Strikes and grabs are each governed by a pair of face buttons, offering light and heavy variants. Producer Sal Divita also worked on the 1995 Wrestlemania coin-op title, which may explain the arcade-like simplicity of the design. It seems strange to think of Yuke’s WWE efforts as simulations, but that’s certainly what they are in comparison to the game THQ’s in-house staff have made here. In short, All Stars sets out to be a pick-up-and-play grappler. And just to add insult to injury, Hulk juggles him via a quick melee combo. Hulk Hogan swiftly makes good on his Jesus-like appearance by picking up Andre the Giant – ANDRE THE GIANT, for pity’s sake! – and hurling him into the air. Then when you finally enter the ring, the game reveals a light arcade sensibility, with a scant disregard for Isaac Newton’s Greatest Hits. The first clue is in the caricature-like appearance of the participants themselves, who seem so swollen with cartoon testosterone that they resemble action figures – perhaps the same toys we played with before the Ninja Turtles came along.
What Star Trek: Generations did for geeky sci-fi, All Stars does for oversized men in spandex, and the resulting bootmash is surprisingly effective.Įven by the usual clownish standards of professional wrestling, WWE All Stars doesn’t take itself seriously. The idea is to pit the old guys against the new in a bid to create epic, history-defying match-ups – or if you’re more cynical, to cash in on two fanbases instead of one. Meanwhile the other half of the roster is taken up with more recent WWE stars, like John Cena and Rey Mysterio. If you’re in your mid-to-late twenties you may not have thought about these characters for a good 15 years, so don’t be surprised if the memories come flooding back like a wave of Tab Clear. Venture to the character select screen and you’ll find that half the roster is filled with grappling icons from the 80s and 90s, including The Ultimate Warrior, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant. When the main menu pops up for the first time, you’ll be greeted by the welcome sight of his Hulkiness, bathed in a celestial light like a wrestling Messiah. If there’s any part of you that feels you might have done the same, then WWE All Stars might be the game for you. As the mob began to chant, the lookalike fled – and then we hounded and pursued him across the festival, until the poor bugger received an escort of security guards. Word spread around the campsite – “Hulk Hogan is working at Dunkin’ Donuts!” – and then about a hundred of us descended upon a battered trailer in the corner of a muddy field. I once spent half an hour chasing a man who vaguely resembled Hulk Hogan.