Team Ninja, eat your hearts out! If the next Dead or Alive game was a wrestling game, Rumble Roses would be the result. And amazingly, it's rather good.
The premise is extremely gimmicky, and the whole thing has the atmosphere of a raunchy Hentai game, but underneath the many layers of cheesecake, Rumble Roses possesses a very competent, fast-paced arcade wrestling engine.
The controls are very easy to pick up, even for players who have not played a wrestling game in several years. Countering is way more forgiving than other wrestling games on the market, making Rumble Roses a fine choice for beginners, while wrestling aficionados will enjoy the solid mechanics, similar to those found in the Smackdown series.
Much of Rumble Roses' appeal comes from its well-endowed roster, so it stands to reason that the game looks gorgeous. All the girls are painstakingly detailed, and while not as technically spectacular as the fighters of Dead or Alive, Rumble Roses does feature some of the nicest looking character models ever seen on the PS2. The environments could use a bit more sprucing up, as most of the arenas are different only in slight alterations to the color pallets, save for a beachside puddle that serves as the location for mud-wrestling matches. Yes, that's right – I said mud wrestling.
Audio holds up pretty well, too. All of the girls are voiced over with silly, caricatured English dubs that can only be described as self-aware. The soundtrack comprises mostly of catchy, upbeat pop numbers that fit well with the overall theme of the game.
If Rumble Roses has a shortcoming, it's the lack of content. Everything the game has to offer can be unlocked within a weekend of play, and with no special/gimmick match types (aside from the mud-wrestling) or online mode, there's not much reason to invest fifty bucks into the game. Here's hoping that the inevitable sequel will expand on what is one of the great guilty pleasures of this console generation.
-George
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