Retro Review: King of Colosseum II

Mutoh, Misawa, Hashimoto and Chono... 

Name: King of Colosseum II
Developer: Spike
Publisher: Spike
Platform: Playstation 2
Release Date: 2004 (Japan Only)


When this game was released it was during the absolute peak of my wrestling game interest. Our options for wrestling games was thin. Sure we had a handful of Fire Pro Wrestling titles but KoC II just reestablished the fact that importing a wrestling game was the best way to go. The last must own wrestling title to own, Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 (which could also be argued as the best), was by then on a previous generation system, the Nintendo 64. I'm working on a review of that as well. Anyways... By 2004 PS2 had already been rolling full steam. KoC II was the ultimate wrestling game. And even right now, I'd compare KoC II to ANY wrestling game released since and not one can hold a candle to it. Not one. This game had more to offer than any WWE game can and will. It's that good. To start off with, if you were importing the game you were most likely already a fan of the developer Spike (Fire Pro Wrestling). A lot of us wondered how well they'd transition into a 3D wrestling game but in the end they delivered the greatest wrestling game to date. Some can and will make the argument that Fire Pro Wrestling is the greatest but, it wouldn't be that heated of an argument since both games are held in such high esteem. After all Spike put just as much effort into KoC as they did Fire Pro. The amount of effort, detail and depth Spike put into this game was/is absolutely staggering. If this game were released today under a company such as THQ (or EA or anyone for that matter), I'd guarantee 70% of its content would be released as paid DLC after the game was released. Seriously, there is that much content packed into this game. Developers these days would never put this much into a game. Ever.

Reviewing a game as deep and complex as King of Colosseum II is very difficult because there's simply so much to cover. Luckily, I've put in a lion's share of time into this over the years. I still play it occasionally. Here's a fun and useless fact, I still have the same translation FAQ I printed out 7 years ago. See?

Ahhh... The memories.

I'm a fanatic. My wife has been badgering me to throw it away but I refuse to do it! Lot's of memories are in those pages, particularly with posting on Gamefaqs KoC II board (which is dead) and especially Fire Pro Club (the best place on the net to find out info on any and all wrestling games). By the way, you can still find active posts on Fire Pro Club. I used to post there often but as time goes, not as often as before. I pop up occasionally though. The game features wrestling from New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Zero One, Pro Wrestling NOAH, World Japan and wrestling under Freelance. Available straight from the start at over 100 wrestlers and that isn't including the content you unlock during different game modes. Once unlocked your overall roster will be overwhelming. Not to mention the fact that each wrestling has four costumes and you can edit each one. So for exmaple take The Great Muta. His first costume is current day Muta but editing the other three you can have basically four different versions of Muta which is pretty bad ass considering how different each decade specific Muta was. I remember I had an 80s Muta, 90s Muta, 2K Muta and a hybrid with a mixture of his best moves throughout his career (Those aren't 100% accurate era pics but close enough. He changed his make-up a lot). All of that may sound stupid but when you think about how little you can edit current day wrestling games you'll understand why this is still so amazingly bad ass.

Game play wise, it can be argued that KoC II's is as good or superior to Fire Pro Wrestling. While both games are built on a grappling system based specifically on timing, I lean more towards KoC II's. Personal preference. Both systems are head and shoulders above any other wrestling game ever made. If memory serves, you use R1 + ([], X or O] to initiate a grapple, then timing it correctly you push either face button again. Triangle is roped based, or whipping into a corner. Again, timing is everything. If you find every grapple or move reversed your timing is off. Lower the difficulty and practice there. May sound complex, and it is, but once your timing is down you're rewarded with the greatest wrestling game ever made. Top that off with simple to use Powerballs, finishers or powerful moves, and you're set. You only have four powerballs, so use them wisely. I think you can regain them by reversals or countering, I can't remember though. Hey, I'm basing this review off of hundreds of hours of playtime dating back to 2004!

Of course... since the game is in Japanese you'll need to memorize tons and tons and tons of menus, especially if you're into creating wrestlers. Speaking of which, KoC II has the 2nd best Create-a-Wrestler (CAW) ever. Obviously Fire Pro's CAW is number one. With all of the content unlocked you can pretty much make every American promotion that was around. You can even edit every wrestler's name, as well as the promotion name so they're English and easier to navigate. However, some die-hards actually leave them in Japanese because they're all instantly recognizable if you're really into wrestling. Which brings me to the graphics. Spike moved from simple 2D sprites from Fire Pro and went full on 3-dimensional. No they aren't strikingly realistic and as polished as WWE 12' (*shudders*) they're still not bad for it's time considering the amount of stuff that's on the disc. The graphics work and that's all that matters. When you pick a wrestler you know who it is. The animation is a little stiff, even back then it was stiff but the sheer amount of fun factored in with everything else about the game you immediately forget about it. One thing that makes you forget about the stiff (and at times robotic) animation and breathes life into the title like you couldn't imagine is the announcer. I don't speak Japanese nor do I even know small phrases or greetings or anything. I know absolutely squat about the language but I'd be damned if this game doesn't have not only the most enthusiastic announcers but hands down the absolute BEST. When I drop someone with Kawada or Mutoh or Taue, I have no clue what the man is saying, I just know he's about to die from cardiac arrest. It is extremely exciting to hear the commentary in this game and makes the game so much better. Even if you're not playing you have to pay attention! From the kick-ass/cheesy introductions, to the best of the best commentary, it's pure win. Just watch this video and tell me it isn't awesome. I still can't understand why developers today put so little effort into multi-million dollar wrestling games. Blows my mind.

And just when you though the review was going to end there's even more to talk about. The MMA in the game. You can make a ton of guys that are pretty accurate looking, hell, there's a lot of templates (the hidden stuff) included that are specifically for the real life guys! As with the wrestling, the MMA portion of game is the same with timing but a little trickier. There's no octagon like in UFC or Fire Pro but there are Pride Rings. Anyways... Wrestler vs. fighter or fighter vs fighter, the MMA in the game is just as deep and as rewarding as the wrestling. I always had trouble adjusting to the timing while going back and forth between wrestling and MMA. What I really love about the game is that it's just as fun and at times even more thrilling to watch a simulated match. The computer really knows how to work a match. Speaking of which... at the end of any type of match in the game you get graded afterward with a percentage. You don't gain anything but satisfaction which is fine because I always tried to beat my previous percentage by working a match as best I could. You can't just go in and destroy a dude Goldberg style and expect to get a decent percent. You have to take your time, pace yourself, start with weak strikes and grapples etc...

One more quick thing to touch up on... Titles. We all love title matches. Well theres even a place to fight for and defend titles. This is my favorite mode. Just another small option that has been taken away from us over the years by greedy developers. Heavyweight single and tag, lightweight single and tag, MMA titles... I'll have to reload the game to remember exactly every title but it's awesome.

King of Colosseum II is the Greatest Wrestling Game most Americans have never played. And its 7 fucking years old. Spread the word.

Fan-Gasm Score:

Absolutely no question, KoC II is 5-Stars. There's simply no wrestling game better or even close.
Unless you're a Fire Pro guy... then it's all good.