ECW Anarchy Rulz (video game)

This article is about the PlayStation and Dreamcast video game. For the professional wrestling event, see Anarchy Rulz.
ECW Anarchy Rulz
Developer(s) Acclaim Studios Salt Lake City
Publisher(s) Acclaim Entertainment
Platform(s) PlayStation
Dreamcast
Release date(s)

PlayStation

  • NA: August 18, 2000
  • EU: 2000

Dreamcast

  • NA: December 30, 2000
  • EU: February 9, 2001
Genre(s) Fighting
Sports
Mode(s) Single player
multiplayer

ECW Anarchy Rulz is a professional wrestling video game released by Acclaim Entertainment in 2000 based on Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was released for the PlayStation and Dreamcast. The game is the sequel to ECW Hardcore Revolution and the last ECW game released by Acclaim. Acclaim would later start another wrestling game series with the release of Legends of Wrestling the following year.

Features

After ECW Hardcore Revolution was disappointingly received due to, among other reasons, the lack of an ECW feel. Acclaim tried to compensate for this by adding many new match types. Among these are the Table Match, Inferno Match, Dumpster Match, Rage In A Cage, Hate Match, and the Backlot Brawl.

The game featured new control mechanics as well, however these felt very similar to the controls that had been with the series since WWF War Zone. Rounding out the additions is the revamped career mode. There was going to be a Nintendo 64 version of this game but it was cancelled as the console was approaching the end of its life.

This was the last game that was made for ECW before it filed for bankruptcy and was purchased by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Acclaim went on to produce the Legends of Wrestling series. The more recent incarnation of ECW would appear in three games in the WWE Smackdown vs. Raw series (2008–2010).

Jobbers

As in 'ECW Hardcore Revolution' the game also features bonus characters called 'Jobbers'. By pressing 'Right' while highlighting any wrestler on the selection screen, the player can see the jobber list. They are characters based upon non-performers in ECW and Acclaim, although some are completely imaginary. At first, Trainer is the only one available as the others must be unlocked.

Arenas

This game featured five arenas.

Career Mode

The career mode returned with two major differences. The fictional Acclaim world title was removed, leaving only two titles in the single-player singles career. This made the mode considerably shorter. The player would begin by only competing in matches at non-televised House shows. As they progressed on, they would appear on televised shows, and then pay-per-views. Even though each match was billed in different cities, the arenas only differ depending on what type of show was scheduled. As the player moves up the rankings, the caliber and number of opponents increase and harder stipulations added.

In a singles career, a player begins at the bottom of the ECW World Television Championship rankings (#15). Every time the player won a match, they would progress up one rank, or go down one place if they lost. If the player won at a pay-per-view, they would move up 3 spaces. If the player is ranked #1 on a pay-per-view date, they will get a title match. If they have won the title at a pay-per-view, they must defend the title at the next 5 matches. If the player loses any of these matches, the player loses the title and falls down 5 places in the rankings. If the player wins all five title defenses, they move onto the bottom of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship rankings (#10). If the player wins the Heavyweight title, every match thereafter will be a title defense.

Winning a pay-per-view match will sometimes lead to an unlockable item being awarded. The player must remember to save the game in the Utilities menu as saving in Career Mode would not save unlocked items.

In a tag team career, the player selected team begins at the bottom of the ECW World Tag Team Championship rankings (#15) and must win a series of Tag Team matches, eventually winning the Tag Team titles. The player would always begin the match with the first character they had chosen, but could use the other during the match.

In a stable career, the player starts at the bottom of a fictional ECW World Stable Championship rankings (#10). You use a pre-made stable of four characters. After this, you can choose which member(s) of your stable will be active before each match. As you progress through the rankings, the number of members representing each team will increasingly favor the computer (starting 2 vs 2, but ending 1 vs 3). The final match is a stable match for the title. Once the title has been won, the career ends.

In a multiplayer career, up to four players can progress through career mode at once. Two can work together in Tag Team career or a Stable career. If players choose to rival each other, they will begin with a match that incorporates all players. The winner would automatically advance further up the rankings than the other players, with the remainder being ranked dependent upon their success in the inaugural match. From then on, each career date will feature an individual match for each player. Or the players will be required to face off again. In a singles career, players can only compete for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. When one player reaches the top, he must compete against all other players. If he loses this match, that player will drop 3 places and the winner will advance one space. If the person who reaches the top of the rankings wins this challenge, he also wins the title, thus ending career mode for all players.

Belt Tour Mode

One of the few features that made the game unique was 'Belt Tour' mode. This consisted of four 'King of the Ring' style tournaments, but could only be played in single-player mode. There was no save function between rounds, so one loss automatically lost the entire tournament. Each mode could have between 0 and 3 added stipulations, depending on game difficulty, tournament selected and progress.

Bio Mode

In this mode, the player can see the 4 alternate costumes of each unlocked character and their attributes. When viewing a character, the character's theme tune plays. The characters are listed in four categories, 'A-M', 'N-Z', 'Jobber' and 'Created'.

Stables

This game featured stables; teams of four characters that can be used in the Stable career mode. The player could choose a name (maximum 10 characters including spaces), a stable theme, logo and four members. During the Stable career, the player could choose up to two from the four stable members in each match.

Some of the stables were based on genuine teams in ECW (e.g. 'Impact Players' featuring Justin Credible, Lance Storm, Jason and Dawn Marie), some were genuine teams with additional members (e.g. 'Ghetto FBI' featured both 'The Baldies' and 'Full Blooded Italians' tag teams), and some were completely fictional (e.g. 'Pure ECW' featured Jerry Lynn, Super Crazy, Paul Heyman and Francine). There were no other advantages to a stable in the game.

New Matches

Due to copyright constraints, Acclaim were not allowed to use many of the theme tunes used by ECW wrestlers. Instead, they composed similar-sounding themes for the characters. But they were able to secure the rights to four songs which do feature in the game.

New Moves

ECW Hardcore Revolution was heavily criticized for being too similar to WWF Attitude. Many of the moves and taunts appeared in both games, with the former having only a few additional moves. Some moves were simply renamed (for example, the Seated Powerbomb was renamed Awesome Bomb).

In Anarchy Rulz, there are very many unique moves added to the game, with none being removed. Some moves are in twice under different names (in the same fighting position). For example, the 'Wham-Bam Thank-You Ma'am' and the 'Double Arm DDT' are the same move performed in the Ready position.

There are a large number of moves which are not assigned to any in-game characters. And also, certain moves can only be performed in certain matches. All corner moves with the word 'Springboard' in its name can only be performed in matches in which the ring ropes are active. Also, there were many moves added to the game which were unique to ECW. For example, the Reversal DDT sees the attacker appear to fall victim to a powerbomb, however they counter the move with a Tornado DDT.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(DC) 45%[1]
(PS) 44.86%[2]
Metacritic(PS) 43/100[3]
(DC) 38/100[4]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame(PS) [5]
(DC) [6]
CVG2/10[7]
EGM4/10[8]
GameFan0.1%[9]
Game Informer(PS) 4/10[10]
(DC) 3/10[11]
GamePro[12]
Game RevolutionD[13]
GameSpot(DC) 6.5/10[14]
(PS) 5.5/10[15]
IGN3.8/10[16]
OPM (US)[17]

The game was met with negative reception. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 45% and 38 out of 100 for the Dreamcast version,[1][4] and 44.86% and 43 out of 100 for the PlayStation version.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "ECW Anarchy Rulz for Dreamcast". GameRankings. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "ECW Anarchy Rulz for PlayStation". GameRankings. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "ECW Anarchy Rulz for PlayStation Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "ECW Anarchy Rulz for Dreamcast Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ Thompson, Jon. "ECW: Anarchy Rulz (PS) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ Thompson, Jon. "ECW: Anarchy Rulz (DC) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ Davies, Dylan (2001). "Dreamcast Review: ECW Anarchy Rulz". Computer and Video Games (Official Dreamcast Magazine UK). Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  8. ↑ "ECW: Anarchy Rulz (DC)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. March 2000. Archived from the original on March 9, 2001. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  9. ↑ "REVIEW for ECW: Anarchy Rulz (PS)". GameFan. August 26, 2000.
  10. ↑ Fitzloff, Jay (November 2000). "ECW Anarchy Rulz (PS)". Game Informer (91). Archived from the original on September 15, 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  11. ↑ Fitzloff, Jay (March 2001). "ECW Anarchy Rulz (DC)". Game Informer (95). Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  12. ↑ The D-Pad Destroyer (August 10, 2000). "ECW Anarchy Rulz Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 1, 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  13. ↑ Nash, Joe (September 2000). "ECW Anarchy Rulz - Playstation Review". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on November 1, 2000. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  14. ↑ Provo, Frank (January 3, 2001). "ECW Anarchy Rulz Review (DC)". GameSpot. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  15. ↑ Provo, Frank (August 29, 2000). "ECW Anarchy Rulz Review (PS)". GameSpot. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  16. ↑ Smith, David (August 23, 2000). "ECW: Anarchy Rulz! (PS)". IGN. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  17. ↑ "ECW Anarchy Rulz". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. November 2000.
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