New Japan Pro Wrestling Toukon Retsuden

Forget about all those other lame wrestling games out there. It looks as though the King of the Ring won't come from the WWF, but the NJPW.

With the help of a 3-D ring and some polygons,Tomy has produced the most realistic (well, you know what I mean) pro-wrestling experience next to Saturday Night's Main Event. This game has it all: the classic moves, hot graphics, and fast action. It even has a guy dressed up in a flashy, sequin jumpsuit, with a mask! Alright!

The look of the game is superb. All of the characters are rendered with fluid, realistic movements, and each has his own signature moves and abilities.To make viewing the match more enjoyable, you have the option to switch to any of four camera angles: each view from one of the corners of the ring. Also, it would appear that Tomy did their homework. All of the moves that the characters can perform are the outrageous classics that we grew up watching.There are the suplex, figure four, superplex, pile driver and sleeper hold; to name a few. Each move has been carefully animated to show all of the steps in performing such devastating (and utterly ridiculous) moves.

I haven't finished the game, so I don't know how many bosses and secret characters there are, but you do have a pool of ten wrestlers to choose from the get-go. While in the Japanese version you'll find no familiar faces, after playing awhile, you'll recognize the different fighting styles and personalities of the wrestlers. All we can do is pray that this game makes its way over the Pacific. Gameplay like this should not be denied to anyone--especially in a genre that has suffered so much injustice. If it does make it over here, pray that buffoons like Boink and Razor Ramon get no where near it. A game like this deserves nothing but the greats, like Jimmy "Superfly", Rowdy Roddy and Junk Yard Dog.