Just like the roster of WWE All Stars, my love affair with the WWF/WWE has been generational. Growing up in the '80s, I was exposed to wrestling at its prime when Hogan, The Million Dollar Man and The Ultimate Warrior were part of every kid's bedroom decor care of Pillow Buddies. I’m even proud to say I spent entire summer vacations using my Macho Man Randy Savage action figure to dominate any figure thrown against me by my neighborhood cronies. Of course, the best part about these royal rumbles was that all the matches took place in a homemade ring, crudely assembled with rubber bands, nails and plywood because no one had enough allowance money to buy the actual ring.

A few years later, after my childhood idols had left the ring in favor of making movies like Suburban Commando, my love for wrestling had somewhat faded. Much of my early teen years were spent repressing the memories of The Rockers tag team title, and the time Jake the Snake teamed up with the Undertaker to pull the ultimate double cross on the Ultimate Warrior. I had almost completely purged my love for wrestling up until one fateful Monday night when I mistakenly turned on my television and witnessed something that was nothing short of spectacular.

The year was 1996, and the WWF had unleashed a brand new attitude. With Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock leading the charge, this new WWF was all about rude raunchy drama that was a 15 year old's dream come true. This was no longer the “kiddy” WWF that I grew up with. At that moment I was completely hooked all over again, and I watched religiously through 2002 when the brand lost many of its top-tier personalities and much of its “oomph” in my opinion.

My wrestling gaming habit to no surprise has followed the same generational gap. Growing up on WWF Wrestlefest and WWF The Arcade Game, I went on quite a dry spell until I stumbled upon the spectacular WCW vs. nWo and WWF games on the N64. Looking back, those N64 wrestling games have probably consumed years of my life -- no other gaming series provided as much multiplayer fun during my high school years.

Sadly, just as with the current actual happenings in the WWE, I can not seem to engage myself with THQ’s current Smackdown games. With wonky, overcomplicated controls, and a roster that leaves much to be desired, I’ve been yearning for a wrestling game to return to the simplistic fun of yesteryear, especially in today’s online console gaming era.

It may have taken 10-plus years, but I am more than happy to say that, as of now, this may just be the most enjoyable wrestling title I have played in 10 years.

Graphics and Presentation

From the wonderfully exaggerated wrestler models to the flashy hyper-realistic super moves, WWE All Stars is a gorgeous game. Striking just the right balance between realistic presentation and a comic book, it’s difficult to find faults with the game graphically. If I had to point out one relative weak spot, it is that the arenas and crowds seem fairly generic, lacking any signs of life and differentiation that can be seen during any WWE telecast.

Where All Stars really impressed me is in its animation blends. As the action unfolds in the ring, you can tell that THQ paid attention to details by polishing the player-attack animations. Transitions from move to move are smooth and believable in the game, which is something that can’t be said about the herky-jerky animations of wrestling games of the past. Watching an acrobatic character like Shawn Michaels transition from a traditional kick-punch combo into a teardrop suplex is a sight to behold in All Stars. The game's developers have claimed that the game features some of the most fluid animations in any fighting game, and I would be hard pressed to find a fault with that comment.

One of the coolest graphical nuances in the game has to be the signature style that each wrestler oozes with in the ring. The Undertaker lurches around the ring in a dark and foreboding way; every move Macho Man pulls off screams excitement; and using Triple H makes you feel like the King himself. It’s amazing to me that the All Stars development team was able to inject so much life into its character models and animations. Each character feels so distinctly different that I’m having flashbacks to my neighborhood dominance with Macho Man -- I feel like I’m controlling my favorite wrestlers of the past 25 years, and that is an amazing feeling.

Gameplay

Outside of some of the over-the-top aerial moves, I have a hard time calling All Stars an arcade game. In my world, professional wrestling by definition is what many would consider “arcade” like. The game's mix of colorful moves, high-flying hijinks, and awe-inspiring moments capture the sport of wrestling far better in my opinion than any WWE “sim” can.

The control scheme is an aspect that All Stars completely nails. After years of controller frustration in wrestling, THQ got wise to the control scheme of the old N64 titles. As a vet of No Mercy and WCW vs. nWo, I immediately felt right at home as I pummeled my opponents. Attacks boil down to strong grapples, weak grapples and then any combination of strong/weak punches.

With each successive strike, you build up a meter to activate signature moves that are able to be simply executed by pressing a combination of the “strong” or “weak” face buttons. This meter fills gradually with each move that is made, similar to something like NBA Street, culminating with a finisher meter being completely full. At this point you have the option of ending the match in style by activating a flashy finisher that can potentially instantly KO an opponent -- though it is dependent on the other wrestler's health level.

Gameplay against the incredibly aware CPU AI and human opponents is a cat-and-mouse affair. All moves outside of finishers can be countered via a correctly timed button press, so no matter how much punishment you may be taking early on there’s always a chance at a comeback -- another incredibly realistic aspect in professional wrestling. There’s also a lot of risk/reward to the gameplay, especially when pulling off your finisher. Should you initiate your finisher and either get hit in the process or miss landing it, you will lose the finisher. The same goes for traditional signature moves as your special bar will drain a little each time you absorb damage. The end result is a level of strategy I have not seen in a wrestling game in years, and a darn good time.

Each character is broken down into a specific class (Brawler, Acrobat, Grappler and Big Man) with each having its own strengths and weaknesses. This adds an extra layer of strategy into the game because you can’t expect a brawler like Stone Cold to have his way with Brett Hart by just mashing away on the punch button.

Best of all, each character within each class plays differently, so expect a ton of replay out of this title if you want to master each wrestler -- there are no cookie cutter class-based wrestlers here.

The biggest issue I have had so far regarding gameplay is that THQ did not find it necessary to include in-game combo lists, which is particularly odd for a game with so many individual combos to perform. If you want to figure out what each character is capable of in the ring, expect a lot of trial and error should you resist the urge to purchase the game's strategy guide.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

One area that is somewhat weak in All Stars is its Path of Champions mode. The game provides three paths to reign supreme as WWE Champion. You either have to face off with the Undertaker at Summerslam, take on Randy Orton or face DX for the tag team titles. Before you can face off in these “boss” battles, the game throws you into a number of various fatal 4 ways, no rules barred scrapfests or tornado tag team matches. The stories for these modes are compelling; each one takes a few hours to plow through; and I loved every moment of each one. However, they just felt random.

What I mean by that is I’m not sure why the initial three were chosen, and why just three? I would have loved to have seen this mode expanded to include more storylines, and this would have been a great way to relive classic feuds throughout the decades. Again, what’s included is great fun, but it just feels as if there could have been so much more to this mode. Hopefully more Path to Champions storylines are available via DLC in the future.

While Path of Champions failed to satisfy my WWE craving, the Fantasy Warfare mode is a dream come true. Creating fictional matchups with classic and current wrestlers was a stroke of genius, and the promotional videos that accompany each matchup are worth buying this game for if you are a hardcore fan of Mr. McMahon’s empire. By playing through each matchup as each character, you will unlock different outfits and wrestlers, which is a definite incentive for those looking to extend the life of the title.

Final Thoughts

It is a rare occasion when a video game comes along that is as polished and fun as WWE All Stars. While not perfect, it has been hard to find many major flaws with this title at this point of my review process. The best endorsement I can give this game right now is that as I type this article, I am dying to play the game. It’s been a long time since I’ve had this type of feeling about a wrestling game, and I certainly did miss it.

Check back later this week when my full review will hit the site, complete with a score.