A simple all-female wrestling game with sexy vixens, ruined by a confusing, frustrating unlock system and a lack of content. What Rumble Roses XX gets right is its character system. Though there are only 10 or so playable characters, every fighter (or Rose) has a face and a heel version, totaling up to 20 characters. In addition, a Superstar version of each Rose can also be unlocked. As this is a Mature rated wrestling game with only women, nearly every Roses’ gimmick caters to the typical male fantasy. You have a nurse named Anesthesia, a punk rocker with pigtails named Candy Cane, and a sexy cop named Sgt. Clements. The list goes on from there.
Superstar characters come into play with the popularity system. After a match, a Roses’ popularity will rise or fall. If it rises above 80, that you can choose a Superstar version of that Rose which is a super version with more powerful moves. If the popularity of said Rose falls below 80, the Superstar version is gone and must be raised above 80 to unlock again. Even though this may sound like a bad system, it makes sense when you consider how popularity works in professional wrestling and sports entertainment.
The gameplay is a dumbed-down, less complex version of SmackDown vs. Raw 2007. However, that’s not bad as the controls are very simple and easy to pick up and learn. The only issue is that controls are only found through a tutorial icon on the main menu. Pausing the game doesn’t give you a list of controls, and the only contextual controls that pop up on screen are a button for pins when the opponent is on the mat and a button for performing finishers when the situation calls for them.
Don’t expect a Story, Career, Season, or Tournament mode as there is no real single-player mode. Instead, the main menu acts as a hub (similar to an overworld map like in Virtua Fighter 5's Quest Mode or Def Jam Fight For New York's Story Mode) where you can select between exhibition mode (allowing you to pick the match option and your opponent), match icons that randomly pair you up with an opponent, an in-game shop, and a settings option. Aside from singles, tag, triple threat, four ways, and handicap matches, Street Fights and Queen’s Matches are the only gimmick matches. Street Fight plays like a watered-down fighting game where pins and submissions are disabled. Queen’s Match is basically a 1-on-1 match, except the Roses wear swimsuits and fight in a ring on the beach. The objective is the win, so the loser has to perform a humiliating act. It’s an interesting idea as you can choose what action the loser has to do upon selecting this match (yoga, dancing, limbo, doing a pose), but the post-match action is really only a cutscene and nothing spectacular.
Unlocking content is terrible and as a 2006 game, almost makes current-gen game unlock systems run for the hills. The achievements, while not difficult, are super time-consuming and take well over several hundred hours. To win a championship, you have to defeat all 9 default Roses once, win 15 singles matches, and win a few matches consecutively. Only then, a Champ icon will pop up, allowing you to fight for the title. Now if you want to unlock a Roses’ alter ego, you must do the exact same thing, with the rest of the 9 Roses, then defeat a Rose to unlock the alter ego. The problem is that the game gives no indication of ranking or stats outside of hours and the number of matches played. You also cannot simply play Exhibition matches and must choose one of the icons on the map, often forcing you to back in and out of the settings option just to have that one Rose you haven’t beaten show up.
The in-ring gameplay is mostly okay as it plays like a stripped down, yet workable version of SmackDown vs Raw 2006. Submissions seem to be an important factor since when one is performed, a camera icon pops up on the screen and you can rotate the thumbsticks to get a better view of the quote, unquote “action.” The amount of moves isn't massive, so expect to see your entire Roses moveset after playing a match for a few minutes. Every Rose has a Killer move, a Lethal move, and a Humiliation move. Killer moves are performed if your opponent is standing, while Lethal and Humiliation moves are position-dependent. Killer moves are glorified finishers, Lethal moves are more painful finishers and Humiliation moves are finishers/submissions that result in an instant win once performed. Unlike the WWE games, finishers are played out in a cinematic fashion similar to fighting games, so you can technically be attacked and perform your finisher while being hit in an animation.
The controls are great, and while the action happens at a brisk pace, it can feel a bit sluggish at times with somewhat slow movement and the odd hit detection. I guess it also doesn’t help that the camera view perspective is on the turnbuckle, versus the traditional ringside view. The A.I. is not the best. They put up a decent fight, but even on Easy, they tend to counter a lot of attacks.
There is a Create a Wrestler mode, although it is extremely limited. Very few options for hair and facial features exist and while you can unlock a select few costumes in the shop, they come as sets and do not allow you to really mix and match or individualize parts. To put it shortly, you won't be able to create anyone near the level of say, any WWE games’ Create a Wrestler mode.
I will give Rumble Roses XX credit since it is a unique, fun wrestling game that has a fair bit of personality with an interesting persona system. It just needed the content on the level of the SmackDown games and fewer grindy unlock requirements. This feels more like a director's cut rather than a sequel to the PS2 original. Playing this game with friends will provide some entertainment, but going into the ring along with Rumble Roses XX provides fun along with a match-up against confusion, annoyance, and frustration.
Superstar characters come into play with the popularity system. After a match, a Roses’ popularity will rise or fall. If it rises above 80, that you can choose a Superstar version of that Rose which is a super version with more powerful moves. If the popularity of said Rose falls below 80, the Superstar version is gone and must be raised above 80 to unlock again. Even though this may sound like a bad system, it makes sense when you consider how popularity works in professional wrestling and sports entertainment.
The gameplay is a dumbed-down, less complex version of SmackDown vs. Raw 2007. However, that’s not bad as the controls are very simple and easy to pick up and learn. The only issue is that controls are only found through a tutorial icon on the main menu. Pausing the game doesn’t give you a list of controls, and the only contextual controls that pop up on screen are a button for pins when the opponent is on the mat and a button for performing finishers when the situation calls for them.
Don’t expect a Story, Career, Season, or Tournament mode as there is no real single-player mode. Instead, the main menu acts as a hub (similar to an overworld map like in Virtua Fighter 5's Quest Mode or Def Jam Fight For New York's Story Mode) where you can select between exhibition mode (allowing you to pick the match option and your opponent), match icons that randomly pair you up with an opponent, an in-game shop, and a settings option. Aside from singles, tag, triple threat, four ways, and handicap matches, Street Fights and Queen’s Matches are the only gimmick matches. Street Fight plays like a watered-down fighting game where pins and submissions are disabled. Queen’s Match is basically a 1-on-1 match, except the Roses wear swimsuits and fight in a ring on the beach. The objective is the win, so the loser has to perform a humiliating act. It’s an interesting idea as you can choose what action the loser has to do upon selecting this match (yoga, dancing, limbo, doing a pose), but the post-match action is really only a cutscene and nothing spectacular.
Unlocking content is terrible and as a 2006 game, almost makes current-gen game unlock systems run for the hills. The achievements, while not difficult, are super time-consuming and take well over several hundred hours. To win a championship, you have to defeat all 9 default Roses once, win 15 singles matches, and win a few matches consecutively. Only then, a Champ icon will pop up, allowing you to fight for the title. Now if you want to unlock a Roses’ alter ego, you must do the exact same thing, with the rest of the 9 Roses, then defeat a Rose to unlock the alter ego. The problem is that the game gives no indication of ranking or stats outside of hours and the number of matches played. You also cannot simply play Exhibition matches and must choose one of the icons on the map, often forcing you to back in and out of the settings option just to have that one Rose you haven’t beaten show up.
The in-ring gameplay is mostly okay as it plays like a stripped down, yet workable version of SmackDown vs Raw 2006. Submissions seem to be an important factor since when one is performed, a camera icon pops up on the screen and you can rotate the thumbsticks to get a better view of the quote, unquote “action.” The amount of moves isn't massive, so expect to see your entire Roses moveset after playing a match for a few minutes. Every Rose has a Killer move, a Lethal move, and a Humiliation move. Killer moves are performed if your opponent is standing, while Lethal and Humiliation moves are position-dependent. Killer moves are glorified finishers, Lethal moves are more painful finishers and Humiliation moves are finishers/submissions that result in an instant win once performed. Unlike the WWE games, finishers are played out in a cinematic fashion similar to fighting games, so you can technically be attacked and perform your finisher while being hit in an animation.
The controls are great, and while the action happens at a brisk pace, it can feel a bit sluggish at times with somewhat slow movement and the odd hit detection. I guess it also doesn’t help that the camera view perspective is on the turnbuckle, versus the traditional ringside view. The A.I. is not the best. They put up a decent fight, but even on Easy, they tend to counter a lot of attacks.
There is a Create a Wrestler mode, although it is extremely limited. Very few options for hair and facial features exist and while you can unlock a select few costumes in the shop, they come as sets and do not allow you to really mix and match or individualize parts. To put it shortly, you won't be able to create anyone near the level of say, any WWE games’ Create a Wrestler mode.
I will give Rumble Roses XX credit since it is a unique, fun wrestling game that has a fair bit of personality with an interesting persona system. It just needed the content on the level of the SmackDown games and fewer grindy unlock requirements. This feels more like a director's cut rather than a sequel to the PS2 original. Playing this game with friends will provide some entertainment, but going into the ring along with Rumble Roses XX provides fun along with a match-up against confusion, annoyance, and frustration.