WWE Road to WrestleMania X8

"WWE Road to WrestleMania X8 - Is it the best wrestling game to ever grace the Gameboy Advance?"

Yep you read the title. Is this the best wrestling game to ever grace the Gameboy advance?

You know for The last few weeks I was looking forward to this game coming out. Bestbuy said on their website that they would have it the 8th of october. They lied to me! So I went to funcoland last friday(the 25th) With my 20 bucks in hand. I found the game on the shelf and took it up to the casher. She told me that she knew this game would start selling copies and she knew that alot of people would want the game. Boy was she right.

I paid for the game quickly,So excited about finally getting the game that i looked forward to for months. I practicly ran out to the car and put that game in my GBA. But was I going to be disapointed like i was when the first Road to wrestlemania game came out?

The Story of the game:
Before we go into this review,Lets rewind back to november 19th of last year when the WWF brought it's first Wrestling game to the Gameboy advance.

Last November i didn't have a GBA,Because I was going to receive one at chrismas as a present. I read the reviews of the first game,And they all said it lacked polish. Now i am a diehard WWF(E)Fan and always have been. I always buy their games no matter how bad the reviews are. Road to wrestlemania was no different.

I Bought it last march,I played It and at first was Extremely Disapointing,But as I played it more and more I began to enjoy it a little bit. Sure the graphics were cartoonish but I love Wrestling way too much to just not play the game. I played it but never finished the season mode as Triple H,My favorite wrestler.

After a while,I got bored with it and moved on to bigger and better games.(All three Mario games to be exact,Lol!)

Now the first game was pretty dull,But still if your a wrestling fan,It's worth buying. But back to the review.

A New Game,New fun:

When i popped Road to wrestlemania X8 into my GBA,I decided to do a quick warm up match as The Rock against Test. Needless to say,In my first match I got my butt handed to me on a silver platter by Test. I still at that very moment,Fell in love with the game. As I became more acustomed to the game,I loved it even more.

Everything about the game seemed smooth,The game play,The sound and the graphics all seemed smooth. The cartoony graphics of the first game? Gone. The horrible sound and gameplay of the first game? Gone. The game just felt good.

Now after I won a few matches,I decided to start a Career mode as Test. The only Title he could go after was the Hardcore title. So after 4 wins,He was the hardcore champ. The next title he won was the IC title followed by the Undisputed title and then the tag team titles.

I played this game about 3-4 hours per day for 3 days. It never got boring,Because there was always something new to do.

The only real let down of this game is that there is no create a wrestler mode and only 15 superstars. Those 15 are:The Rock,Test,Triple H,Christian,Hulk hogan,The Undertaker,D'von dudley,Buh buh ray dudley,Kane,Rob van dam,Booker T,Kevin nash,Chris Jericho,Kurt angle. Sorry no Hardyboyz,Hurricane,lance storm,eddie guerrero,chris benoit or even the current WWE champ,Brock lesnar. No womens wrestlers either.

Graphics:The graphics for this game are great. Probably one of the best on the GBA. You can tell which wrestlers are which and every wrestler looks like they do in realife.

On the first game,The undertaker didn't look anything like what he looks like in realife. On this game,He looks just like the undertaker you see on TV every thursday night on smackdown!.

The ring looks just like it does in realife too,Everything about it looks nice. It's alot more polished then the first game.

While the Crowd isn't that good,You've got to realize that this IS the GBA we are talking about,And considering the cartrage size,I'd say the graphics on this game are just that good!

Graphics Rating:9

Gameplay:

The Gameplay on this game is very smooth. There are alot more moves then in the first game. This game isn't your button masher,It takes time to know the move set.

Every Wrestler has a different move set,And in order to win at this game,You need to know your wrestlers move set well. If you know your Wrestlers move set well,You can win with ease. Just kicking/punching someone over and over again won't get the job done.

Last years game if you remember,Really for each wrestler it was the same old move set. This game has the wrestlers actual move set. For examble,Test has his pump handled slam and big boot. Kurt angle has his belly to belly suplex and the like. Triple H has a spear(He used that move alot when he returned in january)and the pedigree. The rock has his spinebuster and rock bottom. Last years game just didn't have that kind of move set.

I like this game alot because of the Gameplay,It's not as hard to learn as fire pro wrestling but at the same time you need to pick a wrestler,take a half hour of time to learn his moveset well. After that it's pretty much smooth sailing.

But if your looking for a wrestling game with great gameplay,and that is easy to learn,this is the game.

Rating:10

Sound:

The sound on last years game was rather weak. The sound on this game is pretty good.

The theme music,Considering it's GBA,Is pretty good. The undertakers theme sounds just like his real life them. The rocks does too. As does Test's. The only one theme that is difficult to recognize is Kevin Nash's NWO theme. It really doesn't sound like his theme.

But other then Nash's theme,All the themes sound as they do on TV.

I admit that when i bought this game I thought maybe they would have the actual themes but I guess we will have to wait.

The ring sounds are about the same as last years game. But there is a slight improvement in the crowd sounds.

The music at the beginning of the game is decent. I do wish they would of had the saliva ''Superstar'' Song or even the Drowning pool song ''Tear Away'' on there but oh well. Maybe next years game will have that.

The sound on this game,All in all is good.

Rating:9

Modes:

This is probably the best part of the game:THE MODES! As silly as it sounds,There is more modes on this game then there was in the WWF Raw game for Xbox! And this is why i love nintendo.

The modes on this game are great. The modes that i personally love the most are:Championship mode,PPV mode and royal rumble mode.

The championship mode is absolutely great. The thing that i love the most about it is that you have to work all the way through the mid card ranks with mid carders just to get a shot at the undisputed title. The championship mode isn't as long as last years game,It's better. It really varies on which title your going after,how much time it will take. For examble,If you want to win the hardcore title you'll need to win four matches. If you want the IC title you'll need to win between 7 and 10 matches. If you want the Undisputed title,You'll need to win quite a few handicapped matches which are always fun. This championship mode is the best i've seen on probably any system and this is coming from a tiny little cartrage!

The Pay per view mode is very fun. You have to book to the crowds enjoyment. Unlike in real life,Vince McMahon actually cares about the crowd and what they want. A poorly booked PPV that the crowd doesn't like gets you in hot water with vinny mac. ''What the heck was that? I should have you fired'' Says vinny mac with a angry picture of him above where it says that. A greatly booked PPV that the crowd is happy with gets a nice message from Vinny. While there is only 6 PPV's to book,Those 6 are lots of fun when you try to please not only the crowd but Vince McMahon himself.

The royal rumble mode is much fun too. While there is only 14 other Wrestlers beside you,It's still fun trying to hang it out all through the match. I have yet to actually hang it out through the match. I always get eliminated near the end.

The other mode is exibition. You can have 3 stages of hell matches,Hardcore matches,Iron man matches,Cage matches and even a classic lumber jack match!

If your looking for a game with tons of great modes,This is the game to get. You'll never get bored with so many modes.

Rating:10

Closing Comments:
This game is certainly a improvement over the first game. But is it the best wrestling game on the GBA? My answer is yes. Even fire pro wrestling in all it's glory is not quite as good as this game. If you are looking for a great game to add to your collection,This is the game to get. It is a huge bargain for 20 bucks. With this game you'll never get bored. It will provide you with endless hours of fun and enjoyment.

The Game's Verdict:Buy this game,I promise you won't be disapointed!

Game Rating:10 of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/29/02, Updated 10/29/02