$20 Game of the Week: Rumble Roses XX (Xbox 360)

Okay, I realize I shouldn’t like this game as much as I do, but in spite of its over emphasis on the female form, slightly sluggish yet simple play control, and lack of variety in its play modes, it can actually become a bit enjoyable if you don’t expect much from it. Developed by Yuke’s Future Media Creators (you know them from the Smackdown games) and published by Konami (you know them from Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, Contra, and dozens of other great franchises), RRXX is a sequel to 2004’s Rumble Roses, a Playstation 2 wrestling game. The game’s big hook is that it features an all-female cast. Each of them scantily clad to boot. This game clearly isn’t for everyone.

As one would suspect, Rumble Roses XX plays like an over-simplified version of Smackdown. The engine is button-masher friendly, and moves are done with combinations of the control pad/analog sticks and the face buttons. There are submission moves, counters, and special attacks, but nothing that is very complex. It’s a bit fast paced, although the animations and reaction time can be a bit slow. You can tell that the developers decide to concentrate more on the eye candy rather than making a deep wrestling engine. There have also been some new game play modes added, such as the street fight (which turns the game into a Tekkenesque 3-d fighter), the PHM match (where you can win only by using a Humiliation submission hold), and the ‘queen’s match’ (a game mode where the loser has to preform a task chosen by the winner, and this can be anything from giving an oil rub to having to strike a humiliating pose). Adjustable camera angles during submission holds, a photo shoot mode, and some of the queen’s match minigames tend to give this game a somewhat exploitative feel. Even more so in fact, than the Xbox 360’s other ‘fan service’ game. The game’s casts includes an angst-filled teenager, a teacher/dominatrix, a ninja, an R&B singer who is a dead ringer for Lil Kim, and a cyborg. Each character features an unlockable face/heel alter ego, as well as a ‘superstar’ variation. You can enhance your character’s abilities by altering their muscles and body shape (and yes, this includes chest size). You can further customize them with costumes that can be purchased at the game’s shop after being unlocked (By the way, among them are Olga’s outfit from Metal Gear Solid 2 and Eva’s costume from MGS 3.). You even have the option of creating your own wrestler. Xbox Live play is available, and new costumes can be purchased in the market place.

Speaking of unlockables, this brings me to my biggest complaint about the game. Unlocking the various extras in a major pain in the rear. Most of the content (costumes, photo shoot poses, queen’s match penalty games, etc) are purchased from the game’s shop, but most of the items must be unlocked in various game modes first. Points are awarded for winning matches, but you only gain so many at a time, so saving up to buy that swimsuit or pose you want can take a while. Worse yet, each item has to be unlocked and purchased for each character. Thus, if I want that sexy school girl outfit for both Reiko Hinamoto and Miss Spencer, I have to unlock it for both of them and purchase it. Thankfully, ‘reward’ matches appear at random that will unlock certain items from time to time. Gaining new characters is even more tedious. To get the heel version of a face character, you need to win the title belt with that character. There are certain requirements that must be met, and even if you meet those requirements, there is no guarantee that you’ll gain a shot for your next match, since everything is random.

As I stated, this clearly isn’t for everybody, your wife/girlfriend included. However, if you enjoy the ‘visuals’, then you could do a lot worse for $20. However, if Konami and Yuke’s would have put as much effort into the gameplay as they did the girls and their, er….assets, then we’d have a wrestling game that could give the WWE a run for its money. As it is, we’ll have to settle for a decent arcade-style wrestling game with some hot looking chicks.