Ultimate Muscle on the GameCube is a Fun Game

I chose Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy Legends vs New Generation for the first GameCube wrestling game I’m planning on reviewing. That is a ridiculously long title, so I’ll just call it Ultimate Muscle from now on. This is the second Muscle game I’ve played so far.

The other one was the NES game, and I didn’t like that one much. This one should be better. I don’t know too much about Muscle, other than the toys and the NES game.

I know there are cartoons, manga, and a bunch of video games that didn’t make it to the US. It might be interesting to see what the other games are like, but that is for another time. I’m going to keep an open mind and hope for the best.

TLDR: Learning the controls can take a while, but it is a very fun game.

Narrative

There is a story mode in this game. It is a nice addition to games like this. Ultimate Muscle isn’t exactly a wrestling game; it is more of a fighting game with wrestling moves in it.

Each of the wrestlers has their own story. If you’re interested, you can play through them. I didn’t like this too much. I kept going back to the other game modes.

My problem was that I didn’t have a connection with this series beyond the toys. I didn’t know or care about these characters, so I wasn’t interested in their story. This mode isn’t that great when you’re trying to learn how to play, so I tried it a few times and eventually gave up on it.

Gameplay

There is a decent roster of wrestlers in this game. They look very unique when compared to the other games I’ve played, which makes sense due to this being based on a manga. It is an easy game to play, and there are a bunch of game modes to keep you busy.

I started with the one-on-one battles first. This helped out as I had to learn the controls and get used to the GameCube controller.

There is a juggle mechanic in this game. I wasn’t expecting something like this, and it took me a while to get used to it. At first, I hated it because I kept getting my ass kicked. As I learned how to play, I ended up liking it.

The story mode is pretty cool. Aside from the toys, I don’t have any context for these characters, so I’m not sure what is happening. It is a fun story, though. Each character has a unique story, which is very cool to see.

There is a lot to keep you entertained here. It took me a while to get used to the controls, but I found a very fun game when I did. There are some difficulty spikes, and the game sometimes feels rather cheap.

Visuals

I really like the look of this game. This is one of the games that used cel-shading graphics. This makes it look like a cartoon, and while it doesn’t work for every game, it definitely works for this one. The moves look great, the animations are very good, and the characters look very cool.

This is an over-the-top wrestling game. The moves look ridiculous at times, but that fits with the game’s theme. The animations look very good, which is to be expected from a game from the 2000s.

The moves can look a little odd depending on the guy you’re fighting. This is a product of how some of the characters look. I didn’t mind it, but I thought it needed to be mentioned.

The presentation is a little lackluster. There isn’t anything special about the ring. It works for a game like this.

I like the cel-shading. It makes the game look like a cartoon, which this was based on. These graphics hold up better than the more realistic approach of some other games.

Reviews at the Time

Most reviewers liked this game. There was only one outlier, which came from an odd source. Every other score was between 7 and 8/10.

Let’s get the weird one out of the way first. Maxim magazine reviewed the game and gave it a 4/10 rating (The article says 2/5 stars, and I guess Wikipedia rounded it up for whatever reason). I’m still amazed that game reviews appeared in the magazine. This “review” is a paragraph long, and spends most of it talking about the toys and dog poop.

IGN gave the game a 7.8/10. The reviewer pointed out that the game had flaws but was worth the frustration. Once you learn how to play, “it’ll be worth it,” in the end. They didn’t like the graphics and said cel-shading was “wearing out its welcome.”

GameSpot gave the game an 8/10. The reviewer said that this game wasn’t for everyone, and that “wrestling purists… would have to look elsewhere,” for an Aki-styled simulation wrestling game. I can’t really argue with this.

I think most of the reviews had this right. It is a fun game that takes a while to get used to. Ultimate Muscle is more of a fighting game than a wrestling game.

7.5/10. It is a fun game with good graphics and gameplay. Ultimate Muscle is a bit too difficult at times. Once you learn how to play, it is a lot of fun.

Pros

• Fun Graphics
• Easy-to-learn
• Lots of Game Modes

Cons

• Some of the animations are odd
• It can be too difficult

Conclusion

I didn’t have fun with the story mode. It felt too cheap at times, and wasn’t something I cared about. If I knew who any of these characters were, things might’ve been different.

I had fun with everything else. I like how the moves look, the characters are fun, and the gameplay is fast-paced. This is a fun game, but it can be a bit too hard at times.

This is one of the games that straddles the line between wrestling and fighting games. It is more of an arcade fighting game, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Ultimate Muscle is fun for what it is.

If you liked this post, please check out my other reviews of wrestling games, such as WCW vs NWO: World Tour or PS1 Wrestling Games Ranked.