Right off the bat, I'm going to tell you this game's controls are stiff. I don't mean that in the traditional All Japan Pro Wrestling stiff, either. More like the controls are a mix between simplistic wrestling controls and fighting-combo-controls. Though not as bad as say, WWF Attitude or the other Acclaim PS1/N64 titles that used combination controls that were just a pain. I will say that combination controls like "down-forward-A" for wrestling aren't the best idea, as Acclaim games have shown us. Simplistic controls are best for video games based on combat sports(see: AKI wrestling games). However, this game does something interesting with their grappling feature, rather than just front-face tying-up, you're in a sort of tug-of-war where you can pick different areas to grab hold of your opponent. From their side to their back, you can also push them into a corner or into the ropes, like you normally see in just about most wrestling matches in general. If you get ahold of a translation sheet of this game, the first thing you're going to want to do is go into "Training Mode" for a few minutes before you make an ass out of yourself infront of a cardboard-looking Puroresu audiance.

Speaking of which, the audience is about the weakest feature in terms of visuals, then again, I suppose it's appropriate for the timeframe that this game was released. Everything else is pretty much on the money in terms of how an All Japan wrestling event would have looked. Right down to photographers snapping pictures and youngboys wearing AJPW tracksuits are ringside. The crowd is only animated, in the sense of making some kindof reaction, during a match whenever your wrestler is being introduced or is performing a slam. Then the crowd will still remain motionless, but atleast cheer in the typical Japanese way of "OOOH!" or scream out a wrestler's name in the silence. That's really the only time the crowd does anything, really. I was also glad to see full entrances from wrestlers along with their entrance music being played, however, I was a bit let down that their were no streamers thrown at them like you would have seen at any AJPW event.

As far as matches go, you're pretty limited, which is to be expected. Since you don't normally see match types that aren't singles or tag-matches in Japan. That being said, you have those two along with a triple threat match and a "Tournament Mode" for one single player. Then there's also a "Watch Mode" where any wrestling game-simulator-fanatic will be spending most of their time in, aswell as a "Making Mode", where your CAW-fanatic will be spending their time. Neither of which that I really care for, much less in this game since it's all in Japanese. Also, there's apparently a special VMU for this game aswell, packed with a few mini games along with showing your wrestler's health and where he's damaged.



When it comes to actually playing these matches, in terms of how your character is doing, it's pretty fight game based. You have a health bar, that ofcourse, goes from green to yellow to red to then being completely empty. You also have a reversal gauge and ofcourse a "special" gauge, or rather a Burning Spirit gauge, that lights up into flames once you get enough moves in and you're able to perform your signature move. These things are kindof neat, but what I liked the most were these random flashes in contrast of colors that would show you what bones have just been damaged during the impact of a slam or in the middle of a submission.

All that aside, to be honest, this game isn't going to be fun to you unless you're a wrestling fan, a Japanese wrestling fan at that. Not just because it's from a Japanese promotion, but because it really does play out like a match you would have seen in All Japan Pro Wrestling during '90s. Plenty of "finishers" right in the middle of the match and outrageous slams towards the end, followed by a handful of false finishes. Also, you're going to have to be a wrestling fan to really appreciate the flow of a match. If you are a Puroresu nerd, you'll be pleased at the fact that everyone from Stan Hansen to Wolf Hawkfield is in this game, aswell as it doesn't miss a beat in terms of movesets or character personalities. However, I do find it annoying when the Virtua Fighter guys do some ridiculous fighting game move that totally drains your health. In the end, I think warming up to the controls is going to be the only thing anyone is going to have a problem with here.



Into Giant Gram 2000, now this is a nice updated version of the hybrid-fighting-wrestling-controller game. Ok, so they've gotten rid of the three Virtua Fighter characters and added in some new (new at that time, anyway) All Japan wrestlers and legendary wrestlers. Everyone from the classic four resident AJPW all-stars: Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi and Akira Taue. To gaijins newcomers to Giant Gram such as: Steve Williams, Mike Barton and Johnny Smith are availiable to choose from. The Legends stable was what surprised me the most, everyone from The Destroyer to Fritz Von Erich was in this.

The one thing about Giant Gram games that erk me a bit is how quick matches are, getting back to this being a health mix of both a fighting and a wrestling game, it's to be expected that these matches usually never last much longer than 30 seconds. Which doesn't show too much when playing against someone, but really does begin to be obvious when playing in "Arcade Mode". It doesn't leave much for my imagination when wanting to have epic matches, yet to some extent it meshes rather well with AJPW's furious hard hitting style when I try clotheslines and then give my opponent three brainbusters in a row to drain his health into a weak yellow. That being said, I was a bit weary to try the "Historic Battle" mode. Which would have made any Puroresu-nerd mark out at the time, however, for me all it was, was cool for a few seconds having looked at the collection of matches they had. Naturally I went for the first Kawada VS Misawa, which didn't last long since I couldn't read the cues that kept coming up to perform, what with me not knowing Japanese. Still a cool feature and unfortunately there was no Stan Hansen VS Vader, otherwise I'd be interested in seeing Vader's eyeball popout in Dreamcast graphics.



Speaking of graphics and visuals, I have never marked out as hard as I did during a tag match as Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody. Especially during in-ring introductions, where we finally get streamers thrown at wrestlers. It also adds onto the atmosphere of the match when you notice all of the wrestlers give off some kindof facial emotion, whether they're completely unconscious while being pinned or struggling in a submission and even when they're performing a heavy slam. Aswell as the crowd looks to be more into the match, than in the last Giant Gram.

Getting into controls of the game, as I've said before, it's a mix of fighting-combo-buttons and wrestling controllers. You're not really looking too much into having an epic match, save for a few false finishes here and there. That's also not saying that the game's characters don't have corresponding personalities either. Though as I've said before, this game is a pretty good representation of All Japan's style, plenty of chain wrestling and stiff shoulder smashes, followed by savage backdrops. Obviously, if you're wrestling fan, go with this one of the two Giant Gram titles, it's a while lot more fun.