Wrestlemania XXI

Xbox owning Wrestling fans have had it tough in recent times, with the PlayStation 2 getting exclusive rights to the Smackdown series.

When THQ announced the launch of Wrestlemania XXI many moons ago, hope was restored. Studio Gigante were given the task of creating the game - their first wrestling title - and have worked hard on player models and motion pature animation to give the game a realistic look and feel.

There’s a good selection of match types on offer, from the customary one-on-one and tag matches to Royal Rumble and the unsurprisingly popular bra and panties scrap.

Career mode takes you along a set path to the top. Your first task is to create your own unique character by choosing from a vast number of customisable options from appearance down to choice of shoes.

You are then led through ever-increasingly tough bouts and, if you win, after each match there is a short cut scene to keep the story going. If you lose you get the option to retry.

Controlling your character is fairly easy, with the A button used for quick grapple, the B button for submission grapples and X to punch, kick and headbutt. The left trigger allows you to interact with the environment, climbing in and out of the ring, jumping onto tables etc. Keep an eye on the heat meter because once it is full you’ll be able to perform your special moves using A and B together.

So far so good, but now onto playability...

Collision detection is ropey. I guarantee you’ll be cursing your screen whenever you try to drop onto a wrestler on the mat which the game decides has already got up, causing you to crash to the ground and writhe in agony.

If you didn’t know any better you would also be forgiven for thinking all wrestlers are stupid, because some of the AI in this game leaves a lot to be desired, particularly in multiple player bouts and tag challenges, with comuputer controlled teammates turning on each other on occasions.

Wrestlemania is the best wrestling game on the Xbox without a doubt, but could have been better if the developers had been given more time to iron out the collision detection and dodgy AI.

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