 Fire Pro Wrestling G for Sony PlayStation
After playing Fire Pro Wrestling G, I have never looked at any wrestling game quite the same. Though it now looks a little quaint, it still stands as one of the best wrestling games I've encountered.
There is a bit of a learning curve on this game, not because the controls are confusing or difficult to use, but rather because everything is in Japanese, necessitating the use of an online translation guide or, if you're rich like Jason Bateman in "Silver Spoons," a human translator. Of course, if you are Japanese, then you have a clear advantage, though most likely your penis is below-average compared with other nationalities.
The character selection in FPWG is astounding. From The Rock to Ric
Flair, from Chris Jericho to Justin "Thunder" Liger, almost every famous
wrestler from across the globe at the time of the games release is in
there. Well, actually, that's almost true. The
exact number of wrestlers is 194, with visual representations so accurate that the game could never be
released in America due to copyright laws. They all sport their
signature moves and mannerisms. The Great Muta's mist, The Rock removing
his elbowpad before delivering the People's Elbow, Stone Cold giving the
middle finger, Ric Flair begging off his opponent, you name it and they
probably do it.
The game features the standard single and tag team modes, a four-man "every man for himself" match, a career mode, various
tournament modes, an octagon match a la "Ultimate Fighting Championship," and
my personal favorite: an Electrified Cage Time Bomb deathmatch! Nothing
like watching your opponent get electrocuted when you throw him into the
cage or seeing a ring exploded with wrestlers in it.
But what makes FPWG stand out from other wrestling games is the excellent
create-a-player mode, in which you can fine tune everything to your
liking, from height and weight, to birthday, to each and every one of your
wrestlers moves, and more. You can choose from 298 different characters,
the 194 available in the game, and another 104 that are wrestlers, but
only available for body models. And from these models, you can change
just about every body part, whether it be their arms, legs, feet, torso,
or hands. Since I had huge amounts of free time when I got this game, I
was able to really get into this feature. I created several wrestlers,
most of whom are meant to resemble close friends. I made wrestlers for nearly the entire Loud Bassoon staff, and the physical resemblance was uncanny,
though I was not able to boost the "cynicism" quotient, so they weren't 100% like the real people … thank God.
So does it play
well? By far, FPWG's controls are the best out there. Moves are easily
executed due to the well-suited-for-wrestling (read: not fighting game
style) control system, and the game lacks the collision issues that plague
most wrestling games. For example, on almost every other wrestling game,
if your opponent is executing a piledriver on your tag team partner, your
punches will go right through them. Here, though, you'll hit them and
they'll release your partner. A small detail, sure, but definitely a
welcome one.
Which brings me to moves. This game has every single move you can think
of and some you would never imagine. Rarely do you find a game where the available moves will actually make you laugh (in appreciation, not derision), and there are a few of these in FPWG. Most
moves are realistic ones, although you'd never see an American wrestler
try to pull them off. We're talking about 281 different grapple moves to
choose from for the O button. 281!!! There are 42 different moves from
the top turnbuckle!! That's seven times as many moves as Hulk Hogan
knows.
Graphics are a mixed bag. The best way to describe them is Sega Genesis
graphics, cleaned up. That is, unlike every other wrestling game on the
Playstation, these are not 3-D graphics, they are 2-D. Not that the
graphics are bad, though. In fact, the characters are very well animated,
and pretty well detailed. On the other hand, if you must have the latest
3-D graphics, the 2-D FPWG will almost certainly leave you underwhelmed.
And the sound is definitely nothing to write home about either. While the
sound effects are your usual wrestling fare, the music sucks. The best thing I can say about the music is that
it's easy to turn off.
Review by JAC |