Wave Race: Blue Storm

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Nintendo Software Technology

Wave Race 64 was an amazing water-based racing game when it was first released. Fast forward about half of a decade and Wave Race: Blue Storm came out…And while it was a solid game, it honestly felt like more of the same. Yes, it has better graphics. Yes, it has more playable characters. Yes, it has an extra mode or two. Yes, it’s a very good game. And yes, I enjoyed playing it quite a bit. However, since it does simply feel like it’s more of the same, Wave Race: Blue Storm is also a little bit of a disappointment. The only real notable change, that I’ve seen anyway, is that it has a higher difficulty than Wave Race 64. That extra difficulty may make playing this worthwhile to people that perfected the Nintendo 64 racer, but on the flip side, it may also turn away people new to the franchise. Overall, Blue Storm is a solid racing game, and worth checking out if you’ve played Wave Race 64…just don’t expect a ton of innovation. Blue Storm is basically just treading water.

Review added: 07/31/2019

WWE Day of Reckoning

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Yuke's

When WWE Day of Reckoning hit store shelves, the Gamecube FINALLY got a good, solid WWE-licensed wrestling game. Third time was the charm, it seems. Getting rid of the horrible brawler/platformer/wrestling hybrid main game mode that plagued the otherwise solid WWE Wrestlemania XIX, Day of Reckoning instead replaced it with a fantastic (albeit short) story mode. I remember being absolutely hooked when Day of Reckoning was first released, and revisiting the story mode for this list, it brought back some very fond memories. The same, solid in-ring gameplay mechanics from Wrestlemania XIX carry over here, but tweaked with improvements, creating a fantastic overall wrestling game that finally gave Gamecube owners the solid WWE professional wrestling game that they had been wanting.

Review added: 07/31/2019

WWE Wrestlemania X8

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Yuke's

I absolutely hated WWE Wrestlemania X8 when I first played it. In fact, I sold my copy within a few weeks and never bothered to re-add it to my collection until nearly a decade later. After recently playing it again for this review, I definitely see plenty of flaws like a shallow combat engine, choppy animation, a poor control scheme, and the fact that it's lacking the themes of several members of the game's roster...But despite the flaws, I don't see why I hated it so much back when it was released. Maybe I’ve played enough bad games since then where Wrestlemania X8 seems like it’s gotten better by default? Or maybe I was just cranky that the WWE seemed to have forgotten how to properly use Roman numerals. Regardless of why the game doesn’t offend me as much now as it did back in 2002, I still see WWE Wrestlemania X8 as being a wrestling game that’s just short of being passable.

Review added: 08/10/2019

WWE Wrestlemania XIX

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Yuke's

I really want to give Wrestlemania XIX a better score and place on this list...And not just because I attended the event that the game is named after. Some of WWE Wrestlemania XIX is very good. The in-ring action is greatly improved upon from Wrestlemania X8’s action in the ring...But in a head-scratching decision from THQ, there is no story mode/career mode/title mode or anything like that for you to play. In its place is the absolutely terrible "Revenge" mode, which if not for the solid action that takes place in the ring outside of this mode, would have totally ruined this game. Revenge mode is sometimes a brawler, sometimes a platformer, sometimes a wrestling game, and is always an obnoxious pain in the hiney...And your reward for putting up with this abomination of a mode? You’ll unlock generic wrestlers that you'll probably never use…that are taking up space in the game that active members of the WWE roster or legends could have taken. Thankfully, outside of Revenge mode, there are plenty of match types to choose from to give you at least a little bit of replayability, even if you completely ignore the “main” mode of the game. If you're just fine playing exhibition matches all day long, then WWE Wrestlemania XIX will be right up your alley. If you're looking for an engaging story or season mode, you'll be heavily disappointed with this game.

Review added: 09/07/2019