 More realistic than the real thing, WWE Day of Reckoning, is the latest and greatest wrestling game for the Cube. Brought to you by the people that developed Wrestlemania XIX, this version picks up where this one left off – and also includes what it left out. It’s faster, deeper, bloodier and sexier – when you include the Bra & Panties matches.
Aside from a more developed storyline, Day of Reckoning features more sophisticated controls and moves. The game is still user-friendly and has a great tutorial for beginners. It’s still challenging to button mash your way through the game and still possible to win but to get to the top you’ll eventually have to have more finesse over your character’s moves. Create your own character or take some stock unknown and attempt to take him or her to the top. The options for creating your own character are staggering. Choose from male or female and design the body to your specs right down to the wrinkles under the eye. There’s never been anything like it on the Cube. There are 40 different characters including Legends, Divas and Superstars. You can’t use them in the story mode since you must start out as an unknown. Vince McMahon will tell you what to do and if you want to make it to the top you better listen to him. Each completed goal will take you further up the ladder to wrestling superstardom. Unlike the previous wrestling game, most of the action takes place in the ring and not in boiler rooms and parking lots.  WWE fans will get shivers down their spines when their favorite stars make an entrance. Each is accompanied by his or her theme songs, bathed in fireworks and backlit by videos. These characters sure know how to make an entrance. They look great, with rippling muscles and fluid facial expressions. It’s too bad that there aren’t any voiceovers for the characters. Instead, you’ll have to settle for text which takes a bit of wind out of the sails.
Matches are varied and plentiful. Choose from Tag Team, Fatal 4 Way, Hell in a Cell and Bra & Panties – to name a few. The blood will flow and the girls will show. Moves such as counters, reversals, heavy and light attacks can be triggered by tapping or holding down the buttons. Grappling is more realistic and relatively easy to perform. You can also perform combos, jump off the top rope, throw your opponent out of the ring, continue fighting on the floor and use various weapons such as tables and chairs. The camera work mirrors the televised events with close-ups and sweeping angles that circle the ring. Throughout the dazzling display you never loose sight of your character. Play one-player, two-player, three and four-player matches in a variety of venues. I heard some grumbling about the lack of characters but at 40, there’s really not much to complain about. There’s always someone that’s going to complain that his or her favorite wrestler is missing but if you’re not satisfied with what the game offers, then make your own.  All of the characters are well detailed. You can literally see the sweat dripping off their brows. The animations are great and include some in-game cutscenes that add to the drama. The soundtrack consists of rock and hip hop tunes but the best portion of the audio comes in the form of collisions when limbs and bodies meet. The sound is more brutal than anything you’ll hear in a real wrestling match.
Overall, Day of Reckoning, accomplishes what it was set out to do. It may not be the best wrestling videogame ever, but it’s certainly the best we’ve seen on a Nintendo system. You won’t even miss an online mode….unless some idiot brings it to your attention. | 
There was a time when the best wrestling games were on a system owned by Nintendo. However, somehow the GC wrestling games have been less than spectacular. The games have been lacking in originality and often poor or rushed without the features found on other systems. Wrestling fans that own a GC have complained about the lack of a create-a-wrestler mode as well as the over-hyped same old game play found in the last few THQ WrestleMania attempts. No one can blame owners for being disappointed with the last few THQ wrestling games.
Yuke’s announced that this will be done by actually going between the two popular WWE alliances Smackdown and Raw and try and brush up on certain key areas. The key to making it big will be working on your special skills. You can choose what you want to be known for. For example, you can be the type of wrestler who can dominate the ring like the massive Big Show or Kane, or use your speed and agility like those who are known as Cruiserweights like Ray Mysterio, or maybe you want to be known as a stamina wrestler like Triple H who can use several attributes and be known for the ability to be used in key events like an Iron man match. There are other attributes like countering, submission and charisma. It’s unknown yet how all these will play in your path to making it big but sure sounds like a deeper and more realistic game than ever offered for GC owners before.
