Today I’m going to talk about what is perhaps the greatest wrestling video game of all time: Fire Pro Wrestling Returns. Released on November 13, 2007 Fire Pro boasted the largest roster in any wrestling game…ever! This game had 327 wrestlers…Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven! They also gave you MMA fighters and female wrestlers also. I won’t name them all, but I will list a few: Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, Karl Gotch, Terry Funk, Vader, The Road Warriors, Sting, Jushin Liger, Dynamite Kid, Daveyboy Smith, AJ Styles, Sabu, Andre the Giant, Jeff Jarrett, Tiger Mask, Bull Nakano, Aja, Kong, Manami Toyota, Ken Shamrock, Quinten Jackson, Bob Sapp and an entire league of others. Now here is the thing though, due to licensing issues they do not have the real names, but if you are a hardcore wrestling fan, or even a casual fan, you will be able to rename them to their real-life counterparts. Fire Pro also gave you the ability to create your own referees, rings and gave you 500 create a wrestler slots with limitless range you can pretty much create every wrestler you’ve ever seen on top of the incredible roster already made available to you.
Fire Pro also gave you various match types: Single, up to eight-man tag matches, battle royals and even had the extreme deathmatches Japan is infamous for, Barbed Wire match, Landmine deathmatch and a Cage deathmatch; added with these are MMA style fights as well including K-1 Rules and the Octagon to suit their MMA fighters. Each of these match types is fun and is a unique experience. The other thing that separates Fire Pro from the pact is, its attention to detail. Not only can you create virtually any wrestler imaginable, you could make them act like their real-life counterparts as well. Say you create the Undertaker, you can make it so after he gives a chokeslam he then goes for a tombstone and then pins the opponent. Also the create a move-set is more detailed than any other wrestling game out there and offers a variety of moves from all over the world. Basically, if it has happened in a wrestling ring it is probably in here!
Fire Pro does not have an in-depth story mode and normally as in today’s wrestling games, I would use this as a negative, but it really has no baring on the gameplay. Plus, it does have a Match Maker mode that will see you play a booker and book a set of twelve events. I use this mode all the time as it is just so much fun putting together matches, watching them play out and seeing how excited the crowd was about them afterwards. You can unlock little stories during match maker by pitting together the right opponents, in the right arena with the appropriate rules and this is just a nice added feature but doesn’t really help or hinder the match maker experience. Besides match maker, you have other various ways of breaking up the mundane feeling of exhibition matches. Tournament mode is self-explanatory, you can set up to thirty-two teams or wrestlers in a single elimination tournament and either watch all the matches unfold or you can simulate until your chosen wrestler’s matches. Also, there is League where you select a variety of wrestlers and they will compete in a series of matches, collecting points for each win the team with the most points at the end wins. You can also engage in team battles where you select preset teams of 5 and compete in an elimination match. You can also create your own title belts and simulate or participate in title matches.
The learning curve with Fire Pro is a bit steep as it plays nothing like the WWE games. What I mean by this is, in WWE games generally its easy to pull off a finisher just seconds into the match and pick up a quick win, this is almost impossible in Fire Pro. Each wrestler has weak and strong moves in their arsenal, attempting to pull of a high damage move such as a Chokeslam, Powerbomb or a finishing move will result in failure more often than not and spin the momentum in your opponent’s favor. I hated this game at first because I just couldn’t grasp the grappling mechanics, however, once I learned them and got the other aspects of the game down, it became amongst my favorite games of all time. Whether you play the matches yourself or just want to set-up a dream match and watch it play out, Fire Pro will give you the most authentic real-life match style in wrestling video games. Graphically it is nowhere near the level of today’s wrestling games, the wrestlers are just in 2D but for my money this game is the most satisfying wrestling game out there.
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns is an absolute blast to play. To this very day there are online forums and federations that play this game and take it very seriously, probably too seriously. The fact remains though that for a video game to withstand the test of time, as it is almost eleven years old, says a lot about its fun factor. Also, there will be a PS4 port for this at some point in the summer called Fire Pro World, I also think it is available online to play as well now! So, what are you waiting for? Go find this amazing game and open the world to Fire Pro Wrestling you will become a fanatic I guarantee you!
Fire Pro does not have an in-depth story mode and normally as in today’s wrestling games, I would use this as a negative, but it really has no baring on the gameplay. Plus, it does have a Match Maker mode that will see you play a booker and book a set of twelve events. I use this mode all the time as it is just so much fun putting together matches, watching them play out and seeing how excited the crowd was about them afterwards. You can unlock little stories during match maker by pitting together the right opponents, in the right arena with the appropriate rules and this is just a nice added feature but doesn’t really help or hinder the match maker experience. Besides match maker, you have other various ways of breaking up the mundane feeling of exhibition matches. Tournament mode is self-explanatory, you can set up to thirty-two teams or wrestlers in a single elimination tournament and either watch all the matches unfold or you can simulate until your chosen wrestler’s matches. Also, there is League where you select a variety of wrestlers and they will compete in a series of matches, collecting points for each win the team with the most points at the end wins. You can also engage in team battles where you select preset teams of 5 and compete in an elimination match. You can also create your own title belts and simulate or participate in title matches.
The learning curve with Fire Pro is a bit steep as it plays nothing like the WWE games. What I mean by this is, in WWE games generally its easy to pull off a finisher just seconds into the match and pick up a quick win, this is almost impossible in Fire Pro. Each wrestler has weak and strong moves in their arsenal, attempting to pull of a high damage move such as a Chokeslam, Powerbomb or a finishing move will result in failure more often than not and spin the momentum in your opponent’s favor. I hated this game at first because I just couldn’t grasp the grappling mechanics, however, once I learned them and got the other aspects of the game down, it became amongst my favorite games of all time. Whether you play the matches yourself or just want to set-up a dream match and watch it play out, Fire Pro will give you the most authentic real-life match style in wrestling video games. Graphically it is nowhere near the level of today’s wrestling games, the wrestlers are just in 2D but for my money this game is the most satisfying wrestling game out there.
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns is an absolute blast to play. To this very day there are online forums and federations that play this game and take it very seriously, probably too seriously. The fact remains though that for a video game to withstand the test of time, as it is almost eleven years old, says a lot about its fun factor. Also, there will be a PS4 port for this at some point in the summer called Fire Pro World, I also think it is available online to play as well now! So, what are you waiting for? Go find this amazing game and open the world to Fire Pro Wrestling you will become a fanatic I guarantee you!