If Nothing Else, An Amazing Arcade Port

The WWF is the hotest sports-entertainment division around now. If anything, they know what it means to deliver quality products to their fans. With the last 2 WWF-relateds video games, the federation has provided commercials that show off humor, gameplay, and let everyone know that it's out. It worked for Wrestlemania 2000. It worked for Smackdown. Curiously, however, there have been no commercials for Royal Rumble for Dreamcast. After playing it I can see why. Not that this is a bad game or anything. In fact, it's quite good. However, it cannot compare to the previous WWF titles.

Graphics - The graphics on WWF Royal Rumble are quite good. You get realistic facial textures and body textures for the wrestlers involved here. Everything is done smoothly and there are noticable seams in the joints. The wrestler entrances, while short, are exactly what you would see in a real match. The ring and the arena are done perfectly and every noticable detail in the areas is kept. About the only gripe I have here is that the microphones in the intros are huge, killing the illusion of reality here. Also, there's only one arena here. Granted the game is based on one event, but a little bit of variety would be nice.

Sound - Everything on Smackdown is basically dropped here. The sound is the same and so is the music. This is a good thing since the sound and music on Smackdown were impressive enough. However, with the power and space of a Dreamcast, announcer voices are still missed here.

Gameplay - The controls are done very well here, much like the arcade version it was based on. Special moves and grappling moves are easy to pull off and fun to do so. The Special meter gauges you on if you can perform a special signature move or not. However, since it is also used to escape from pinfalls, using it means using strategy, which is a good thing. However, here is where the game flaws. First off, you have the ability to get randomly transported to another area of the ring at any time. For example, int he middle of the fight, the game stops, players look around, and the next minute you're in the parking lot. Not quite realistic and not quite fun aft er a while. The other major gripe is that aside from exhibition mode and royal rumble modes, that's it. No other modes exist here that have become staples of wrestling games. So if you like the arcade enough to want to take it home, then this is ok. Another aspect that is flawed is the run-in. Not by your partner character but by random people in the back. Most of the time in the match, several wrestlers come out and smack down anyone they come near. This destroys the momentum you might have in a match and is very unrealistic.Finally, you only have 20 wrestlers in the game, including secret characters. THis is both bad considering that other wrestling games have a larger stable and bad because in the royal rumble mode, you're more likely to see the same wrestler over and over again. I mean, as much as I like The Rock, if I beat him in Royal Rumble mode, I don't expect him to come back in the match.

Bottom line: If you loved the arcade game, get this game. If you're a rabid WWF fan, you'll get this anyway. If you're anyone else, rent this first or see the arcade game to determine whether or not you want it in your library.