Fire Pro Wrestling is perceived by many as THE wrestling sim. Giant Gram, the AKI series, they’re great games and all, but if you want variety, Fire Pro is where it’s at. Or so I was told. Fire Pro Advance (here on known as FPA) was my very first dip into the pool of foreign wrestling goodness. Don’t ask what the deal is with 17-year-old Mike’s playing old franchises for the first time today, it’s all coincidence.

After scouring the net for movies of FPWD, the Dreamcast Japanese game, which was released last year, to try and figure out how the heck it played, I came up short. One Quicktime of Hulk Hogan getting thrown into an electric cage was not good enough (though it was very fun to watch) to answer my questions. How is FPA set up & how do you play?

Well, though I definitely haven’t put enough play time into the title to give a full review, allow me to cover the basics. First off, you have a LOT of wrestlers at your disposal, over 150 of them (and that isn’t including the amount of characters you can create in the detailed Create A Wrestler mode). There is also a nice selection of matches you can choose. Death matches (electric cage and explosions –it’s not pretty), Battle Royals, and the new Audience Match, where you try your best to appease the crowd by wrestling using the kind of technique they want.

As mentioned before, there is a massive selection of wrestlers. The big guys are all there, The Rock, HHH, Stone Cold, Jericho, Undertaker and all. They even included X Pac! Oh Spike, will you ever learn? There’s just one catch. You want to use Chris Benoit? Just find him on the character select screen… under the moniker “The Computer” Roots Genoa. Don’t ask me, I have no clue. Some are a tad more obvious (Undertaker = The Cremator) and others you’ll have to fight with before some random white haired guy with blue tights is busting out the Lion Tamer.

If this irks you, you can easily change their appearance (and name, moves, etc) in the character select screen and save it in one of the empty slots. As mentioned before, the Edit menu is nearly bursting at the seems. Aside from allowing you to edit current wrestlers and create new ones, you’re also given the option to change the name and logo of current leagues and trade the wrestlers within them. It’s quite fun seeing Kane in the Ultimate Fighting league next to Frank Shamrock.

On the multiplayer side of things, FPA allows four-player play in the Battle Royal. Though I haven’t had the chance to play anyone yet, based on what I’ve encountered so far, FPA looks to be, arguably THE best multiplayer GBA game, definitely ranking up there with Dodgeball and Krazy Racers. If you do have any friends who also own the title, you can even trade wrestlers. Do I smell the next Pokemon? Well, maybe not, but it’s a welcome feature.

Now for the game itself... Grappling is automatically pulled off when two wrestlers are close enough to be touching each other, whether they’re facing each other or not. While standing, you can pull off weak, medium, and strong attacks by pressing B, A, or A+B, in that order. A weak move will usually give you a little kick, whereas your strong arsenal can consist of anything from a knockout elbow to a drop kick. The R trigger makes your wrestler run, and the L trigger either gives your wrestler a breather, or circles the opponent you’re facing, depending on whether or not you’re moving. Press select, and your character will do a taunt, which accurately reflects his real life persona. The Rock will do that ridiculous arm waving he does before the people’s elbow, Kane will do his neck cutting shtick, it’s all there.

Once two wrestlers lock up, you can either attempt to pull off or reverse a weak, medium, or strong move, an Irish whip, or a headlock position. At the beginning of a match, it’s smart to start of with weak moves and headlocks, and as time passes & your opponent grows weaker, it’s time to pull off some big ones. Double and even triple teams are featured when wrestling in the Royal. I’m not sure whether we’ll be able to grab a movie of it, but lets just say that a 3 on 1 “pounding on the back” looks quite painful and humorous at the same time.

FPA also offers a variety of ground moves, attacks, and submissions. There are many high-flying attacks available once you’re atop the turnbuckle, or if your opponent is outside of the ring. One distinct flavour that I have found Fire Pro has offered me over WWF No Mercy (aside from the awesome Japanese atmosphere) is the new moves I have not before witnessed. Trust me, you haven’t seen obscure until you see Benoit give someone the tombstone piledriver…off of the top rope!

Overall, I am VERY pleased with this title. Though the music gets repetitive, and there isn’t much offered effect wise, FPA is a very solid wrestling title. If you’re into games where you walk around as a WWF Superstar TM giving people stunners in alleyways, then hold out for THQ’s upcoming GBA game, but if you want a bloated handheld wrestling title, which offers hours of single and multi play time, DEFINITELY check this one out. Don’t be afraid of the obscure publisher (sorry, Bam!) or the lack of licensed...anything. It’s all about the gameplay baby.