Fire Pro Wrestling
Reviewed by JPeeples
Fire Pro Wrestling was released as one of the Game
Boy Advance's launch titles on June 11, 2001. FPW was
developed by Spike, and was translated and
distributed by Bay Area Media (or BAM for short.} FPW
is the first wrestling game for the GBA, it is also
the first Fire Pro game to be released outside of the
U.S. The FPW series has been held in high regard by
wrestling fans for over a decade due to its versatile
game engine that allows you to have wrestling matches
with the flow of actual matches. The FPW series is
also famous for its thorough create a wrestler mode,
which was unmatched until some of the newer, PSX and
N64 wrestling games were released. FPW also features
a deathmatch mode that takes place inside of an
exploding steel cage; UFC-style fights can also be
done in the game thanks to the game's Gruesome mode.
There is a battle royale mode in FPW, as well as the
never before seen Audience match, in which you must
win the applause of the audience in order to keep
going. Wrestlers from all over the world are featured
in FPW; stars from the WWF, WCW, ECW, New Japan Pro
Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling
NOAH, and FMW are in this game. There have been some
changes to the characters to avoid copyright
infringements; all of the characters appear under
different names, and, in the case of WWF, WCW, and
ECW wrestlers, their appearances have been changed.
The graphics in FPW are underwhelming in some
respects, and stunning in others. The game takes
place in 2D, with a 3/4 overhead perspective that
allows you to see everything going on. FPW also
features amazing animation for most of the moves,
unfortunately, for some moves, most notably cradles,
the animation is sparse. The animation for some of
the special attacks is, for the most part, amazing,
yet just like with the regular moves, some of them
look shoddy, Mitsuharu Misawa's Roaring Elbow is an
example of this, the move lacks quite a bit of
animation and looks choppy. Thankfully, 90% of the
animation is super-smooth, the choppy animation can
get in the way of the realistic aspect of the game,
but it never really effects the actual flow of the
gameplay. All in all, the graphics are a bit
hit-or-miss. Some of the animations need a lot of
work, while others couldn't be done better. The
character sizes could be larger, the characters can
be a bit hard to see, and this has the potential to
negatively effect the gameplay if you don't learn how
to compensate for it. Overall, the graphics get the job done.
The FPW series has never really been known for
amazing music, and this game will not do much to end
that trend. Each character in the game has their own
unique theme music, it's a shame that most of it
consists of simple bleeps and bloops that could have
been done on a NES. The sound effects for most of the
moves are spot-on, the Òslice" sound of a chop is an
example of this. However, some of the sound effects
are horrendous, the squeaking sounds from Misawa's
Roaring Elbow are an example of this. There is some
light at the end of the tunnel for the game's sound;
the crowd and referee noises are unparalleled. During
the match, the crowd will hoot and holler, and,
during near falls, they will ooh and aah. The
referee's voice can be heard during pin and
submission attempts, during near fall pin attempts,
his voice will sound more excited, as if more emotion
is going into the count, this really does quite a bit
for the atmosphere of the game. Overall, the sound of
the game is good, while the theme music and some of
the sound effects are poor, most of the sound effects
are amazing, and, in the case of referee and crowd
effects, they really add quite a bit to the game.
Now, onto the bread and butter of the game; the part
of the game that has allowed it to reach legendary
status in the land of the rising sun, gameplay. The
gameplay engine in the FPW series is amazingly
versatile, most any kind of match can be done to
perfection with it, that alone speaks volumes. This
engine can do WWF-style pomp-and-circumstance
matches, it can do long, drawn-out, and engrossing
battles like AJPW and NOAH, and it can do the
hardcore stylings of ECW and FMW perfectly. The game
engine can also handle shootfighting better than some
of the commercially released shootfighting games (say
Òhello" PSX version of UFC.} How's that for a diverse
engine? Gameplay goes a little something llike this;
you and your opponent come into contact with
oneanother, you grapple, whoever pulls off a button
combination the fastest, and does a combination that
overrides the opponents' combination will win the
grapple. Once you execute a move, you might have it
countered, this is especially true for your
character's special move, which can be done at any
point in the match, but be strategic with it, or else
you'll get countered endlessly, and you might get
pinned. PFW also forces you to use quite a bit of
pacing in the match, you see, in the FPW games, you
have to control your breathing; going for a series of
high impact moves right off the bat might seem like a
good idea, but it could leave you winded and out of
breath, this will leave you wide open for your
opponent. You can breathe throughout the match by
pressing the L trigger, be sure to breathe as much as
you can, you can't risk getting winded. To top it all
off, FPW features a multitude of modes for you to try
out this multifaceted game engine. There's an
exhibition match, which allows you to have singles
matches, deathmatches, tag matches, and shootfights
at will. There's a tournament mode in which you pit
wrestlers against each other. Fans of the WWF's King
of the Ring will love this mode. There's a league
mode that is essentially a round robin mode. You
score points based on wins, the wrestler with the
most points wins. There's the brand new audience
match that tests your mettle in one of six distinct
fighting styles. There's a Strong fighting style;
characters who rely on power moves will do well in
this mode. There's the Showman style, where showy
matches are appreciated. There's a Stoic style in
which quick matches draw huge reactions. There's a
Lucha style, where high-flying expertise is adored.
There's a Hardcore style, where no-holds-barred
fighting is appreciated, and illegal tactics are
encouraged. Finally, there's a freestyle mode, in
which all styles of fighting are appreciated. All of
these styles are represented perfectly with this game
engine. FPW features the best wrestling game engine
ever in my honest opinion.
The control in FPW is as pristine as the gameplay. A
and B are used for striking moves, and when the
buttons are pressed simultaneously, a special attack
will be unleashed. The game's grappling system has
been dissected in my gameplay description, so I won't
dwell on it here. The controls are quite responsive,
and never cause one bit of trouble.
The replay value in FPW is through the roof. There
are 157 default wrestlers, and there are 43 hidden
wrestlers, for a grand total of 200 wrestlers! On top
of that, FPW allows you to create your own wrestler,
77 slots have been allocated in the game's edit mode;
this mode enables you to customize your own wrestling
company; well, name and roster-wise anyways.
FPW is a wrestling fan's dream game. It gives you a
flawless game engine and a seamless control scheme.
It enables you to have your own dream matches. Ever
wanted to see Goldberg face the Rock? It can be done
in this game. This game gets my highest
recommendation, it is, without a doubt, the finest
wrestling game ever created, barring Firepro
Wrestling D for the Dreamcast. While the graphics
leave a bit to be desired, as does the sound, the
gameplay more than makes up for any trivial fault the
game may have. Simply put, if you're a wrestling fan,
you must buy this game.
Overall: 10 out of 10