Fire Pro Wrestling

"Fire Pro Wrestiling A...A+ that is."

Introduction:
Fire Pro Wrestling Advance packs an explosive punch for its players with a fresh new approach to the wrestling genre. The wrestlers no longer land their finisher in the opening minutes of a match. Because this game relies on its gameplay to deliver the fun to its players and not its graphics, gamers feel the tactical aspect of wrestling as opposed to its glorified graphic intensive counter parts.

Graphics:
The Fire Pro Series has never been known for astounding graphics, instead the game depends heavily on gameplay. Contrary to other wrestling titles, Fire Pro utilizes an almost overhead view of the ring from one angle. In addition, the 2-D wrestlers fight their matches in a steel cage, electric cage, or a standard ring. These 2-D sprites are wonderfully done with creative animations and no slow down. Some may think it would be difficult to differentiate between tiny wrestlers on a portable system. Because of the wrestler’s detail, this does not occur. Not only is the in ring action eye-catching, but the lively audience appears into each and every match each with their own distinguishable reactions and emotions. The crisp and clear menus throughout the game help make the game easy to navigate. With all of the menus in Create a Wrestler mode it is essential for there to be a sense of organization. Fire Pro Wrestling accomplishes this remarkably.

One complaint about the graphics, a very miniscule one I might add, occurs when fighting outside of the ring. If one of the wrestlers is whipped into the corner outside of the ring, the screen does not scroll over to that portion of the screen. It is a very minor complaint but when trying to perform a move in the darkness can be annoying.

Music and Sound:
Each wrestler enters the squared circle with his or her own theme music. The songs begin to sound lumped together after a while, but some tunes drastically change from wrestler to wrestler. A wide range of music selection is available for creating a wrestler so that should not be a problem when creating one. The sound effects accompany the game well. The referee’s voice is worth mentioning. He uses various phrases throughout the course of a match. The crowd also cheers and taunts the wrestlers going at it. Basically the sound does not add much to the game but on the other hand it does not detract much from the value of the game.

Gameplay:
With the previous aspects of the game lacking, some may be pondering why even bother with this game. The answer lies in its gameplay. Gone are the days in which you could pull off a wrestler’s finisher in the opening moments of the match. Try that in this game and the answer will be a strong reversal. In Fire Pro wearing the opponent down is the name of the game. The match begins with various weak moves using the B button. As the match progresses, stronger moves are called for. If the wrestler seems a bit tired he can breathe to regain some lost power by holding the L button, then finishing his opponent off with a very strong A+B attack or catapulting off of the top rope knocking the opponent down. An aspect that adds a great deal of fun to the game is the critical ability. By knocking the other wrestler out, a critical is obtained. Criticals are very hard to come by and when they do occur, the knocked out wrestler will be lying face down in the middle of the ring crippled.

Besides a standard match in the original squared circle, bouts occur in a cage and barbed wire electric fence rings. Up to four wrestlers can part take in any given match. Various play modes such as Audience match are also available to unlock additional wrestlers. By fighting to the style that will satisfy the taste of the fans, you gain respect and more fans will be on your side. If you gain a certain percentage of the fans’ approval, then you move on.

Create a Wrestler adds much more variety than in other games. The style in which the wrestler fights, appearance, and costumes are all at the creator’s disposal. With over five hundred moves, concocting the perfect wrestler could take some time. After he or she is made send the wrestler to fight against over 150 wrestlers and 50 more than need to be unlocked. Despite lacking in visuals and sounds the gameplay of Fire Pro more handles its fair share of why this game is so remarkable.

Controls:
Having a strong grasp on a game can only add to the value of a great game. Timing is necessary in this and all of the Fire Pro games. As the wrestlers grapple a move is entered and if the timing was good enough the move will be executed. One complaint about the controls would have to be landing top rope maneuvers. It is very difficult to judge whether or not the move can be landed.

Replay Value:
With all of the different modes of play and diverse wrestlers to choose from this game can be played over and over infinite amount of times. The ability to create and save seventy-three wrestlers will have your mind going crazy over how many different people you can come up with.

Overall:
Without much patience many will put this game down right way because of the high demand on gameplay and lack of visuals contrary to other games of this genre. So if you have to patience and are will to practice to get the timing down in order to execute moves this game is for you. If not, you may want to look elsewhere, but you will be missing out on the most accurate gameplay to date.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/22/01, Updated 09/28/01