At last!  The long-awaited, and thrice delayed sequal to last year's WCW
vs the World is finally out.  Was it worth the wait?  In my opinion, no.
Though I am a big fan of WCW Wrestling, this venture didn't quite live
up to the hype and expectations.

Graphics - 7/10
The graphics on this year's version are much improved over last year's.
Nitro seems to be a 'real' WCW game, unlike Vs the World which was
a mediocre Japanese wrestling game (Virtural Pro Wrestling) with a WCW
liscense slapped on it.  Nitro seems to have been designed from the
ground up as a WCW wrestling game, so all of the wrestlers look the way
they should (no more 'overweight' Ultimo Dragon anymore).  Although the
graphics are detailed on the ring and wrestlers, the crowd looks like a
bunch of cardboard cutouts.  The main complaint is the massive slowdown
when more than 2 wrestlers are in the ring.

Sound/Music - 8/10
This is the strongest point in the game.  Macho Man will go, "Oh Yeah!",
Ric Flair Whoooo's, and people in the crowd occasionally yell things
out.  The sound effects for slams on the mat, and submission holds
actually sound like they hurt.  What's more is the background music,
though repetitive, is probably the coolest I've heard in a while.

Gameplay - 6/10
Ah, the all important gameplay issue.  In my opinion, this is the
catagory that makes or breaks any game.  Unfortunately, this is the 
weakest area.  The good thing is THQ went with a different approach than
the annoying 'hold-the-button' system that vs the World used.  It's a
very unique system, which is why I rated it a 6, despite other flaws. 
You press buttons in succession to perform certain moves.  For example,
pressing Square than X will make your wrestler attempt a Power Bomb if
he is in range.  On the down side, all wrestlers have basically the same
moves except for the 3 Trademark/Finishing manuvers that each have.

Another unique feature is to have another wrestler run in to bail you
out.  This is fun the first few times until you realize how badly this
slows the game down.  When there are 4 wrestlers in the ring, slowdown
is so attrocious that gameplay goes down the toilet.  It becomes
difficult to time even the simplest of moves until the extra wrestlers
leave.

The lack of gaming modes are also a problem.  You have the option of
facing 10 computer opponents in a row in singles competition, face a
friend in an exhibition match, and then you have the so-called tag team
matches.  You and a friend cannot be on the same team.  Only exhibition
matches are aloud, so there is no going though the game in tag mode. 
Your partner will never come in to save you from pin fall or submission,
he's just there to be tagged in.  It looked like THQ initially meant to
have a 4-player Multiplayer tag matches, but ran out of time.

Lastly, another large gripe is that Energy Bars have no place in a
wrestling game.  Knowing exactly how hurt your opponent is takes away
from the gameplay.  It is also entirely too easy to regain your energy.
Simply taunting will regain a bit of your bar.  Even if you are at
critical, you can easily taunt to regain your energy.

Lastability - 4/10
There are dozens of hidden characters available to be unlocked in the
Tekken style.  Simply finish the game on Normal or Hard with Wrestler A
to unlock Wrestler B.  The first wave of hidden characters are real
wrestlers like Rey Mysterio Jr and Ultimo Dragon.  Unfortunately, they
don't have any of their own moves.  Hidden Wrestlers are given someone
else's finishers, so Ultimo Dragon does not have is patented Dragon
Sleeper.  The other hidden characters are questionable in my opinion. 
People like Eric Bischoff, Elizabeth, and Mean Gene have all the same
generic moves the other wrestlers have.  Then the plain cheezy
characters like Santa Claws, Frankensteiner, and Buzz have no place in
the game.  Furthormore, the programmers, instead of working out the
kinks in the game engine, decided to make themselves hidden characters
too.  Isn't that special?

Overall - 6/10
In conclusion, Nitro was merely better than vs the World.  It is fun for
a while, but the cheezyness of some of the hidden characters does not
belong in a wrestling game.  I would reccomend renting the game first to
see if you like it, since it balances out to be a slightly above-average
game.  Since no true, solid wrestling game exists in the US for
Playstation, THQ could take a lesson from some of the Japanese wrestling
games.  A good New Japan Pro Wrestling game was created despite the big
name liscense (at least in Japan it is), why can't THQ do the same
justice to WCW?  Until then, I'll stick to my copy of Touken Retsuden 2.

Joshua J. Stella (gwar@flink.com)