When WrestleMania X8 was first announced for the GameCube, many fans of the Nintendo 64 crop of wrestling games were disappointed to find that THQ had chosen Yuke's, the developer of its SmackDown series, to take the reigns instead of AKI, the development team behind the popular No Mercy game for the Nintendo 64. Naturally, most assumed that WrestleMania X8 would simply turn out to be a clone of the SmackDown games, which generally had faster gameplay and didn't adhere to quite as many sports entertainment conventions as No Mercy. But that isn't really the case. In fact, WrestleMania X8 is an amalgamation, featuring core gameplay mechanics that are similar to SmackDown's, but with bits and pieces of No Mercy thrown into the mix to make the gameplay seem realistically slower and more deliberate. So if you're expecting just an extension of No Mercy, then you might not enjoy WrestleMania X8 quite as much. But based on its own merits, the game still delivers an entertaining experience.

There are a variety of modes to choose from in WrestleMania X8.

Fortunately, if nothing else, the experience should last you a while, thanks to the numerous play modes available in WrestleMania X8. In the first menu screen, you can select from a number of modes, including exhibition, path of a champion, battle for the belts, and create a superstar. The exhibition mode is a quick way to jump into any one of several different match types, including a regular one-on-one match, a tag team match, a handicap match, a triple-threat match, a fatal four-way, a battle royal, or a royal rumble. Within these match types (excluding battle royal and royal rumble), you'll find additional variations that enable you to make it a normal match, a hardcore match, a steel cage match, a hell-in-the-cell match, a ladder match, a table match, or a TLC (tables, ladders, and chairs) match. If you're playing a normal singles match, then you can also select an iron-man match option.

That's a lot of stuff, and all the different variations are well executed in WrestleMania X8. In tag team matches, you can tell your tag team partner to perform a variety of actions. You can have him or her distract the referee, attack the opponent on the inside or the outside of the ring, or break up a pin. Various double-team moves, like the 3D, can also be executed with relative ease. However, it would have been beneficial if WrestleMania X8 gave you manual control over your tag team partner--as it is, your computer-controlled partner tends to get beat up rather quickly. Since you have no control over your partner's actions, you have to patiently wait on the ring apron and outstretch your hand to signify that you want to tag back.

The multiwrestler matches (handicap, fatal four-way, battle royal, and royal rumble) can be fun, though you will start to notice some flaws in WrestleMania X8's artificial intelligence when playing a triple-threat match. The AI wrestlers have the tendency to automatically gang up on your wrestler instead of fighting each other, making it difficult to get any sort of offense going. Eventually, the AI wrestlers will start attacking each other, presenting you with an opportunity to get your licks in, but it generally doesn't take long before the computer-controlled opponents will band together again. At least when there are four wrestlers in the ring, this isn't nearly as much of a problem, since it's almost always two-on-two throughout the entire match.

Computer opponents have the tendency to gang up in triple-threat matches.

The cheap AI is all the more noticeable in the gimmick matches or those that involve weapons, steel cages, ladders, or tables. In a fatal four-way ladder match, it's incredibly difficult to climb the ladder, reach up, and grab the belt, because the computer almost always seems to find a way to knock the ladder out from under your feet at the last second. Granted, the whole point is to damage all of your opponents sufficiently to the point that they can hardly get up off the ground, but it's not as simple as it seems. In table matches, the AI problem isn't as pronounced, since it's relatively easy to set an opponent up on a table and smash through it, but the computer-controlled opponents will certainly take a beating before you can set everything up properly. The hell-in-the-cell variation has similar problems when you're playing a triple-threat or other multiwrestler match, but it's easily one of the most fun match types in WrestleMania X8 because you can knock wrestlers through the side of the cell and even climb on top of it to dish out more damage.

The match type that's most adversely affected by flaws in the AI is the steel cage match. You'll still get double-teamed by two other wrestlers if you're playing that sort of match, but the AI usually does a good job of knocking other computer-controlled opponents off the side of the cage if they're trying to climb out. In addition, the speed with which you climb out of the cage is determined by how much momentum you have, represented by an onscreen meter that gradually changes color as you execute different moves. If you have a lot of momentum, the only thing you need to do is knock your opponents to the mat and climb out within five seconds. But if your momentum is low, then it will take you much longer to climb out of the cage, giving your opponents more than enough time to run against the ropes and knock you off the sides. The point is that you shouldn't even make an attempt to climb out before your momentum meter is at its highest or near-highest point.