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Twenty-One Questions about WrestleMania 21

Date Added: January 04, 2005
Story By: Andy Steven

Xbox has not been home to many wrestling games and has, at times, felt like the forgotten console for wrestling fans. That changes this March with the release of the highly-anticipated WWE WrestleMania 21. Developed by Studio Gigante and Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias, WrestleMania 21 is not Raw 3. In fact, Studio Gigante is attempting to take the best of all the wrestling games out there and making one kick-ass product.

Because WWE WrestleMania 21 is such a big game, we took our questions straight to John Tobias. John was good enough to answer all twenty-one questions. If you've been looking for WrestleMania 21 details, you've got 'em.

I. You're well-known for making fighting games, so why did you decide to switch gears after Tao Feng to work on a wrestling title?

John Tobias: It made the most sense for Gigante from a business standpoint in terms of working with the license. We also had an interest in expanding the style of fighting game that we create and a wrestling title let us do that.

II. Your fighting games are heavy with Asian mythology and mysticism. Do you view wrestling as having its own mythology and if so how are you incorporating that into WM21?

JT: Well... we have to work with the style and feel of the WWE. If there's any mythology to wrestling or the WWE, it's entrenched in the Legends and the history of the sport. It's been around forever. We're injecting some of that into our Career Mode story; I'll get into that later.

III. When I told someone you were making WM21 they were shocked and said, "Wow, that's going to be a very different kind of wrestling game." I think a lot of people share that sentiment. What is it that Studio Gigante brings to WM21 that will make it different than any other wrestling game on the market?

JT: When we started working on the game our goal was to preserve the general mechanics behind the previous WWE titles that THQ has released. I think our game play is a bit snappier, but other than that we weren't out to completely reinvent the genre. I don't think we have enough experience to do that yet.

IV. What are the differences between creating a wrestling game and a fighter? What are the similarities?

JT: Well a major difference for us was working with a license. There were a lot of boundaries set and we didn't have as much freedom as we're used to having. I think the differences between the two styles of game are the complexities behind the controls. They're very different from each other and in a lot of ways I think a wrestling game's controls are less complex and more general between each character. Because of that we tried to build some depth with the addition of the Pro Reversal system. I think we did that as opposed to any gimmicky mechanics that don't really add much to the game play experience.

V. The Raw series had some good pieces, but it was by no means as good as it could have been. When you started work on WM21, did you look at what Raw 2 did and try to build on that or did you decide to start fresh with a new take on Xbox wrestling?

JT: We looked at all of the WWE titles across the various platforms that had come before. Of course our goal was to try and improve on the previous Xbox title, but we tried to make decisions specific to our game. Our biggest challenge is the fact that the current products have been in development for so many years. They've built on their engines and have been able to really pile on the features. Our first goal was to focus on quality in hopes that we'll be able to build on the quantity aspect going forward.

VI. The grappling system is probably the most important gameplay aspect for a wrestling title. Tell us how WM21's grappling system works.

JT: Our system is a bit different in that we utilize 2 buttons each with 2 different grapple types. Each has an initial lock-up between wrestlers, which is then followed by the player's choice of performing a grapple, or Irish Whip, or strike from the lock-up or switching front to back. We felt that that gave the player a lot of options once locked-up.

VII. For WM21, you're introducing a new type of counter system. Explain how the pro-reversal system works.

JT: The idea behind the Pro Reversal was to give the victim of a grapple an additional chance at reversing other than at the start of an attack. We wanted the flow of a grapple and the Pro Reversal to be very fluid so each Pro Reversal is specific to the grapple that it comes from. They all occur at different times depending on the grapple and are unique to the grapple that triggers them. There are a ton of them and they really add variety to the experience. The motion capture process really helped us see what made sense and what would really be done when reversing grapples.

VIII. A wrestler's intro is a big part of the showmanship of wrestling. How accurate will the stars intros be and how much customization can we expect for created wrestlers? Will gamers be able to rip custom soundtracks to use for intros?

JT: The Superstar intros in our game are the most accurate depiction done in any of the past WWE products to date. Our Create-a-Superstar leans more towards realism in the sense that we didn't want to have purple skinned wrestlers with massive heads and tiny feet and hands wrestling against the ultra realistic Superstars. We thought that would break the sense of realism we were going for. So we do set limits to certain aspects of CAS. We also support music ripping and will allow the player to pick his favorite ripped tune to play in his customized entrance.

IX. What's more important: The wrestling or the showmanship?

JT: Wrestling is the meat and showmanship is the potato. Or something like that.

X. How many WWE stars will be in WM21 and can you tell us a few of the big names? Any plans to include some WWE legends?

JT: There are 45 playable wrestlers -- all of the must haves like Triple H, Rey Mysterio, John Cena and some others we'll reveal very soon. The Rock actually exists as a legend, but this is old-school Rock circa 1997 with the chops and pre-tattoo -- the Rock at his prime.

Of course we also have included Andre the Giant. The cool thing about him and actually all of our wrestlers is that they are modeled to scale. So Andre is every bit of his full height; it's really cool to see him up against someone like Rey Mysterio. In the end, it was important for us to nail the likenesses of the wrestlers not only in facial features but also in physical size and exact body detail. We're not just gluing heads on bodies, a lot of work goes into capturing each Superstars likeness.

XI. How extensive are you taking create-a-wrestler? What sort of options will gamers have to create a unique wrestler, unlike any other they'll see online?

JT: As I mentioned, our CAS is all about creating realistic wrestlers that you would see on the WWE shows. We didn't want to break the sense of realism so the customization options we offer are in line with that focus. We also allow you to assign your weight class and expertise, which really can impact the strengths and weaknesses of your character.

We allow players to assign any move to any wrestler, but you have to be careful which moves you assign to your created wrestler because his weight class and expertise will have an impact on how powerful certain moves can be. For example, you don't want to assign a bunch of power moves to a wrestler who is a cruiserweight aerialist, but you can if you want to. Players can also bring any created wrestler online.

XII. Raw 2's story mode had some major flaws. For example, there was no text or dialogue. That seems like important stuff to miss out on. What can fans expect from WM21's story mode? Is it going to blow us away? Will we get sound? What new elements are you adding and what, if anything, are you keeping from Raw 2?

JT: Well we've already one up'd it because we're having both text and dialog. Actually, we have dialog recorded by the real Superstars and the text is a caption option. I think by far our game will be the most cinematic of any of the previous story modes. When your character appears on the shows our cut scenes take on the life of a real broadcast by mimicking the handheld camera qualities that you see when watching WWE programming. Outside of the broadcast portions the feel of the scenes will be very cinematic and moody. We really wanted the player to feel like he is there.

XIII. How does prestige work in WM21? How hard will it be to become a face and what are the advantages?

JT: Our game is more about building a created wrestler's attributes. That is very important for a customized wrestler because without building them up he's kind of a weakling. Your first method in building a created wrestler's attributes is through Career Mode.

XIV. Will there be any sort of rivalry system for Story Mode and how will that work?

JT: The rivalries are built into the story line. We wanted to be able to manage the drama more carefully to create a very compelling storyline.

XV. Obviously we can expect the standards like cage match, but what other game modes will WM21 have?

JT: We include the most popular modes of play but we're most excited about the online modes. Whereas previous wrestling titles were limited with their online presentation we're a bit more robust. Fans will be blown away when they see what online options WrestleMania 21 will offer.

XVI. This will be the first online wrestling game for Xbox in the US. Aside from letting four players get it on in the ring, what are you doing to make the Xbox Live experience great for wrestling fans?

JT: We feature the ability to create a championship belt, build its prestige and bring it online. You can then put your title up for contention and then potentially lose it to another player online. If that happens the only way to get it back is to win it back. This can be painful because before bringing your belt online you have to build its prestige on your local Xbox and you get to personalize it through the Create-a-Belt feature. The painful part is that someone can take it all away from you, but that's what wrestling is all about... put up or shut up

XVII. Will you be implementing any Live 3.0 features like clans or voice messaging?

JT: We will be supporting voice messaging so you can verbalize your displeasure against the guy who just took your title from you.

XVIII. How about leagues or tournaments?

JT: Our hope is that the Online Create-a-Belt competition will build into a fight for the belt with the highest prestige. The holder of that belt will undoubtedly be the best player online.

XIX. Any plans for downloadable content?

JT: We hoped to support it but will have to wait for the next iteration.

XX. You are one of the rare U.S. studios making wrestling games. Do you think there's anything that a U.S. perspective brings that might be missed by a Japanese developer?

JT: Well wrestling is very popular in Japan and I think with all of the high quality Japanese developers it is only natural that they've become the go to guys. I think though that some things do get lost in translation especially in bringing the WWE to life.

XXI. My all-time favorite wrestling games are Pro Wrestling and this Japanese wrestling game, Giant Gram. What are your favorite wrestling games of all time and is there anything you are taking from those games and trying to incorporate in WM21?

JT: I enjoyed the old WWF No Mercy game on N64. We hope to capture some of that fun-factor.

Our thanks to John Tobias for taking the time out of his busy schedule to give us the skinny on WWE WrestleMania 21. Be sure to check back in early 2005 for a whole lot more of WM 21.

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