ECW
Hardcore Revolution for the Sega Dreamcast is little more than a remixed
version of the Dreamcast’s WWF Attitude with a different license. For
this reason, the review you are about to read will be brief. Don’t get
me wrong though, there are improvements made to the relatively lackluster
Attitude game so read on. If you haven’t read my review for Attitude, go
back and read that before jumping into this. Otherwise, the game is
virtually identical to Attitude in every way. The graphics are superior to
those seen in Attitude, the wrestlers look better and the animations have
been improved, as they were previously quite sluggish.
There is also a full motion video introduction like in Attitude. The sound effects, voices and music have remained unchanged so the score for sound is the same as in Attitude. As for gameplay, things are looking up a little bit. The matches are easier to win, largely because the moves are easier to perform due to improved control and animations. All of the match options remain identical (pay per view, create wrestler, career mode) except that the ‘King of the Ring’ mode from Attitude is now called ‘Tournament’ in this game (due to trademarks with the King of the Ring name).
There
are better wrestling games to be found than ECW Hardcore Revolution but it
still can fill a void in your collection. Whether or not you get this game
will be based on if you liked Attitude, if you are into the now-defunct
ECW company or if you are a Dreamcast completist/collector. If you were
really turned off by Attitude, you might want to avoid this game, even
with the improvements. As with WWF Attitude, Hardcore Revolution is best
when played with two or more players.
TIPS: If all else fails and you really need to win the match to preserve a ranking, just use punches and kicks. You also can always resort to using the one or two moves you can handle the easiest over and over again, like several consecutive body slams or pile drivers. While it is not realistic (but then again who ever said wrestling is or any of it's video game incarnations?), it is better than having to work your way back up to the ranking you were before.
