WWE Survivor Series (Game Boy Advance)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.6 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Frank Provo
• Reviewed on: 10/22/2004
• Released on: 10/12/2004
• Originally published on GameSpot: WWE Survivor Series (Game Boy Advance) Review

It's been two years since THQ published a wrestling game on the GBA, which was WWE Road to Wrestlemania X8, to be specific. You'd assume that the company would've used that lengthy time span to make sweeping improvements to the game engine for the subsequent release. Well, WWE Survivor Series is here, and, to be blunt, it's just a rehash of the last game but with a new cast, a revamped story mode, and a few slight gameplay changes. The recognizable cast of characters is just about the only thing this so-called "new" game has going for it.

There's nothing significantly wrong with the list of included features, except for the glaring absence of a create-a-wrestler mode. People are still running message boards and devoting FAQ pages to Fire Pro Wrestling, a 4-year-old game, because it lets them create and train an entire stable of custom wrestlers. WWE Survivor Series has to get by solely on the strength of its stock roster, which, to its credit, does include 16 of the WWE's hottest stars. Play modes include story, exhibition, and multiplayer. The exhibition and multiplayer modes let you set up single, tag, cage, submission, hardcore, triple-threat, four-way, and royal rumble matches, as well as multiround tournaments, in any of seven different arenas. Four players can take part at once, so long as everyone has his or her own GBA, link cable, and copy of the game.

The story mode is the game's heart and soul. Here you pick any of the 16 available wrestlers and control him as he works his way up the ranks of one of the WWE's two wrestling factions, either SmackDown! or Raw. After a few preliminary qualifying tournaments, you'll have the opportunity to compete for the championship belts. Match types vary depending on the event, but they come in six varieties: single, tag, cage, submission, hardcore, and royal rumble. Once you win all three belts in one faction, you can cross over and try to do the same in the other. Beating the various opponents isn't too difficult, once you nail the controls, but there is a rather sneaky catch that may make it tougher to swipe those belts. To enter a tournament, you have to first impress Paul Heyman or Eric Bischoff by earning high audience and tag-partner ratings. To do that, you need to mix up your moves, let the CPU gain the upper hand from time to time, and rush in when your partner is in trouble.

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