Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood

Moby ID: 16253

[ All ] [ PlayStation 2 ] [ Xbox ]

Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 51% (based on 26 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 2.6 out of 5 (based on 10 ratings with 1 reviews)

Sub-standard Skull-crushing

The Good
The premise of Backyard Wrestling 2 is enough to get most wrestling and fighting game fans excited with barbaric glee. The Insane Clown Posse brings their hardcore rap expertise to hardcore wrestling, making for a truly different experience.

The roster is another unique experience. In addition the Insane Clown Posse as playable characters, the game features other wrestlers as well. Fans of wrestling will notice hardcore legends such as Sabu, New Jack, Sonjay Dutt, and others.

The environments themselves are a unique bag as well. Almost everything can be smashed to splinters. Destroyed items can also be used as weapons, challenging players to think beyond typical wrestling weapons. There are more than enough environmental interactions for players to put their opponent in the emergency room as well.

The Bad
Unfortunately, Backyard Wrestling 2 just comes off as a generic label wrestling title, putting out an inferior effort and achieving mediocre results. The graphics in the game feel muddied and everything looks pale and lacking in texture and gives players nostalgic memories of the Nintendo 64, minus the quality of the games.

The gameplay is enough to make even the most patient player jump off their garage onto a flaming table. Any attempt by the player to use actual wrestling strategies (such as grapples and submissions) quickly go up in smoke due to the strange control scheme. The only way to win, which isn't hard due to the suicidal tendencies of the enemy AI (they walk right into a chainsaw swing),is to get your hands on a weapon and start wailing away on opponent and hitting them while they are down. This approach to gameplay effectively ruins any resemblance this game had to a wrestling title.

The story is equally second hand. Players take a random wrestler (including their own create-a-character, complete with minimal create options) through a story that not even the in-game characters seem interested in, helping to effectively deter the player from wanting to keep going.

The Bottom Line
Backyard Wrestling 2 is essentially a poor man's version of a wrestling game, lacking many features that make other wrestling games fun. With other options available for players out there, there are very few reasons to seek out this title unless you really, REALLY, need a game featuring the Insane Clown Posse.

PlayStation 2 · by Lawnmower Man (137) · 2008

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by Big John WV, nyccrg, Wizo, Yearman, Patrick Bregger, Cantillon, Alaka.