Every gamer has a few video games selected to be their deserted island treasures, the type of games that they can play through multiple times without ever feeling exhausted. One of my selections is Fire Pro Wrestling Returns, a game that arrived during the last legs of the Playstation 2 era. Released in Japan in 2005, it took two years and the publishing company Agetec to finally come here as a budget title with a laughably generic and ugly box cover. This frivolous window dressing couldn't keep the game from being one of the absolute best professional wrestling video games of all time.
The Fire Pro Wrestling series started all the way back in 1989, paving a way with advanced features and important elements that would become standard of the industry and the wrestling sports genre. Able to skid past copyright laws, the games serviced gamers with the opportunity to play as their favorites, mostly Japanese stars with some "gaijins", against one another without the restrictions of promotions. Wanted to see The Ultimate Warrior team up with Tiger Mask to battle with Mitsuharu Misawa and The Great Muta? You could do that. The later games brought the ability to create your own wrestlers, customize their attires, movesets, and even the CPU logic, allowing your Stone Cold Steve Austin CAW to fight exactly like the Texas Rattlesnake. The gameplay was sophisticated and not very user-friendly but it felt closer to real professional wrestling, as you start off with simple maneuvers, working your way to unleashing your finishers. The majority of the action rested on a special grappling system, where once two characters begin to lock up, you need to input your button combination as soon as the arms interlocked. And finally, the franchise would feature the humble beginning of one of the auteur of the current generation; noted-crazy genius Goichi "Suda 51" Suda worked on several games, and has been linked to one entry's truly shocking nihilistic ending to its special story mode.
The series was created and developed by Human Entertainment and was later taken over by its successor, Spike. The latter company helped bring the series overseas and gave the franchise multiple chances to survive after sinking sales and a general downturn in Japanese wrestling during the mid 2000's. The supposed final entry was to be Fire Pro Wrestling Z, only to have another grand finale with Returns. Since then, the 2D series laid dormant as many 3D graphical games took up the market. Fans didn't give up hope, as seen in the continuing popularity of Fire Pro Club, a site where edits, formulas, fake federations, and general wrestling talk are shared with everyone on a daily basis.
A new chance for the series came in 2010 as news of a revival was revealed to the public, to be released as an exclusive on Xbox Live Arcade. But two words stood out and remained in the collected fan consciousness under a harsh negative light: avatar support. See, as an alternative/rip-off of the successful "Mii" creatable characters with the Nintendo Wii, each Xbox 360 user were later given an "avatar", a simple 3D character that can be shaped into their image. The gimmick also was a marketing strategy, allowing Microsoft and other companies to sell special clothing and accessories for users to buy with real money. Arcade games would later be developed using your personal avatar as the main player. Some were good, some were awful, but they all had a casual tone to them. If there is one thing that Fire Pro has not been throughout its series, it is casual.
Fans were furious, growing worst once early video footage showed up online. In place of the expert grapple timing were simple, quick button pushes. Characters bumped like beach balls around the ring, as if everyone was a cocky indie flyer or Shawn Michaels at Summerslam 2005. And the avatars, oh the avatars. This early derision proved to be lasting legacy of the game, as it just utterly disappeared from public view. Designed to come out in 2011, the release date flew by without any news or updates. The game seemed to be dead in the water.
Several weeks ago, the game popped up out of nowhere on official Xbox Live sites. It's new release date was set for September 21st, with a price tag of 800 Microsoft Points, the equivalent of ten dollars under the company's craptastic currency system. And I might be doing something I hardly ever, ever do nowadays: I might buy it instantly without waiting for the reviews.
I am still not very happy that a 2D Fire Pro can't be created for the current systems. There is so much potential for online trading, downloading other people's characters, and fun multiplayer for Fire Pro that the WWE games are doing right now but under heavy restrictions, such as the intolerable online passes. I may not be completely won over with this new Fire Pro Wrestling but I understand the mindset of both Spike and Microsoft. They want to the keep the fire burning, so to speak, as they see the opportunity of using avatars as a possible gateway for new and other gamers. Sure, they may not appear, due to the stigma pro wrestling still has today, but it is a nice college try.
Some new videos have been appearing very recently, including this special preview broadcast on Twitch.tv that show off what the game will feature. The gameplay still looks odd and discomforting but the presentation is kinda nice and the animation, particulary single and tag finishing moves, is fun and eventful. The CAW/Edit mode is interesting, with a lot of freedom and inventiveness, such as the ability to enter the arena with the animation of becoming a werewolf. However, there are still some big questions unanswered until release; The campaign mode consists of a ton of match-ups, which your avatar/created character embarks on, unlocking new items and moves, gaining experience and able to be upgraded. Do I only have one CAW character? Do I have to unlock all of the moves for each and every character or do I gain them all through one playthrough? What about the stats? Do they come into play in exhibition mode?
The internet may come down hard on this entry but I at least want to give it a fair shot. Even if the game turns out to be bad or even the worst in the entire long series, at least it is a wrestling video game of a different mode. The market has consisted of nothing but WWE games, a monopoly that has suffocated the flavor of the wrestling genre. Fire Pro fans should at least give the game some cheers, in the hope that it succeeds and may lead to a new hardcore fan-friendly entry in the franchise.
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