Fire Pro Wrestling

"Fire Pro Simply Burns The Competition"

Hey everybody! I am Noah1234 and this is my first review, but I think it's going to be an easy one to write. I mean, c'mon, Fire Pro Wrestling is simply the best wrestling game available in America...(exception may be Fire Pro D for Dreamcast, but I haven't played it)...

Fire burns the competition more than Mr. Pogo (Master Togoh) when he uses the ''Big Fire'' on Masato Tanaka (Masahito Hatanaka). Okay, I've used that phrase twice now, so let's get on with the review. Why is Fire Pro great, you may ask...Well I'll now break it down for you, in seven categories:
1) Graphics
2) Story
3) Sound
4) Edit mode
5) Modes
6) Game play
7) Replay value

(1) Graphics
''I’ve seen snap shots of the game the net, and they don't look very good!

HA! Fire Pro graphics not looking good. I think they look average for the normal GBA game, and good for the regular GB games. see, the thing is, Fire Pro isn't about graphics. Unlike most games, the graphics you see on the GBA are the graphics you see on the big systems (N64, PSX, PS2, DREAMCAST, etc.). Fire Pro is unique. It has wrestlers from the WWF, WCW and numerous other Japanese and Mexican wrestling organizations. If they tried to make top-notch graphics, they would have to make detailed wrestlers (face, clothes, etc.) and get sued, or make bad rip offs, lowering the value of the game, so it's really a legal thing. Anyway the graphics are average when compared to other GBA games, and quite good when compared to mid-90s Sega Genesis/Super Nintendo WWF games.
SCORE: 6

(2) STORY LINE:
''I like a game with good story lines and character development. I think that's what makes or breaks the game. Is this game for me?''

Well, I would have to say no. If you like the games where characters are constantly evolving, and a very detailed, elaborate story, and you don't want to have to use your imagination, and write down the story with pencil and paper, then don't buy this game (if that's all you get games for...I thought that's why people got movies...oh well). If that's what makes the game for you, do yourself a favor, and go get Metal Gear Solid! As for Fire Pro, it doesn't do that at all. Fire Pro is a Japanese wrestling game, and like Japanese wrestling, focuses more on wrestling than on telling a story. The game offers you four different styles of matches, and lots of wrestlers, so you can put stories together in your head, and keep a log of what happens.
SCORE: 4

(3) SOUND:
''The sounds of the games are somewhat important to me. I don't want to have to mute the GBA and listen to music, what can you tell me about the crowd reaction sounds, background and theme music, and the sounds of the wrestlers/ref?''

The sound of Fire Pro is a good point of this awesome game. The crowd boos and cheers for it's favorite heels and faces (respectively) when they make their entrances to the ring and perform their taunts, however the crowd always pops when a wrestler does a signature move (even when it doesn't connect).
When a wrestler bleeds, a woman in the crowd screams for her life, and it's really a blood-churning shriek.
The wrestlers sometimes grunt when they perform moves, and the ring makes ''thud'' sound when they hit the ground, and there is a weird cutting sound when the sickle and fork attacks happen, as well as a biting noise when the biting move is performed. There is a little ding whenever a low blow accurse, and the ref counts aloud when counting for pins, DQs, count outs, or whatever.
You have a choice of four background themes, and the theme music may be unique for each wrestler (not sure) but it's certainly not the same for every wrestler, and there's 21 songs for created wrestlers! The music is crisp and clean, sounds very good.
The sound overall is very good for any system, prompting me to give it a....
SCORE: 8

(4) EDIT MODE:
''I like to have a big selection of fighting styles, heads, stances, body types, colors of clothes and athletes, mix and match clothing items, make outfits, and have a huge selection of moves, entrance music, skill points, and be in control of my wrestler(s)' CPU Logic. What can you tell me about this?''

THAT'S EVERYTHING THE EDIT MODE IS! You can choose eight fighting styles, hundreds of heads, about six fighting stances, three body types, limitless coloring options of the clothes and athletes (right down to the shade and tint/tone of the color), you can make the wrestlers' shirts one style of shoulders, a different chest, and a different waist (same with pants) or you can choose to make outfits! As for the moves, you can choose from literally thousands of moves, divided into categories of the position you're in when you perform them! 21 different theme songs to choose from, and 260 skill points to divide up between about 30 categories, more than enough to make your fighter invincible! There is an entire section devoted to playing with the CPU Logic, divided into two Logic settings (offense/defense) each with a small/large damage option, each of those with three sub-options, and then you can tinker with the percents! This is the most detailed edit mode for any game ever!
SCORE: 10

(5) MODES:

''I like to have lots of options as far as my modes go. I would to like to be able to wrestle in different style matches, and have tournament and league options and such. Is this possible?''

Of course it is! Fire Pro has the best, most extensive edit mode (as I've already told you) in the world! As for the rest of the game, there is an exhibition mode, which will allow you to play multi-player if you have a link cable and a friend with the game. Or you can choose to play one player. You can choose a normal match, a deathmatch (electrified cage, which explodes after a set amount of time), a ''gruesome'' match, which is a UFC style shoot fight inside the octagon. Finaly, there is the battle royal option, which allows you to wrestle three other wrestlers in a battle royal which you can make over the top, or have normal rules!
You can choose the match type (single/tag/handicap (normal only)) the rules (normal/gruesome/hardcore/American (normal/battle royal only)), the win method (3 count, 2 count, submission, pin in ring, pin anywhere), the time limit, match number (one fall, or two out of three), evaluation (off/strong/king's road/showman/stoic/lucha/hardcore/freestyle), the ring (SWA/VIEW JAPAN/OLIVE JAPAN/SUPER NOVA/NEW IW/YUKIGUNI PRO/AZTECA DRAGON TEAM/AWG/APW/ECLIPSE/BRAWLERS/HIGHCLASS/BLADE/RANDOM), LOCATION (Nippon Butoukan/Spike Dome/Yurakuen Hall/Murakawa Gym), com level(1-10), com skip (tournament/league only), referee (Panther Totorri/Joe Hiroshi/Mr. Mizunaka/Lark Kestler), Rope Check (on/off), lumberjack (on/off), tornado (on/off(tag only)), Cut Play (?), CRITICAL (on/off), illegal attack (normal/gruesome/none), counts (20/10/off), BGM/Background music(Wild Guitar/Cyborg/Meltdown/Stray dogs/Rolling Up/Theme of MUSHASHI/RANDOM/off).
A tournament with anywhere from 4 to 16 wrestlers is pretty entertaining, league (round robin tournament) with anywhere from three to 64 wrestlers, elimination match (two teams of five, tournament or league style), survival (you vs. endless computer opponents), Audience Match (Fire Pro's version of career mode), EDIT MODE
Pretty impressive, huh?
SCORE: 10

(6) GAMEPLAY:

''I want a fun game to play! I don't want to throw my money away on an impressive looking game that has terrible gameplay!''

This is where Fire Pro really shines! With all the modes of play and music and graphics to support it, Fire Pro is the single funnest wrestling game on a hand held. One of the finest games around! It plays perfectly! There is no grapple button, but rather just walk close to your opponent. Fire Pro isn't a button masher, though. You can brawl with the A, B, and A+B commands. You have to wear down your opponent with your weak (B) moves, and then move onto medium (A) moves, then finally strong (A+B) moves. You can front or back grapple, you can attack them on the ground, from the ropes, the back; it's a real strategy game! There's so many ways to attack, and you have to do it strategically! This is what will make or break the game for you! In my opinion, this is what makes the game so much fun! With the strategy and timing needed, and the different difficulty levels, this game has a very real realm of realism, which makes the game extremely fun!
SCORE: 10

(7) REPLAY VALUE:
''I don't want to spend $40 on a game and play it for a week before throwing it away and forgetting about it. I want a game that I will never get tired of playing, is Fire Pro one of these types of games?''

Oh God yes! This game never gets old. Once you play forever in all the exhibition modes, you can start audience. You can play until you win all six styles of wrestling in audience mode with a certain wrestler, and beat a 64 man league, or 16 man tournament and that will last you for about two or three weeks. After words, do the same thing with all of the (about) 200 guys already in the game, and that will last you probably eight months of being challenged. Then you can make the COM level go up higher and higher for the bigger challenge. It never gets old...This game should last at least two years before you start to get tired of it...plus you can always create your own fighter/wrestler and then go through the above process.
SCORE: 10

Well, I hope you find this review helpful, and thank you for reading!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/01, Updated 07/09/01