The games THQ pushed out over the years have always stayed close to simulation, with some minor experiments in arcade-style games.
No matter the wrestling video game, it seems players always want to be WWE Legends like Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. This hunger has been satiated in the past with unlockable characters in the SmackDown vs. Raw series and the standalone (yet lackluster) WWE Legends of WrestleMania. Now, the big names of yesteryear are back alongside some of the current headliners in WWE All Stars.
An arcadey, over-the-top look at Sports Entertainment, WWE All Stars is fun but some annoyances keep it from being a main eventer.
There are 30 WWE characters in WWE All Stars, and they range from Legends such as Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and Mr. Perfect to current Superstars such as Triple H and Randy Orton. The fact that so many of these people have already appeared in SmackDown vs. Raw might seem like a turnoff, but WWE All Stars goes out of its way to not look or feel like the simulation franchise SVR is.
Here, characters are action figure versions of themselves with gigantic torsos and booming biceps. Moves are the trademarks you'd know from watching folks like the Rock and Jake "the Snake" Roberts, but they're embellished with flips, leaps into the sky, and bone-crushing impacts that would destroy mortal men. When I heard about WWE All Stars, I was told it plays as if a little kid was describing a match he watched last night. That description rings true with the final product, and it makes for a really stunning game.
The colors are bright and beautiful, seeing stars like Rey Mysterio soar dozens of feet in the air made my friends and I scream in amazement, and I'd much rather see this revved up and ready Macho Man action figure spinning through the air than the "realistic" interpretation I've seen before. WWE All Stars has a great style.
WWE All Stars also has a great concept for gameplay, but I think the control scheme trips it up. This game is supposed to be a pick up and play, arcade experience. There are strike and grapple buttons, health bars, finishing move meters and a bunch of other stuff that's simple for a player to look at and understand. That's groovy. Being able to get in and do an awesome powerbomb or charge up a punch is rewarding and how a game designed to capture an audience lured in by Rowdy Roddy Piper should play.
What classic WWF/WWE wrestling games are worth playing now? Quite a few, actually.
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WCW/NWO World Tour and Wrestlemania 2000 were peak wrestling games. Back when wrestling was at the top of pop culture, everyone in school would watch. The gameplay is phenomenal and create your own characters opened up the door to WCW vs WWF. What a time!
The best wrestling games range from all-time classics on the N64 all the way up to some surprising new hitters you should check out.
I was always partial to the arcade wrestling games like Saturday night slam masters, wwf superstars, wrestlefest, wrestlemania, wrestle war and then a NES classic... pro wrestling. By the time the N64 era of wrestling games happened, I wasnt into wrestling much anymore (tv & games).
Starman was awesome. I also remember a tan dude with bright yellow hair. Good times!
Virtual Pro Wrestling 1 & 2 > Most games on that list.
Also, WCW/NWO Revenge should be #2 minimum.
WWE 2k13 thanks to the WWE Attitude Mode. Followed by WWE Attitude and ECW Hardcore Evolution.
also: ECW! ECW! ECW!
Ratings aren't everything! Sometimes some of the best games were the biggest flops. Wondering which ones deserved more love? These ten were better than people thought.
"its pretty good" is usually why its yellow on metacritic. yellow isnt a bad average but when comparing to competition, it would be wrong for these games to have a much higher average unless it was deserved. but then again it is all opinion. some of these games have a cult following and high user reviews.
There's no way in hell I would ever have Resident Evil 6 and Marvel Vs Capcom Infinte in a list of underappreciated games!
Both are the absolute low point of their respective series.
RE6 is a great game but a bad Resident Evil. Capcom should lauched it as a New IP back then
mvci suffered from presentation and licensing issues but the gameplay was phenomenal.
I truly enjoyed the game but I knew when to stop. I finished the story and did most challenges, upgrades, strongholds and things but there was no way I was going to loot all the scrap in each location
I really enjoyed it too but the critics hated it with a passion for some reason. Too masculine I expect, I know that sounds like a dumb reason but I suspect it was for a few of them.
This game rocks!
I haven't played a wrestling game since the Smackdown games on PS2 since I stopped watching it but I always found them a laugh, especially with mates. I played the demo for the last All Stars or Legends game (can't remember the name of it) but it really didn't suit my tastes and from what I've seen of this it doesn't look like this one would either, just seems a bit too flashy for me (kind of the opposite to your own review of it!).
But nice review, nice and informative. Just one question, why did you say the graphics was one of the downsides to the game when it seems that it was one of the things you liked the most? xD
That's cool that they went for the more stylized approach for once. The WWE is so stupid these days. So conservative, boring, "realistic"...
I went back and watched some old wrestling stuff (Back when WWE was WWF), wondering if I just used to like it because I was a dumb kid (In the 90s); I found it fairly entertaining. The characters were exponentially more entertaining than those today and the fighting was more interesting (Less conservative; they did a lot more dangerous stuff - now it's all.....UFC-ish. It's obvious that they're being a lot more cautious in avoiding injuries).
I can't remember playing a wrestling game with half the feature set or fun as WWF No Mercy. That's the problem with most modern wrestling games. No Mercy was the peak of wrestling games IMO.