WWE Road to WrestleMania X8

Young boys often fantasize about being in the ring with famous wrestlers like Triple H, The Undertaker, or Rob Van Dam, and watch them on television trying to mimic the moves they see and use them on their sister. Game developers at Natsume saw this deep desire to be in the ring and hold their own, and decided to release a way for young dreamers to virtually achieve this dream and wrestle with the real deal, big dogs themselves.

Visual Arts Development

WWE Road to WrestleMania X8 was originally released for the Game Boy Advance way back in 2002, so the original graphic design was nothing special, but it is enough to get by with and enjoy. Everything is an odd mix between 2D and 3D, giving just enough definition to tell the difference in dimensions and the characters’ movements within them. Each character has their trademark qualities as well, outlined even in the old graphics of the time. For example, Hulk Hogan’s mustache and red and yellow suit are easily seen and identified when he steps in the ring on screen, as well as Triple H’s classic tanktop and towering size making their appearance and setting him apart from the crowd.

Gameplay

Being released for the Game Boy Advance, the gameplay was limited to the two buttons available on the console at the time. Due to this, a very simple approach was taken to the play style of the game, focusing more on reactions and skilled thinking rather than button mashing and memorization of combinations. Timing a button press with a direction choice would result in different moves out of a select available for the situation the wrestlers are in, opening up abilities to climb ropes, perform running moves, and even pick up weapons, creating a more thoughtful gameplay compare to its similar but hectic predecessor, WWF Road to WrestleMania.

Personal Rating

WWE Road to WrestleMania X8 is a great game based off of a great period in the wrestling realm. Offering old but still well-known characters with famous history, players are able to choose from a variety of their favorite wreslters, and take down their least-favorite ones.

Pros:

• Simple gameplay
• More strategic thinking rather than button mashing
• Features well-known wrestlers from major events
• Single-player & multiplayer

Cons:

• No create a wrestler feature due to limited memory space
• Older graphics
• Older wrestlers