PixlBit

I've been out of the wrestling game market for a couple generations at this point. Back on the N64 I put some significant time into both WCW/nWo Revenge and WWF WrestleMania 2000 from AKI and THQ. I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I booted up Lucha Libre: AAA Heroes del Ring and found gameplay that was absolutely no better than what was available back on the N64. Don't get me wrong, the gameplay isn't terrible, but it has seen no advancement, and as a matter of fact, when compared to WrestleMania 2000, which was even suceeded by yet another title, WWF No Mercy, the gameplay is clearly not as advanced. Given that Lucha Libre doesn't even match up to a series of games from the N64, it's tough to cut it any slack.

I think what might be even worse than the lack of advancement found here, is the poor representation of the sport. From the looks of it, Lucha Libre is completely analagous to American-sensationalized WWE wrestling. In reality this is completely untrue and none of it shows through in the presentation or execution of Lucha Libre. Rather than big presentation and personalities shining through fast-paced aggressive wrestling, players are involved in a slow moving, generic wrestling experience.

As mentioned earlier, the gameplay very closely mimics the titles created by AKI and Asmik Ace back on the Nintendo 64. Players take use of the face buttons on the controller to perform a few different moves, primarily light and strong punches and kicks. The two trigger buttons perform light and strong grapples, with the face buttons being used during a grapple to perform a variety of different moves. The same applies to when wrestlers are on the mat; the face buttons perform different moves, allowing the attacking wrestler to beat their enemy while they're down.

Some of the other buttons on the controller are used to perform other functions like taunting, special moves, and reversals/blocks when attacked. Outside of standard moves that involve attacking enemies in the ring, each match allows players to grab weapons outside the ring, or even attack the referee. While attacking the referee is basically pointless, weapons do help in harming your enemy significantly.

Though the resulting gameplay is a bit on the slow side, it is somewhat enjoyable, if for no other reason than it directly copies the wrestling games I once enjoyed years ago. Unfortunately, this is a bit out of place in Lucha Libre because it doesn't capture the high speed antics of the true sport. Furthermore, after a short time it becomes incredibly boring due to the lack of depth in the fighting. The wrestling games of yore helped skirt this issue in later iterations of the series' by making more and more moves, fighting styles, and match types available. Here, no matter the mode, the gameplay is completely unchanging.

Whether players host a match locally versus the computer, go online, or take on the Story mode, the result is 2-4 wrestlers jumping in a ring beating on each other until submission, pin, or disqualification. This holds true throughout the Story Mode, which at best offers players some modified rules for success in each individual match, providing only a minor amount of variety.

What story mode does offer is the ability for players to craft their own luchadore, which is a nice touch since they can customize everything from the mask to the moves and even the character's core competencies. Players will be able to use this character in each of the matches and slowly build up his stats throughout the quest. Though put to good use in the ring, your character will also star in some really awful cutscenes between the matches.

In addition to poorly done cutscenes, the announcers in the match, while better than dead air, do a terrible job of convincingly covering the action of the match. Mediocre graphics also do little to help along the game's sub-par presentation. Far worse than both are the stiff animations of all the wrestlers in the game. Seemingly every animation is missing a few keyframes that would inevitably have helped to smooth everything out.

It's a bit disappointing to see Lucha Libre turn out this way. The prospect of a game based on that sport was extremely enticing, but the execution was just a bit too much like American wrestling games. Even worse, the game most closely resembles a series of games that are a decade old at this point. While it emulates a series that was once enjoyable, it doesn't have the breadth of moves or any innovation that could set it apart and make it a worthwhile investment.