Welcome to World Zero - Reviews for the hardcore gamer

I’m the type of guy who knows that veal is baby cow but eats it anyway. I’m hairy, I’m unkempt, and the only thing I’ve waxed is nostalgic. I eat read meat, listen to early Metallica, and sometimes, when nobody’s looking, I watch professional wrestling. But that’s pretty irrelevant for the purposes of this review anyway, because with Fire Pro Wrestling S, Human has created a game so universally kick ass from a basic honest to goodness gameplay perspective that a love of professional wrestling is not required to appreciate Fire Pro’s intricately deep play mechanics, maddeningly addictive create a character mode, or it’s kinetic six-player mayhem that foreshadowed the chaos of the Powerstones and Super Smash Bros yet to come. No, an appreciation for the “sport” of professional wrestling is not required -- but I suppose it helps.

At this point, what with this game being close to ten years old now, it’s important to contextualize Fire Pro Wrestling S into the sea of crap wrestlers that populated the early 32/64-bit era. Really, you don’t fully appreciate how good Fire Pro is until you take into account how much everything else coming out along side of it sucks in comparison. In contrast to the clumsy fighting game like controls of Acclaim’s WWF Warzone and the complete and utter garbage that were the WCW wrestlers on the Playstation (yes Nitro and Thunder, I’m talking about you) Fire Pro stands as a beacon of hope pointing to just what exactly made the wrestlers of old so much better than the crap we were having to put up with at the time – that being the raw simplicity that one would associate with a romp through WWF Wrestlefest or Saturday Night Slam Masters. But of all the great wrestlers of old, the one that Fire Pro harkens back to the most is undoubtedly the immortal NES Pro Wrestling. In fact, I’d go as far to say that at its core, Fire Pro is nothing if not NES Pro Wrestling with a decades worth of refinements and enhancements built into its foundation.

But what elevates Fire Pro beyond the status of merely another spastic button masher is the series’ greatest and most simple of innovations. While other (and lesser) wrestling games have sought to distance themselves from their mindless mashing routes through complex controls schemes, Fire Pro replaces the need for a turbo controller with the need for immaculate timing. Gone are the days of issuing a grapple and slamming on the controls, not sure of exactly what the outcome would be. Fire Pro demands precision in its timing, and as a result, more than an iota of skill. And aside from the genuinely rewarding grapple system, it’s all the attention paid to the little things that makes Fire Pro the triple A title that it is. Flying moves to the outside, suplexes off of the top turnbuckle, and even the ability to vent your frustrations on the referee only add to the experience. And being devoid of any official license, Human has assembled a certifiable ‘who’s who’ of wrestlers and shoot fighters from various organizations, giving the game the slight air of a crossover or a dream match. Due to Japan’s rather lax copyright laws, the only thing that had to be changed was each wrestler’s name, so you should be able to easily identify at least the more famous present.

And though compared to the current gen wrestlers -- which (by and large) are more about the ‘spectacle’ than the ‘sport’ -- Fire Pro Wrestling S pales in comparison with its number of gimmick matches; the few extra modes that are contained are incredibly fleshed out. The first and undoubtedly most gimmicky is the electric cage match. Aside from giving you a shock whenever you’re thrown into it, when the timer reaches a certain point the entire cage explodes, leaving both brawlers left laying. The second is the presence of a UFC styled Octagon, which is all sorts of convenient being as how Fire Pro – aside from being one of the greatest wrestling games ever – also doubles as the best damn shoot fighter I’ve ever played. The Fire Pro engine is versatile enough to accommodate the violent, no holds barred style of the Ultimate Fighting Championship better than any licensed game bearing the UFC name, bar none. The last of the special matches, and the one that lends Fire Pro Wrestling S its namesake is the six man battle royale. Aside from these, there are your obligatory tag team and career modes, through which you’re able to unlock more characters for use.

Really, the only qualms I have with Fire Pro Wrestling S are due to me being a fan of American wrestling. Pin falls, for instance, are incredibly hard to come by here; it’s much easier to make someone tap than it is to hold them down for the three count. You’ll adjust soon enough, but it’s a little underwhelming to hit someone with a scoop slam and then the Hogan Leg Drop only to have them kick out but submit to a headlock at the next grapple. Other than that, the only other problem I see here is the fact that Fire Pro Wrestling S isn’t very import friendly. Once you get into the ring, it’s smooth sailing, but aside from selecting an actual play mode, all of the detailed options are in complete Japanese. While I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out most of the options through trial and error, good luck on navigating through the menu driven create-a-character mode without a translation FAQ, and even then make sure to take some Advil first. It’s a pity because Fire Pro has what was then the greatest create a character mode for any game, ever, and even now it’s not too far behind. So if you have a working knowledge of Japanese, place FPW just that much higher on your import shopping list.

Though we may have arguably seen better in the heavily Fire Pro influenced THQ/AKI wrestlers on the N64 and certainly in the Fire Pro games to come, that Fire Pro Wrestling S was the best of the technical wrestlers at the time of its release is a no contest. Though not the first Fire Pro game, and certainly not the last, given the ease of playing imports on your Saturn if you possess even a moderate interest in either wrestlers or fighters, Fire Pro Wrestling S gets my highest possible recommendation.

Rating	The rating scale in detail
7.0	+/- Fire Pro was never one for impressive visuals; it’s all about substance. Still, the sprites are large and animated fairly well given the size of their movesets. Though Fire Pro might have looked dated upon its release, it has undoubtedly aged better than many of its 3D contemporaries.
4.0	- Meager selection of tracks to choose from, all of which loop much too quickly, and only half of which are good to begin with. +/- Satisfying sound affects for the most part, though crowd reactions leave much to be desired.
9.0	++ Deep and satisfying game engine, accommodates many styles of grappling and shoot fighting in the mix. Wrestling games don’t play any better than this.
6.0	– Big sweaty men, and lots of them. ++ Excellent create-a-wrestler mode. If you can think of it, you can create it.
8.0	++ The career mode and create a wrestler add some replayability, but it’s the actual fighting that will keep you coming back for more.
8.3	+ An excellent wrestler held back somewhat by the inaccessibility of its options and create-a-wrestler mode due to Japanese driven menus. You can’t consider yourself a fan of wrestling games until you’ve experienced Fire Pro in all of its arm twisting, leg dropping fury.