Hands-onUltimate Muscle: Legends vs. New Generation

Ultimate Muscle: Legends vs. New Generation has its roots in the old pink Muscle figures that were popular in the mid-'80s, but it's actually based mostly on a new generation of wrestlers that can currently be found on the Fox network every Saturday morning.

The show focuses on the struggle between two warring factions of wrestlers. The Muscle League is led by Kid Muscle, the son of the original Kinnikuman known as King Muscle. Kid is backed up by his trainer, Meat, and other wrestlers, like Terryman, Wally Tusket, and Dik Dik Van Dik. The Muscle League fights mostly with the dMp, an organization of evil wrestlers out to take over the world. A few wrestlers from the original generation of Muscle characters show up in a few episodes as well, including Terryman, Ramenman, Sunshine, and Buffaloman. The game contains a handful of wrestlers from both factions as well as a few of the older characters, including King Muscle.

Ultimate Muscle was developed by the AKI Corporation, the company responsible for THQ's successful Nintendo 64-based wrestling games. The game keeps a couple of the conventions from those games--namely the ability to hold down the strike or grapple buttons to execute a strong strike or grapple--but for the most part, the game is much more action-oriented. Also in a break from the wrestling game norm, the game has a jump button, which lets you execute falling drop kicks and the like. You can even jump into the ropes to gain a little extra lift, and there are a few special circumstances involving grappling airborne wrestlers. The game doesn't focus on pinning your opponents. Instead, you must knock them out by depleting their energy meter. Each wrestler has a three-level special meter that lets you execute special holds and strikes. The level-three super moves are unleashed in their full anime glory, complete with starburst backgrounds, close-ups of the characters' faces, and some of the most insane wrestling holds you'll ever see. There are also tag-team supers, which are even more ludicrous.

Overall, Ultimate Muscle is looking like it could be a great diversion for fans of the series as well as fans of the wrestling genre. Ultimate Muscle: Legends vs. New Generation for the GameCube and its Game Boy Advance counterpart are scheduled to hit North American shelves this April.