WWF Royal Rumble
Reviewed by Greatest One
Attitude was a big improvement over Warzone. But that was
expected. Then Wrestlemania 2000 and Smackdown took it to
the next level. Again it was expected. A lot of people also
thought that therefore WWF Royal Rumble would be the best
wrestling game yet. After all it is on the 'most powerful'
console yet. But, that my friends, is untrue.
Royal Rumble is a big step down from the recent great
wrestling games that have come out. Granted it looks pretty
good graphically, but that is expected of the Dreamcast.
Unfortunately it is a huge letdown in other areas.
Every wrestling game that is about to be released generally
hypes the number of wrestlers they are going to feature and
the wide number of modes they have. Royal Rumble falls way
short in both of these categories. There are only about 20
wrestlers in the game. 20 is way too small a number. Warzone
had 16 wretslers to choose from and that was the first of
the new breed of wrestling games. With only 20 or so
wrestlers, the replay value goes down drastically. Also most
of the wrestlers have basically the same moves except their
trademark and finishers. Also, picking different wrestlers
won't necessarily give you a power or speed advantage. THQ
really needs to expand the roster.
Another major negative point for the game is the lack of
modes. There are only 2: Exhibition and Royal Rumble. No
career mode, no tag team mode and definitely no special
matches like tables or ladders (or chairs, Oh My). The
exhibition is just a 10 stage match where you pick a partner
and fight other wrestlers. The Royal Rumble mode is supposed
to be the selling point of the game.
At first glance, this mode looks great. You can have up to 9
wrestlers in the ring at a time with no graphical problems.
You can raise a lot of hell. Well, once you look deeper, you
find that this mode is lacking too. One reason is as stated
above. There are only about 20 wrestlers in the game. The
Royal Rumble mode requires the number of wrestlers to be 30.
This results in some of the same wrestlers coming back for a
second shot. That goes completely against the spirit of the
Royal Rumble. Once a wrestler is eliminated he should stay
eliminated. What's the point of eliminating Kane during the
match, only to have him win it all? It reeks of stinktitude.
Some people might say that well that can be fixed by
creating a few wrestlers and throwing them in right?
Wrong. Royal Rumble has committed the greatest sin in
wrestling games history. There is no create-a-wrestler
mode. You cannot create your favorite wrestlers from other
federations. You cannot create anyone. Recent wrestling
games have tried to make the create a wretler mode the best
in their games. WM2K's best part was the create-a-wretler
mode. Huge mistake here by THQ.
Another bad thing is the entrances in the game. Royal Rumble
has reverted back to the 3 second entrances of Warzone. You
see the wrestler do a pose and thats it, nothing more. You
have to wonder why so much was left out of this game, and if
the 9 men in the ring didn't take too much out of the system?
Overall Royal Rumble doesn't really feel like an advancement
to the wrestling genre, but more like a beginning on the
Dreamcast.
Graphics: 8.
They are pretty good, although not that much better than
Smackdown. One good thing is there is no slowdown or pop up,
not even during the Royal Rumble.
Sound: 2.
There is no real themes during the entrances, just some
cra*py music. You can hear the themes at the ned of the
fight for just a bit though. Also, no commentary.
Gameplay: 3.
The game plays like most other wrestling games. But there
needed to be more wrestlers and more moves. There is no
career mode to give you a challenge.
Replay value: 4.
As soon as the Royal Rumble mode wears off its novelty, this
game will stop spinning in your Dreamcast. There are just
not enough modes. No tag team? Come on.
Overall: 3 out of 10
A bad start for the first Dreamcast only wrestling game. So
far the other 2 new wrestling games are looking a lot better
than this cra*. Dont bother buying it. Just rent it to live
out your royal Rumble dreams and wait for the next one.
OR
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