Wrestlemania X8 Preview

Wrestlemania X8 is being developed by Yukes, the creators of the Smackdown! series.

At this year's Wrestlemania event held in Toronto, we had a chance to take a look at THQ's forthcoming WWF wrestling game for the GameCube, appropriately called Wrestlemania X8, which THQ hopes will follow in the footsteps of its Nintendo 64 WWF games. In fact, Wrestlemania X8 plays much like its predecessors with its slower pace and more methodical style of wrestling. However, fans of the Smackdown! series will find many elements of those games present in Wrestlemania X8 as well.

The change in direction for the game was somewhat expected given the change in the game's development team. This time out, Yukes, the developer behind the Smackdown! games, will replace Aki, the company that created WCW/NWO Revenge, Wrestlemania 2000, and No Mercy, as the game's developer. As a result, you'll find that the gameplay is a mix of elements from the previous WWF games as well as newer arcade-style features seen in Yukes' titles.

Wrestlemania X8 has a mix of Smackdown! and No Mercy gameplay.

Basic moves will be performed by a combination of single button presses used in conjunction with a direction on the analog stick. Pressing the B button while stationary will throw punches, while pushing forward on the analog stick will trigger kicks. For some wrestlers, pressing the punch button repeatedly will yield a trademark combination such as the Rock's spit-to-the-hand combination. Anyone familiar with the Smackdown! games should be able to adjust to this element of the game right away since the timing and mechanics are essentially the same. However this may disappoint fans of the No Mercy striking system, which measured striking strength based on how long you held the button down before releasing it.

There are a few more elements in the game that have been borrowed from the Smackdown! games. The basic grappling system requires you to press the A button and a direction on the analog stick to execute a move. You won't actually lock up for a brief moment before executing a move--it happens almost immediately. If you want to throw an opponent into the ropes, you'll have to press the A and Y buttons at the same time along with a direction on the analog stick. It's an incredibly simple system, making it possible for novices to jump right in.

You'll also find something of an alternate grappling system that closely resembles No Mercy's. After knocking an opponent down, you can either pick him up regularly or pick him up and immediately go into a standing grapple. The advantage to this grappling move is that you and your opponent will be locked up for a few seconds, buying you some time to decide what move you want to use next. This can be extremely helpful, since it not only gives you a free move to execute on your opponent, but also gives you a chance to impress the crowd with a new maneuver and raise your crowd popularity meter.

The popularity meter and special move combination offer a mixture of elements from both Aki's and Yukes' games. To execute a special move, you need to charge up the crowd popularity bar located underneath your wrestler's name. Each time you execute a move, the meter will fill, and every time it fills completely, you'll be rewarded with a special move that you can execute at any time. It appears as though the crowd can become unimpressed with specific moves if you use them repeatedly, which offers an element of challenge to charging the popularity meter.