''WWF WrestleMania X8'' (later rebranded "WWE") is a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by

Yuke's Yuke's Co. Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer based in Osaka. It was established on 26 February 1993 by Yukinori Taniguchi. The company is best known for developing the ''WWE 2K, WWE'' video game series, based on the professional wrestling ...

and released on the

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

in June 2002.

Gameplay

''WrestleMania X8'' features a simple grappling system. Each wrestler has five front grapples, five rear grapples, and miscellaneous grapples, such as an evade and grapple in which a wrestler will dodge and then perform a hold or throw. There are meters based on color for the competitors in a match, and a pin is possible when the player's meter is fully red and their opponent's is fully blue. A large portion of the gameplay revolves around counter moves, with different buttons countering different maneuvers and allow different responses, such as strike and grapple. The game features a wide selection of signature moves used by wrestlers, and all wrestlers in the game have their unique entrances. There are a variety of weapons available, as well as the ability to perform a number of different grapples with them. The game features a variety of match types, including

Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

Hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

Table Table may refer to: * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (landform), a flat area of land * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns * Table (database), how the table data ...

Ladder A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such a ...

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

Battle Royal Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...

Steel Cage Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

Hell in a Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a five-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link fenci ...

, and

Ironman Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to: *Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer *Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter *Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician *Mick Murphy ...

. The number of participants in the match can also be chosen, including a singles match, a tag team match, a handicap match, Triple Threat, Fatal Four-Way, Battle Royal, and

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle roya ...

. The Hell in a Cell match features the ability to utilize unique grapples on the walls of the cell, as well as the ability to climb to the roof of the cell and fight atop it, with the option of throwing an opponent through the roof to the mat below. The game marks the WWE video game debuts of former

WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

and

ECW ECW may refer to: Professional wrestling * Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001 * The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...

wrestlers signed during the

Invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

storyline such as

Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 1944) ...

Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

, The Hurricane, and

Lance Storm Lance Timothy Evers (; born April 3, 1969), known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Extreme Championship Wrestling (EC ...

(

Diamond Dallas Page Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. In the course of his wrest ...

, another major figure in the WCW/ECW Alliance and the

WWF European Champion The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWF Intercontinental Championships within short ...

entering the namesake pay-per-view, was not included in the game). It was also the first appearance of

Hulk Hogan Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...

and

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

on a WWF/WWE video game since the 16-bit '' WWF Royal Rumble'' game (Hogan was on the

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

version, while Flair was on the

SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...

version), as well as the only appearance for

Scott Hall Scott Oliver Hall (October 20, 1958 – March 14, 2022) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name and under the ring name the Diamond Studd and with the ...

as an active WWE wrestler under the nWo gimmick, as he was released from the company prior to the game's release and was thus removed from ''

WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth ''WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth'' (known as ''Exciting Pro Wrestling 4'' in Japan) is a professional wrestling video game released on the PlayStation 2 console by THQ and developed by Yuke's. It is the fourth game in the ''WWE SmackDown!'' vide ...

''. In addition, the game features " Rollin'" as

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...

's entrance theme music although

Fred Durst William Frederick Durst (born August 20, 1970) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and director. He is the frontman and lyricist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994, with whom he has released seven studio albums. He ap ...

was not included in the game in contrast to previous WWF games that featured the song, while some former WCW wrestlers (including the nWo) and

The Hardy Boyz The Hardys, also known as The Hardy Boyz, are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of real-life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy, who are currently appearing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The team is currently inactive due to Jeff ...

do not have their proper entrance music.

Modes

The game features a Path of a Champion mode, a single player mode in which a player can attempt a championship path and make an attempt to win it. The titles offered are the WWF World Championship,

WWF Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, currently defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roste ...

WWF European Championship The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWF Intercontinental Championships within short ...

WWF Light Heavyweight Championship The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) promotion. The title was challenged by light heavyweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs (before deactivation, ...

WWF Hardcore Championship The WWE Hardcore Championship was a hardcore wrestling championship in WWE which was contested under "hardcore" rules (no disqualifications, no countouts, and pinfalls count anywhere). In the latter part of the title's history, a rule was impl ...

and

WWF World Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...

. There are four difficulties in which to play the mode, and there are a variety of unlockables for winning championships with particular wrestlers. Another mode in the game is the Battle for the Belts mode, in which a player can go after one of 51 fictional belts. A player can challenge either the CPU controlled wrestler who holds the belt or another player who has the belt in an attempt to win it. A player can customize the belt by naming it and changing its color. The game also features a Create-A-Wrestler mode in which a wrestler can be created with customized appearance, moves, profile, and a wide variety of other options.

Development

''WrestleMania X8'' was Yuke's first WWE game on a Nintendo platform, replacing

AKI Corporation , formerly AKI Corporation and The Man Breeze, is an independent video game development studio located in Kichijōji, Tokyo, Japan, founded on June 19, 1995. The company is best known for its popular wrestling games in the late 1990s and early-m ...

as the developer for these systems; some former AKI developers were hired by Yuke's to develop a game with gameplay style closer to their titles rather than Yuke's own ''SmackDown'' series on PlayStation, while taking advantage of GameCube's graphical capabilities compared to

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

. The game's development was complete before the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

's lawsuit with the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

, but was released after, so the packaging was initially released with the unabbreviated "World Wrestling Federation" before changing to feature the new World Wrestling Entertainment logo. Although new packaging and paraphernalia feature the WWE logo, the game still contains the WWF logo, only removed from the "fist" SmackDown and Raw stages.

Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...

was replaced with The Rock on the cover of later releases due to Austin's walkout following the game's release.

Reception

''WWF WrestleMania X8'' received "average" reviews according to video game

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. In Japan, ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' gave it a score of 32 out of 40.

Sequel

The game was succeeded by '' WWE WrestleMania XIX'' for the GameCube in 2003.

References

External links

* {{WWE video games 2002 video games GameCube games GameCube-only games Multiplayer and single-player video games THQ games Video game sequels Video games developed in Japan WrestleMania video games WWE video games Yuke's games Professional wrestling games