Rumble Roses

THE BAD:
Fairly shallow gameplay. Very limited variety of matches. Subpar voice acting.

SUMMARY:
One of the more unusual wrestling games out on any system, Rumble Roses sets itself apart from other games in one very notable way-it's all-female wrestling. This wrestling/fighting hybrid boasts over 20 total girls all competing for the title "Rose Of Roses" and to simply beat, submit, and humiliate the others into total submission.

The graphics are generally very good. The characters look awesome and animations are very smooth, not to mention they nicely display their...quantum physics while in action. The backgrounds are decent but the rather static crowd animations are a notable eyesore. Sounds are solid as well, led by an excellent soundtrack featuring some of Konami's wide selection of music talent. Many songs are performed by artists that fans of the Dance Dance Revolution series will recognize, including favorites Akira Yamaoka, Des-ROW, and dj TAKA, plus a few songs from the games themselves. Character dialogue is fun to listen to and the sound effects are usually right on, but some of the voice acting seems a little uninspired and not matching the character's personality. Controls are fairly simple and easy to learn, but can seem unresponsive at times when you're trying to do a certain move with a specific buttom combo and you get a whole different move. You'll be trying to do one move and either get something else or not press the correct buttons enough times to actually do it. Gameplay is equally wrestling and fighting like most wrestling titles. All the characters have the usual assortment of punches, kicks, and various holds and submission moves, plus 3 unique "charge-based" moves that can be used when certain criteria are met, similar to a super or finishing move. There isn't a lot of depth in the action and very few complex moves and combos, but on the flip side it does make the game a little more accessible and easy to pick up and play. There's also a decent story mode that lets you take your character through a series of matches to unlock their alter ego, plus exhibition matches that incorporate a unique "vow system"-by meeting certain criteria you can make a girl be more a face or heel, which not only earns you title shots but helps unlock even more bonus content. And of course there's the game's selling point-mud wrestling matches. Basically a wrestling match in the mud, which is good clean fun. Multiplayer is also available for 2 players head-to-head, but the lack of co-op or tag team action is a bit of a letdown.

Although it doesn't have anywhere close to the depth of the WWE games, for those who just want a guilty pleasure type of game or want something more real than what's on TV it's a great pickup, plus it's very small learning curve makes it easy to quickly jump in, learn how to win fairly fast, and start working towards the unlockables. The vow system and different personalities for each character help to add more replay value. Not to mention that it can now be had for about $10 new, making it a hard-to-pass-up bargain bin find. If you can get a copy, just go ahead and buy it given it won't cost much more than a rental, and once you start playing it you might find it hard to put down. Just don't play it when the wife or girlfriend is around.