The training mode is gone, meaning unless you have two controllers, there is no way you can practice your moves. Biographies have been removed too, but that's not really a bad thing though. Had Acclaim just stuck to Warzone's gameplay and not so hard difficulty, the game would would have never been so frustrating.

Last, there's the Create-A-Wrestler mode, which is probably the best feature in the game. You can now make female wrestlers. More clothing options, masks, and facial features and such have been added in. You can edit the button combination for moves, although performing moves is hard to pull off. In addition, you can give your wrestler entrance music, a run-in partner, a voice and make them a fan favorite or a rule breaker.

Sound - 8/10
I gave Attitude's sound an 8 because it has better music this time around. When you aren't wrestling, you will only hear about 2 songs on the main menu or whatever. The commentary is now done by Shane McMahon and Jerry Lawler. Unlike Warzone, the wrestlers have their actual entrance themes, instead of sounding like some catchy ringtones. Even though it is cartridge format, the entrance themes sound near identical to the ones you would hear at an actual wrestling match. Getting past the music, each wrestler has recorded their own voices and grunts. Some are done pretty well (Stone Cold saying: Ahhh, you piss me off) and some not so good (like Edge yelling). Most of the sounds and realistic, so slamming your opponent on the canvas or throwing them against the cage won't sound like it doesn't belong.

Replay - 5/10
Even though you have a variety of match types to choose from, Attitude's gameplay makes it pretty frustrating. You can play Career Moe a few times to unlock wrestlers, but after that, that's pretty much it.

Overall - 6/10
If you're looking for a good, classic wrestling game, WWF Attitude isn't it. War Zone doesn't have all the match types, but it is a lot easier. So if you want to go back to the days of nostalgia and take a trip back to the WWF days, go with Wrestlemania 2000 or WWF No Mercy. In the end, Attitude is an okay game, but it could have been much better.

Final Score: 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/01/09

Game Release: WWF Attitude (US, 07/31/99)