Post by mongomcmichael on Aug 25, 2010 18:20:25 GMT -5
I remember back in '99, there was a lot of hype going on with the upcoming release of a brand new WWF video game, WWF Attitude. A lot of us were excited with the in-game roster announcements trickling in one-by-one along with the different modes like Create-a-PPV and Royal Rumble being announced. For the most part, just to have a game during the peak of the WWF Attitude era is what mattered the most. Plus, for its time, WWF Attitude had a pretty robust Create-a-Wrestler mode so you can create wrestlers excluded from the game (Chris Jericho, Big Show for example) along with your own wacky creations (I made a Fat Bastard and Ronald McDonald character).
But as 11 years has past since the release of this game back in August '99, it hasn't aged very well at all. To say it has aged gracefully would be like saying El Gigante is the greatest technical wrestler of all time.
Probably the biggest flaw that's noticeable today are the character models. Boy were they sure fugly. While it may have been "revolutionary" at the time to use photo-captures of the wrestlers for the game models, most of them looked like they had a washing machine accident. Another thing about the character models is that they were extremely disproportionate. I mean, when did Taka Mikonchu take growth pills and now can look at Undertaker eye to eye? It's rather goofy to watch Kane and X-Pac just gaze at each other eye to eye as their arms floppy all over the place.
And speaking about characters, while most of the notable Attitude-era stars - Austin, Rock, Mankind, HHH - were all included in the game, its the bottom of the barrel type characters that stick out like a sore thumb. For starters, we got Oddities-era Kurrgan, Paul Bearer and "Commissioner" Sgt. Slaughter. But what has to be the most disturbing wrestling game character of all time is Al Snow's Head.
"Disturbing" doesn't even begin to describe the horror of playing an disembodied mannequin head with floating hands and feet. Forget Silent Hill; you will lose five weeks worth of sleep when you play as or against Head in WWF Attitude. Just hearing his (her? it?) scream as you somehow put it in a submission move will add another 5 weeks of no sleep.
Ah yes, the voices. If you were going to judge the game by the voiceovers alone, this is pure Wrestlecrap. It looks like Acclaim continued to use Bret Hart's philosophy (see: The Making of Wrestlemania: Arcade Game induction) in producing voiceovers for video games. While there were some funny voicework done by Goldust and the development team's CAWs, it is downright horrifying to hear the voiceovers for Chyna, Head, and Kane; the thing about Kane's voiceovers is that it wasn't actually him but that stupid black voice box he used during his "Burn Victim" gimmick. By the way, you may want to turn off the commentary because with Shane McMahon calling the action, you'll be longing for some vintage Michael Cole announcing.
As far as the gameplay goes, it was somewhat decent at best, but the controls can be herky-jerky at times. For example, it gets all robotic when you try to pull off your wrestler's finishing move.
So what do you think? Has WWF Attitude: The Game aged so badly that it constitute a Wrestlecrap induction? I would say so.
But as 11 years has past since the release of this game back in August '99, it hasn't aged very well at all. To say it has aged gracefully would be like saying El Gigante is the greatest technical wrestler of all time.
Probably the biggest flaw that's noticeable today are the character models. Boy were they sure fugly. While it may have been "revolutionary" at the time to use photo-captures of the wrestlers for the game models, most of them looked like they had a washing machine accident. Another thing about the character models is that they were extremely disproportionate. I mean, when did Taka Mikonchu take growth pills and now can look at Undertaker eye to eye? It's rather goofy to watch Kane and X-Pac just gaze at each other eye to eye as their arms floppy all over the place.
And speaking about characters, while most of the notable Attitude-era stars - Austin, Rock, Mankind, HHH - were all included in the game, its the bottom of the barrel type characters that stick out like a sore thumb. For starters, we got Oddities-era Kurrgan, Paul Bearer and "Commissioner" Sgt. Slaughter. But what has to be the most disturbing wrestling game character of all time is Al Snow's Head.
"Disturbing" doesn't even begin to describe the horror of playing an disembodied mannequin head with floating hands and feet. Forget Silent Hill; you will lose five weeks worth of sleep when you play as or against Head in WWF Attitude. Just hearing his (her? it?) scream as you somehow put it in a submission move will add another 5 weeks of no sleep.
Ah yes, the voices. If you were going to judge the game by the voiceovers alone, this is pure Wrestlecrap. It looks like Acclaim continued to use Bret Hart's philosophy (see: The Making of Wrestlemania: Arcade Game induction) in producing voiceovers for video games. While there were some funny voicework done by Goldust and the development team's CAWs, it is downright horrifying to hear the voiceovers for Chyna, Head, and Kane; the thing about Kane's voiceovers is that it wasn't actually him but that stupid black voice box he used during his "Burn Victim" gimmick. By the way, you may want to turn off the commentary because with Shane McMahon calling the action, you'll be longing for some vintage Michael Cole announcing.
As far as the gameplay goes, it was somewhat decent at best, but the controls can be herky-jerky at times. For example, it gets all robotic when you try to pull off your wrestler's finishing move.
So what do you think? Has WWF Attitude: The Game aged so badly that it constitute a Wrestlecrap induction? I would say so.
That's why I spent hours in making dozens of CAWs.
