Hello. My name is Jimmy Farrow, and I’m a wrestling game-aholic.
Yep, that’s it. There can’t be any other reason than that for me spending my hard-earned cash on this game. What makes it worse is that I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be that great long beforehand, and I went ahead and bought it anyway. I’m an addict; what more can I say?
Wrestling game fans knew this was coming sooner or later. Eidos, makers of the Tomb Raider series, and Paradox have taken the first crack at recreating backyard wrestling in the game properly titled Backyard Wrestling: Don’t Dry this at Home. With THQ and Yukes holding the title belts for wrestling games, they’ll have some big shoes to fill.
So here we go…Backyard Wrestling for the Playstation 2.
Gameplay
As far as mechanics are concerned, Backyard Wrestling is a complete deviation from any other wrestler you’ve played. I can sum up the overall gameplay of Backyard Wrestling in just one simple phrase—all over the place.
The seven fully interactive stages you battle in allow a complete range of motion and creativity, as characters can climb structures like buildings, water towers, and balconies to dish out heavy damage. The environments are set up so that you can pick up and use just about anything as a weapon, which is pretty much the general premise of backyard wrestling. Along with that, the stages can be destroyed just as easily; windows break, fences crumble, and gas tanks explode, causing a widespread inferno. Solid concepts, yes. Overboard? Definitely, but it doesn’t hurt.
The most noticeable and irritating con in BYW is its fighting system, and in a wrestling game, that is the single most important aspect. Naturally, a player will be using weapons as the main strategy, but as you go, you will find yourself doing much more running around than actual fighting. From there, it turns into a silly “who can hit who first” game of chance. The system is entirely too one-dimensional, and this pretty much throws out any traditional wrestling tactics. A lack of moves per fighter also dumbs down the feel of the game, as each wrestler is restricted to eight moves and a finisher apiece. Speaking of moves, they followed the same gimmick that Def Jam: Vendetta pulled— they took a slew of authentic wrestling moves and finishers and renamed them. Nothing new.
Gameplay-killer number 2: Overall defense. Luck will save you more often than skill when it comes to blocking and countering in BYW. When it comes to countering moves, timing is totally invalid; when your character is about to get pummeled, somewhere in the animation he or she will blink…once. In that split second (and that’s no exaggeration), you have to press the correct counter button or get your face jammed into the lawn. You will find yourself button-jagging and praying that you counter at the right time, which, more than likely, you won’t. But, in its defense, as opposed to all the other wrestling games, you can reverse every single move used against you, with the exception of finishers.
Sure, you can counter a little bit, but that’s the only defensive luxury you will get in this game, as there is no blocking. I haven’t seen defense mechanics this crappy since Shaq Fu. It’s one thing for a developer to focus its attention on offense, but to totally phase out a blocking system is straight-up suicide.
Gameplay-killer number 3: The knockout system. This wouldn’t be that big of a deal if there were a selection in the options menu to turn off knockouts. Otherwise, this only turns a wrestling game into a fighting game. This was an issue I brought up in the Vendetta review…if you like to drag out a good ass-whoopin’, you won’t get that luxury here, all because of the knockout system. If you knock your opponent out, that’s it, match over, no more fun for you.
Gameplay-killer number 4: The lame create-a-wrestler option. I can’t say a damn thing that’s nice about this. After playing other wrestling games, this is by far the saddest attempt I’ve ever seen. Here’s what you get to play with: fifteen pre-set body types, each with twelve pre-set costumes, fifteen pre-set fighting styles, and a move list with very slim pickings. Notice how many times I used “pre-set”. Simply put, there is no real character creation here. This isn’t nitpicking; nowadays, you can’t put out a good wrestling game without including a decent creation mode.
Well, so much for potential. Backyard Wrestling’s gameplay is where it falters the most, and in gaming, that’s usually all it takes to bury a title.
Season…er, Talk Show Mode?
Yeah, Talk Show mode. It goes like this: Your town is broadcasting a talk show that interviews citizens who are rallying against the “phenomenon” of backyard wrestling. You work your wrestler through the stages, starting in your own backyard and working your way up to more popular establishments throughout the city, and you eventually do battle on the set of this talk show. I can almost let this slide simply because there are no real storylines with backyard wrestlers.
However, this mode is way too linear to be considered legit. You face off against a few people and a “boss” character in each area, then it cuts to the talk show. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Graphics, Sound, and Animation
Backyard Wrestling doesn’t necessarily possess the worst graphics in video gaming, but it isn’t a masterpiece, either. Each character, though a little on the cartoony side, is rendered fairly well. Minor hang-ups and slowdowns do occur, and from time to time, the graphics and animations will clip through your surroundings, but the action is too fast-paced to really notice.
The animations are done very well and have the look and stiff aggression similar to Def Jam: Vendetta. With the exception of the small issues mentioned earlier, BYW does a reasonably good job in terms of overall smoothness. Each move is very fluid, and the interactive backgrounds really exaggerate the punishment.
Above the graphics and animations, the sound and music of Backyard Wrestling is its highest point. All voiceovers are performed by their real-life counterparts, but since none of these guys are popular, let alone famous, that’s pretty insignificant. Besides that, the soundtrack fits just right with the attitude of the game. Since the Insane Clown Posse is a major part of the game, they threw in a track or two along with groups like Anthrax and Biohazard. And evidently, the creators didn’t hire any music censors, because where there’s swearing, there’s swearing.
The overall presentation is excellent, for the most part. It is not enough to pick up the slack for the subpar gameplay, but still, it’s better to have something going for it than to not have anything at all.
Replay Value
The replay value of BYW falls right in line with the gameplay. Most games with below average gameplay still have a little something to offer, but not here. After playing the game for two hours and nearly throwing my controller through the television set, I shelved it, and that’s where it will stay until my next trip to the game store.
If you’re determined, you can unlock many backyard brawlers, some of which are from the JCW promotion, which is owned and operated by the Insane Clown Posse. You can even unlock ICP and use them in battle. There are also two other modes of play to unlock— King of the Hill and Tag. So if it’s worth it to you, go for it, but you’d be hard pressed to find any other reason to continue playing.
In Conclusion…
The cover of the game pretty much warns you. Backyard Wrestling simply does not cut the mustard as far as decent wrestling titles go. This game had serious potential amongst fans of the genre, but Eidos and Paradox have totally sacrificed depth and mechanics and put out true garbage. However, if you’re a hardcore fan of backyard wrestling, this is the game for you…all seven of you guys.
Now, if you’d excuse me, I’m going to hook up my NES and throw down on some Pro Wrestling.
