Rumble Roses review:4 stars (Good ideas equal good game) - Rumble Roses is wrestling with an all women cast. It's a first to try something like this (that I'm aware of.) Since this is Konami's first wrestling game, you can expect some pro and unfortunatly some cons as well.
The main reason to play is for story mode. In story mode, you guide your wrestler thru seven different wrestlers to uncover her reason for being in the tournament. Every single girl has her own reason and ending. While some stories are good, others are just interesting or weird in my opinion. As you finish story mode you will also unlock other wrestlers. So, there is a little more replay value trying to unlock everyone. While story mode is the main mode to play, there is other modes as well. There is multiplayer mode and even a Rumble Roses belt to fight for. And to be new and daring, there is even a "Mad Mud" match. You and your opponent duke it out in the mud.
The gameplay is played out just like anyother wrestling game. In fact the same company who makes the Smackdown games, also helped make this game as well. So you can pretty much get the feel of the game if you played Smackdown before. The controls are very, very easy to learn. The only thing missing would have been a tutorial helping out new people to the game. While each girl has her own special moves, alot of the moves are reused repeatdly.
As you can imagine, each girl has her own theme as well. Since Konami, makers of Dance Dance Revolution, is the creator of the game, you can tell how the themes turn out. The music in this game rocks. I only wished I lived in Japan where a soundtrack was legally realeased. Not only does each girl have her own theme but as well a voice. The voice overs are nicely performed but the things they were told to read could have been better.
The graphics in the game was realistic-looking and sharp. If you didn't know any better, you would have thought you were watching a real women's match on television. Sometimes things like shirts,hair, or other body parts will go right through the character but other than that, WOW.
All in all, I will applaud Konami in their efforts to bring us a women's wrestling game. What I loved about this game is that it teased us with it's risque outfits and lingo and didn't go out to bring nudity. Also, it wasn't like other games to go all out with the tna factor like Smackdown with it's bra and panty matches or like Dead or Alive with it's naked women. The only things I didn't like is that you cannot be the main character and alter ego at the same time unless with a cheat device. There also could have been a endless season mode but that would be kind of pointless since there is few characters; so I kind see why that probably wasn't there. Maybe in the future we can see a sequal with a create a wrestler mode and more wrestlers. I don't think people know about this game but a few. While this is certainly not a children's game, it's a game that can be enjoyed by anyone loving women in wrestling.1 stars (Without the flesh this game would be selling zero copies) - I recently played Rumble Roses with much anticipation. It didn't take longer than a couple of minutes before I realized this game for the stinker it is. Without the jiggling body parts and the vulgar camera angles, this game would be absolutely worthless. As it is, it's sexuallity is 90% of its selling point. The gameplay itself is dull beyond words and the controls are exceedingly lame. I suspect that this game will keep selling mostly to teenage males and grown men who still can only dream of the opposite gender, but beyond that it's bound to fall short of expectations. Shame on you Konami. What ever happened to quality control? If you don't believe how bad this game is then go ahead and buy it. Maybe it will entertain you for a day or two until -- bored off your rocker with the gameplay -- you get sick of oogling at the flesh of computer animated girls and realize you could get a heck of a lot more out of an adult movie featuring the real thing.5 stars (FUN is the word) - This game is a blast!
Graphics: The graphics of the girl wrestlers are the best I've seen of computer woman anywhere. They claim they used 10,000 polygons per character, and it shows; whole body frame moves from breathing, breasts sway, hair flows, you can even see the fat on their bodies. Its hard to believe this is done on a PS2. One disappointment is the mud pit (which is more like muddy water) but they got the most important thing right, the girls. I just wish that they had included a bigger variety of body types; a few women who were a little older or maybe a little heavier would have been interesting.
Wrestling: The game works well and is a lot of fun. Some people have complained about the low number of moves, but actually each girl has dozens of moves, because the most of the holds and throws have a different effect when you are moving, or just after an evasion move, etc. The only problem is that the reversals are damn near impossible to pull off, and since you can't rotate the camera in a match, sometimes its hard to see the game properly. The game tracks your energy to pull off special moves, your body damage, and your "humiliation" rating. It can seem complicated, but you can ignore all that if you want to. Just wrestle the best you can, and the rest takes care of itself.
Arenas: There are only 4 different arenas to choose from (including the mud pit). A few more venues would have been nice. Except for the mud itself, the arenas look great.
Story: As others have said, the story mode is badly acted and quite ridiculous, but the dialogue is funny so I didn't care. You have to take it with a sense of humor. Each wrestler's story is a little short, but since there are 20 or so wrestlers to go through, there is a huge amount of gameplay here. Also, the game uses a very nice feature, where, by using certain moves in a "vow" system, you can change the face/heel rating of your wrestler, in effect, turning toward good or evil. This changes the personality, costume, wrestling moves, and story for each character. My favorite is the schoolteacher who can be unlocked as a dominatrix.
Extras: Since the women are so gorgeous, there is a gallery mode where you can rotate the camera and zoom in and zoom out while the women stretch out and answer interview questions. Its something that didn't have to be added, and its actually pretty cool.
Entrance: This is something I haven't seen anyone else comment on yet. Each wrestler has a different entrance number before her match. Most of these are incredible, and worth watching all by themselves. The best is Becky the cheerleader (the good version of Candy). You can turn these off if you get tired of them.
Bottom line: This game is not simply a gimmick. Beyond the gorgeous women, there is a real wrestling game here loaded with extras. There is a lot of depth to this game that's not readily apparent if you only get it as a rental. Rumble Roses Features: Video Games PS2 (PSX2) Sony Playstation (Play station) 2 Playstation2 (Play station2) Action Adventure Fighting PlayStation 2 ESRB Rating: M (Mature) Sports
Rumble Roses is the CD-ROM version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around 29.99USD.