Fire Pro Wrestling

"A Wrestling Game for the Fans by the Fans"

Being a wrestling fan, it is hard to find a good video game adaptation of the sport. I have played many wrestling games in my day, but none have ever been as good as Fire Pro Wrestling. This series is the staple of Japanese wrestling fans and never was it ever brought to America... until now. Let's take a look at this wonderous spectacle that we call a wrestling game.

Graphics: 7/10

THe graphics are above average for this type of game. You can tell who your character is with little trouble, but they all look a little pixalated. Sure, the graphics are small, but the animation is phenomenal. Every major wrestling hold and manuver is copied to the T in this game. Piledrives look like piledrivers and punches look like the way they are done in the ring. THe motions are very fluid and they more than make up for the small graphics. The Create-a-Wrestler option also has a large variety of costumes that look like the real ones used by the current crop of wrestlers in the sport.

The only big problem I have here in this department is that they renamed and reoutfitted all of the wrestlers to avoid any coppyrights. True, you get to play as the Rock, but you have to play as his renamed clone. This can be all changed in the Create-a-Wrestler option, but it would have been nice to call a few inactive wrestlers by their real names or their most famous gimics. Oh well...

Sound: 6/10

The music really is a big disapointment in this game, but it is a lot better than some games that are out there. It does recreate some wrestlers' theme songs pretty well, like Stone Cold Steve Austin's theme is pretty accurate, as well as the Giant Baba's song as well. THe sound effects are what you would expect from a wrestling game. THere is crowd noise going on in the background constantly, as well as their occasional cheers and boos. We hear the wrestlers grunt in exhaustion if they are going at it for a while, and the hits sound quite brutal, especially the sound of bones breaking when you score a critical on your opponent. Over all, it's above average in the sound department.

Gameplay: 10/10

Perfection. This game is a dream to play because the controls are so fine tuned that you can actually do a move that you mean to do! This game is all about precision button presses and not about button mashing that was so prevelant in older wrestling games *cough*WWF Road to Wrestlemania*cough*. If you see it done on TV, you will more than likely be able to do it in this game. There are a few tiny problems with this games controls, like trying to hit your opponents with Palanchas when they are outside the ring and the occasional whiff of a running move, but that is all tertiary to the big picture.

In this game you not only control your wrestler's movements, you also control his breathing. Breathing is paramount in this game. Since you have no visable life meter, you have to rely on the posture of your wrestler. If your wrestler starts to hunch over, you have to hit the breathing button to help him get his breath back so he can do those finishers you desperately want to hit. If you don't, your guy will double over and not be able to move! It is a vital aspect that makes this game king with its strategic elements.

The gameplay modes feture some features that pop up in all games of this type (Exhibition, Battle Royal, Tournament, Legue, LAst Man Standing), but they also added in a very interesting mode called Audience Match. This mode is quite interesting because you must wrestle in a certain type of style in order to ge tthe approval of the fans. This is where the simulation aspects kick in. You can choose from a variety of styles: Strong (makes you fight power matches that are long and feature back and forth battles), King's Road (Classic Japanese style wrestling that has a see-saw type struggle that must be won with a decisive victory), Showman (American style of wrestling that forces you to play to the audience in the form of taunts and signature moves), Stoic (Has you participate in a UFC style bout where you must knock out your opponent or have him submit), Hardcore (ECW style matches where the more blood shead the better), Lucha Libre (Mexican style wrestling that you must do death-defying moves and stay in motion constantly), and Freestyle (You can win any way you want, but you have to play by the rules of the tier you are fighting in). You have to beat all of these modes to unlock all of the characters. It may seem like a daunting task, but you really only have to wrestle once per style to unlock everyone. Your actions in the ring are judged at the end of every match, regardless if you won or lost. If you gave the fans a good show, you can get to the next and much harder tier. This is a mode that will test your limits and cause you to have a great time.

The last thing to talk about here is the Create-a-Wrestler option. You are given free reign on what you want to do. You can recreate all of the wrestlers you see on TV that are not available in the game, or you can even create a wrestler of your own choosing. The body parts available can make pretty much anyone you want and the sheer number of moves is mind blowing. You are given fighting styles of Luchadores, Shoot fighters, Wrestlers and brawlers to mix and match to create your perfect wrestler. You can color coordinate your creation, or make him a jumbled mess of colors, its up to you. You also have to set their main fighting syle as well as their defense style as well. THese two attributes determine what the optimum moves that you can use (Example: If you select Shoot as both your main fighting style and defense style, you are more likely to not get exhausted by doing punch combos, but get severly winded if you do a Dragon Screw, which is a typical wrestling move). You also can power up your fighter by giving him points in how fast he can recover, how perseptive he is, how fast he moves, how hard his attacks are and even special traits that can turn the tide for you in a battle. You can store up to 45 wrestlers in this mode, so don't be affraid to experiment.

Difficulty: 10/10

This game is hard, especially in the Audience match mode. You can adjust the difficulty to make things easier, especially if you aren't used to the controls. You will definitly be challenged in this game.

Overall: 10/10

Sure, the graphics are so-so and the sound is mearly average, but the heart and soul that burns like a fire is the modes of play and the responsive controls. If you are a major wrestling fan tired of the crappy games WWE has been sending our way, choose the Cadilllac of wrestling games. You will not be dissapointed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/12/02, Updated 12/12/02