Rumble Roses XX


Oh Roses, how I want to love thee, but I simply cannot... Rather, I must lust after you, and that "love" is simply a "really like", not a "like like", but just... well... you get the idea. Rumble Roses XX is the sequel to the All Girl Wrestling game for the PS2 that I almost bought, but persuaded myself against doing so. However, when the title was announced for the Xbox 360, and I saw screen shots, I simply said to myself, "Wow, I've gotta check that out.". Sure, some of it was because I'm a guy who just happens to enjoy looking at scantily clad chicks... Yes even digital chicks. But also, because, as of right now, there are no other wrestling games out for the Xbox 360. That will change this fall when Smackdown Vs. Raw 2007 is released, but for now, don't feel bad ogling the hot women that, get this, actually CAN wrestle, in this game.


Graphics: 8/10

It's a mixed bag here. The entrances are pretty much spectacular (except for the CAW one), the character models are awesome, and the ring areas are clean and crisp. However, the backgrounds are just alright. I would expect more out of a title like this. I want to see THOUSANDS of screaming fans in the audience, not just the handfull that are in the island resort stage. There are a few minor, very minor, clipping issues that deal mostly with clothing. It's nothing that detracts from the game though. I wish that the glow effect used when your opponent gets more and more humiliated was used much less (it's not a realistic thing), and there are certain spark effects that just don't fit, unless you think of this game as being as Japanese as it is. Lots of trippy stuff seems to happen in many Japanese titles.

Sound: 5/10

Personally, the sound is probably the low point of the game for me. The background music when you're playing a match is very low, even when set to the max volume. The crowd is very quiet, and the wrestlers don't speak too much, except for their one liners and such. There are some good points about the sound though... You can customize ALL of the music. I haven't earned the ability to change the existing characters' themes yet, but I'm almost positive that you can. You can change each venue's background theme (yes all five of the venues have different themes). All that is required is that you have the songs saved as a playlist on your 360 hard drive. Right now I'm using "Don'cha" by the Pussycat Dolls as my CAW's entrance theme.

Gameplay: 8/10

I may be scoring this a half a point too high, so think of it as a 7.5-8/10. It all depends on if you can get used to it or not. I took to it right away, since it feels a LOT like the Smackdown series, just with different button placement. The controls are easy to master, and there are no real hit detection issues that I can find.

The characters USUALLY look in the right direction and everything, which is unusual, but a great thing, for a wrestling game. You don't have to manually target your foe, which works really well. The moves seem more limited than Smackdown's selection, but it's good for a pick up and play, especially with buddies.

My real issue with the Gameplay part comes in the CAW mode. Umm... Yeah. I'm not sure what exactly the developers were thinking with this mode. It doesn't necessarally suck or anything, but it's very limiting. You have ONE face to choose from, several different hair styles, a couple preset costumes, where SOMETIMES you can change parts of them, but not usually. You can also sometimes change parts of the costumes' colors too, adding at least a little variety. Individual moves are not selectable when creating a character. You choose from a list of premade move sets, of which there aren't many. The one thing that I will give them which is cool with the CAW mode though is that you can decide how muscular and toned you want your girl to be. This part is pretty cool. And supposedly, as you wrestle certain ways, their muscle tone will change (this includes the regular characters). Bonus points for coolness with this part. Not many, but a few.


Overall: 7.5/10 (Not an Average)

Like I said earlier... There are no other wrestling games for the Xbox 360 as of now, but come Fall, there will be. This game should hold you over until then. There are quite a few unlockables, including something like four versions of each character. It's a good game to play with buddies in person, or over Xbox Live (there's no lag). You just have to make sure that you know someone else who owns the game. The quick match searches almost never find anyone. The queens matches are good fun with friends though, simply because the loser's character gets humiliated after the match in an action of your choice. For a quick fight, choose Street Fight. It's in a steel cage and plays more like a grapple centric Tekken, than a wrestling game. Surprisingly enough though, it's not bad. I would recommend at least a rent to Xbox 360 players, and a buy for Wrestling game fans.