WWF Wrestlemania X8

Has it really been 18 years since the first Wrestlemania?! Things have certainly changed over the years; kid-friendly, muscle-bound cartoon characters like Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake have been replaced by a beer-swilling, trash-talking redneck named "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and a crotch-chopping hardcase named Triple H.

Wrestling video games have changed a lot, too. Cartoony, 2D graphics and crude sound effects have given way to photorealistic grapplers, intricately detailed 3D arenas, and TV-style camera angles and replays. The current game to define the state of the art--until the next WWF game arrives, that is--is Wrestlemania X8. Created by the developers of WWF Smack Down! Just Bring It for PlayStation 2, Wrestlemania X8 has all the bells and whistles WWF fans have come to demand in a wrestling game: 40 match types, a detailed Create-a-Superstar mode, backstage combat zones and a 35-character roster--including ex-WCW wrestlers Rob Van Dam, DDP, the Hurricane and Booker T. (Finally, video-game fans can thrill to the spectacle known as the Spin-a-roony!)

Wrestlemania's all-new engine focuses on simulation, reversals and momentum shifts instead of timing and button mashing, and the interactive crowd reacts to the action with cheers, boos and chants of varying intensity.

The game ditches SmackDown! Just Bring It's ultra-short Story mode in favor of a more traditional Championship mode, in which players take their rookie jobbers up the ranks on a quest for the Heavyweight Championship Belt.

Of course, you also get all the usual eye candy, like pyrotechnics, full TitanTron videos and changing crowd signs--in other words, all the things that make a WWF game a WWF game. You may already own a wrestling game or two (or 12), but this one is still worth a look.