REVIEW : Action Arcade Wrestling (PS4)
Wrestling has captured audiences of all ages from all over the world throughout the years with breathtaking theatrics and favourite fan superstars performing all kinds of crunching moves, all of which mainly come from the WWE’s dominant realm. The gaming adaptation of this hasn’t been kind in recent years, with several disappointments from prior editions of the WWE games. With no serious competition for the wrestling title, this wouldn’t normally make a difference. Now, we welcome newcomer Action Arcade Wrestling to the ring to see if we finally have the show-stopper that everyone has been waiting for.
Action Arcade Wrestling, developed by VICO Game Studio LLC, aims to rekindle the excitement in classics like WWF Wrestlefest and other popular arcade-infused hits from the 1990s and early 2000s. However, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is nothing more than filler with a name like Action Arcade Wrestling. However, if you put in a little effort, you’ll find that this is an event that can hold its own between the ropes.
Then it’s on to the gameplay, and there’s only one way to play Action Arcade Wrestling (AAW for this review), and that’s through Exhibition Matches. Unfortunately, there is no Career mode, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to look forward to. AAW has plenty to keep you engaged with 16 match types to select from, and that’s before you get into the lads and ladies you’ll be flinging about the ring.
Standard 1v1, 3-Way Dance, 4-Way Dance, Tag team and Elimination Tag, Battle Royal, and more are various match formats. Regardless of which match type you choose, there isn’t much to learn before you’re ready to go on a rampage in search of the pinfall.
Thanks to the two-button system used, you’ll have learned that most of the game’s functions are related to either the X or B button, with X for striking and B for grappling after thorough training. When you combine these with the Dpad or each other, you’ll be able to pull off a variety of ridiculous move sets from the 700 available, ensuring to make even the most seasoned veterans cringe by the time your opponent hits the mat.
While the controls are easy enough for any gamer to pick up and play, there are a few components to keep things interesting other than mastering each character’s moves; one of the most important is Power-ups.
Power-ups can take many forms; however, my favourite was the one that allowed characters with no remaining energy to get up and start the fight immediately, whereas they would ordinarily struggle to stand and be ripe for a pinfall. Another wonderful example is a power-up that allows your character to throw a barrage of strikes at your opponent, potentially knocking them out and rendering them unable to attack for a brief period, allowing you to execute a devastating move to deplete your opponent’s energy meter further.
During each battle, players must take advantage of every opportunity to gain as many points as possible to level up. Points are awarded for entertaining the audience with a wide range of moves and performance spots. Spots are objectives that show on the screen and ask players to complete a specific action within a certain amount of time. If you complete them, you will receive bonus points.
When it comes to the wrestlers you’ll be using to do this, AAW has a broad selection of varied, albeit generic-looking, fighters from which to chose. Some characters, such as those based on superheroes, can even fire lasers and fireballs to add a funny twist to things, and it appears that the makers have attempted to please everyone with at least one of the many possibilities available. The highlight, however, is not the original characters’ Krimson Klaw’ or ‘Rockin’ Ronnie,’ but rather the User Generated Creations that can be downloaded.
With no actual availability in-game to use the feature, establishing a wrestler or an arena will now require users to download the free companion software through PC to make projects operate as intended. Those who decide to jump on board will find one of the most in-depth creation suites accessible. Of course, if you want to add other people’s creations to your game, you can do so. Gamers have already produced several well-known and even famous fighters, and with 300 storage spots to fill, you can easily grow your roster into the hundreds.
It’s also worth noting that these creations aren’t shabby, with most of them including their real-life move sets, and often have more detail than the characters included in AAW.
To the audio side of things, AAW kicks things off with an upbeat soundtrack that looks to set the tone. It sounds like the 1990s, it feels like the 1990s, and it looks like it belongs in the 1990s. Unfortunately, we cannot enjoy fighter-specific music due to the lack of any character entrances — a squandered opportunity. Nonetheless, for a game that aims to relive the best of 90s sports entertainment, it works admirably, especially given the game’s arcade-style.
AAW takes a minimalistic approach to design, with a cartoon-Esque aesthetic design on display throughout. With the clear inspiration of 90s fighting games in mind during development, it’s easy to see why we haven’t gotten something a little more realistic.’ Instead, it appears the developers have managed a spot-on visual creation for those looking to relive the glory days of old, though it would have been nice to see a little more detail in the available fighters after all.
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