Designed by a three-man team, “Action Arcade Wrestling 2†is an endeavor of the heart. Developer Dave Horn and his team wanted to create a spiritual successor to “Wrestlefest†in the first “Action Arcade Wrestling†and succeeded- the game was a blast, in spite of a few gameplay hiccups.
“Action Arcade 2†is a different animal all together. It isn’t quite a “Wrestlefest†title and it’s not exactly a modern day grappling simulation either. That fact alone may hurt its genre appeal, but overall, it manages to squeak out the early pinfall, simply due to all of the moves incorporated in the game and the pick-up-and-play type controls.
Lets get one thing straight- although it tries to look as much like a current generation grappler, “Action Arcade Wrestling†is not for those looking for an alternative to “WWE 2K14.†However, those who grew up on the NES and Genesis and even the arcade days of wrestling fill find that it can fill a nostalgic void for a while.
Simply put, the problems the game has with collision detection and the animation blending hurts in single player. It sometimes makes the game tedious and annoying. But in a two-player situation, when both players deal with the same problems, it goes completely out the window. Two-player bouts are silly and fun and thanks to a decent, but also buggy Create-a-Wrestler mode, you can put yourself in the game, add all of your favorite moves and even your own ring music.
That’s not to say the game looks bad however. Some of the animations are downright awesome. Just like the DDT in the first game, the DDT this year looks just as cool. Some other maneuvers will give you that “WCW/nWo: Revenge†feeling in your gut. The same thing goes for the gameplay as the matches have a nice arcade feel to them and are fast paced.
Polish like this is a new thing for the 360 Indie Games environment. And after an hour or two of gamplay, you understand that while this team may not have been sure if they were going for a modern title or another retro funfest, the median they managed to hit is still an attractive one that can be enjoyed.
Stay tuned next week for our full review.
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