I've been a fan of wrestling games since "Pro Wrestling" for NES. I've hoarded almost every "name brand" title since then, and dabbled in the generic sims on occasion. I have even pissed off a lot of people for my hours of abuse on the local arcade's "Mat Mania" while growing up.

My long-standing respect for American wrestling is as strong as ever, and I decided what better way to try out my new Indigo GameBoy Advance than to fire up the first wrestling title to hit the platform, Fire Pro Wrestling. I have had as much experience with the THQ titles as the next wrestling fan, but my familiarity with the Japanese wrestling scene and their performing styles is limited, so I fired up this game with few expectations. In terms of pure wrestling action, it is clear to me that the brand name titles from THQ have a high standard to live up to. As strong as Fire Pro Wrestling is in options and action, it lacks in the elements that American wrestling fans and wrestling gamers have grown accustomed to. What you're getting is a straight up, no baloney, pure wrestling simulation without the glitz and glare showcased on Monday and Thursday nights.

Right from the outset, you get a hint at the game's depth with the 6 match modes and the Edit features. Your standard "Exhibition" bout tops the list, where you challenge the CPU or up to three other players to one match.

A "Tournament" contest is a competition for three to sixteen wrestlers. To add some standard intrigue, the damage your wrestler suffers from one match will carry over to the next, getting progressively more tired as you advance.

The "League" competition is where groups of up to 64 wrestlers compete with one another. A point system is enforced based on your performance, and the team with the most points overall by the end takes the win.

"Elimination" mode is where teams of five wrestlers compete against each other. Players can create custom teams and save them to the game pak.

A "Survival Match" allows you to test yourself in a continuous series of matches to see how far you can go.

Possibly the most interesting is the "Audience Match." The goal is to master seven types of wrestling styles -- everything from Lucha Libra (high spots and fast action) to hardcore. The perk to mastering these trades is the unlocking of more wrestlers to choose from.

Finally, "Edit" mode allows you to create your own wrestlers, rename wrestlers, edit teams, rename teams, or trade wrestlers them among teams.

If this wasn't enough, from there you select the basic rules for your matches: Normal, Deathmatch, Gruesome, and Battle Royal.

"Deathmatch" is quite literal, with the combatants being surrounded by an electrical wire fence, and explosives are harmlessly planted around the ring. Lovely. And I thought Jeff Hardy's Swanton Bomb was death-defying.

"Gruesome" mode is your traditional octagon cage where only submissions and knockouts determine the winner.

A "Battle Royal" allows up to four wrestlers to fight all at once. This feature is limited to just the four wrestlers. New combatants do not enter as another one is defeated.

Once you've chosen your poison and set other minor settings, you're presented with the large array of wrestlers to choose from. There's little American name recognition to go by here. If you're unfamiliar with the famous Japanese talents, you'll have to resort to trial and error to find the wrestlers you like the most based on their appearance and moves.

Like any wrestling game, you'll find yourself limited to punches and kicks until you figure out the control system. First thing's first. This is NOT a THQ title. Don't immediately go for weak or strong grapples to set your opponent up for high spots and taunts. This is a new title in the Fire Pro series with a whole new style of play to learn. The method behind playing this game is unlike what almost all of us are accustomed to.

In a nutshell, most of the moves you apply to your opponent depend on timing, proximity, and button combinations. The B button will work weak moves, A will apply medium moves, and A+B will do strong moves. L lets your wrestler rest while R makes him run. The wrestlers go for a grapple automatically anytime they are near each other. If you press a button the second they connect, you can apply a move. If you’re too fast or slow, you’re screwed. It sounds easy enough, but wait until you try it. This basic system applies to all scenarios – face to face, from behind, opponent lying down, aerial attacks, and outside the ring. The game also features counters and double-team moves.

With a lack of anything that could resemble a practice mode, many first-timers will get quickly frustrated as the CPU player throws them around the ring. Button mashing will make it worse, not better. You MUST learn how to work the control system, mostly based on precise timing, or else you will tire your own wrestler out or "get over" with the fans like a fart in church, and lose the match anyway, no matter how well you did. Once you figure it out, you'll be amazed at the moves you can pull off with the right timing and combinations. This is not an easy thing to learn, and you will have to try to ignore the Acclaim and THQ control systems many are used to. I hate to say it, but it would have helped my enjoyment if it did at least somewhat resemble the button mashing format American gamers are used to. That said, I do respect Spike's/Bam! Entertainment's attempt to be different. Once you learn the system, the game is quite enjoyable to play.

Graphically, Fire Pro is nothing to write home about, but the large assortment of moves provides for a lot of basic animations. Though the wrestlers don’t animate anywhere near even 15 frames per second, you can still recognize the moves that are being applied. Beyond that, Fire Pro Wrestling has a very flat, NES look that does not fairly show off the GBA's capabilities. The ring is shown at an overhead 45 degree angle (effectively looking like a diamond). One can assume that was done to keep the ropes from hindering our view of the action. The ring is large enough, or the characters are small enough, that the game doesn’t suffer from the clustering of characters in one area of the ring, which tends to confuse many. The audience is slightly animated, but suffers from the classic "multiple twin" syndrome, where identical audience members are all over the place. There is an assortment of rings you can wrestle in as well. There are many costumes and accessories to give your custom wrestlers, but the small screen and resolution of the GBA really makes this feature difficult to appreciate to its fullest. Like most games, the lack of a good light source for your GBA screen will hinder your enjoyment even further.

Fire Pro Wrestling has acceptable, if repetitive, sound effects and music. The quality of the music lies between the 8-bit NES beeps and boops, and the SNES for its multiple instruments. The sound effects are standard for the genre -- thuds for the hard-hitting moves, splats for the punches and kicks, crunches for the submission holds, and audience cheers and jeers that respond to your every move. Not surprisingly, FPW sounds a little better using headphones, as the GBA’s speaker is not only mono, but makes most titles I’ve played sound rather flat.

If you're a fan of pure wrestling and less show, this will be nirvana for you. If you want American wrestling name recognition, showmanship, storylines, run-ins, and THQ's control system, you'll be aimlessly button mashing for little more than 5 minutes before you never pick it up again. Give Fire Pro Wrestling a chance if you're looking for something different from the ordinary in your wrestling games.