Though Anchor's attempts at wrestling games have been lame, their shootfighting games, however, have been solid. They made a name for themselves with their UFC game on the Dreamcast (which in turn got people interesting in MMA.) Now they look to give Japanese promotion Pride some attention with this solid game. Many Pride fighters such as Wanderlai Silva and Kazushi Sakuraba make appearances here. For those not so familiar with Pride, the game has Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Don Frye as well. Each of them fairly accurately recreated to suit their individual fighting styles. The game is a fairly accurate conversion of Mixed Martial Arts. Fights can either last for a fairly long time or end in seconds from submission. A red bar represents your health (lose this and you lose by KO) while a green health represents your stamina (the lower this goes, the more likely you are to tap out.) Since simply punching drains stamina, you must be cautious. Adopting a Tekken-like button layout, where the four face buttons represents a limb to attack with, and holding back will block. At any point, you can attempt to catch a punch or kick or go for a takedown, and take the fight to the floor. On the ground, you can try pounding your oppenent, passing the guard for unblocked shots or attempt a submission. Like actual MMA, the fight can lead to different position scenarios, thus it goes a long way to learn your character's moves and strengths. Unfortunatly, there isn't much for single player. Grand Prix lets you compete in a tournament that can be won easily. Survival is your typical fighting game Endurance test. Training lets you wail away at a lifeless AI. For those new to the game, there's a tutorial video in the Options menu. You can also create a fighter (within the realistic boundries of what one would expect from a shootfigher, of course) The game depends on multiplayer so you better have a friend or so that also has an interest in Pride. It also helps to have an Arcade stick, but you can get by without one. Those who don't have a strong interest in MMA won't have a reason to check out Pride FC, but those who do will enjoy the game's close recreation of the sport.
Other Helpful Reviews for Pride FC: Fighting Championships
ONe of the best games i have played. First off i am a big fan of mma and there games and this one is the best yet. The game play is much inproved since the first mma games and it isnt hard to figure out. With in an h... Read Full Review
When I first played this game my first thought was "this sucks". But I stuck with it (out of boredom more than anything else) and discovered that yes, it IS very simple, but also that it's surprisingly deep. I would assu... Read Full Review
