105 replies to this topic

[Mr.Monster]

I saw on japanvideogames.com that this is coming out 4/22/04 in Japan. Anyone have any idea how long before it's available in the US?

[Kinnikusauce]

I'm not really sure but Bandai did say it would hit the US this year. My guess would have to be sometime this summer to give time for translating and dubbing. Most likely the end of the summer.

[KnuxieChan]

I need to buy a PS2.. It won't be for any other system? ^^;

[Sniper33]

http://www.bandaigam...st/kinniku_gen/

there is the site, but is in Japanses. So I dont know what it says on there, but from what I can tell it is only one page. It shows a few pictures and you can see some of the characters in the little pics.

[Sniper33]

Found another link thanks to gamefaqs.

http://www.jeux-fran...m/news3496.html

it shows more pictures and such.

[Raven Man]

HO-LEE crap... Same game as the GC one with revamped graphics and a lot more stuff it seems.

[YoshiAngemon]

Well, ya gotta give them credit for including more of the old generation! I just hope that Monsieur Cheeks is playable. I just love that French arse! *farts* (in Cheeks' French accent) excuse me.

[RobinMask81]

Dam this looks sweet!!! I guess its a sequel to the one thats out now for the cube. Its got Black Hole!!!!

[Rokk]

Sweet! The screen shots look excellent. Ashuraman looks wicked cool. Plus, the addition of all the extra G1 characters is great.

[Raven Man]

Weeeeird, it appears the working US title is "Galactic Wrestling: Featuring Ultimate Muscle". It seems like they're trying to get more players by downplaying the fact it's based on a cartoon on Saturday mornings... Even though all the complaints I've heard about the last game were: "This isn't a wrestling game!" and
"I can't make _____ in create-a-wrestler!! "

OH YEAH, and you can watch the intro here: http://media.ps2.ign...264/vids_1.html
Click 'next' for a video of Kinkotsuman's special move...

Edited by Raven Man, 10 March 2004 - 01:26 PM.

[Raven Man]

Here are characters I spotted in the movie that we didn't know about yet (highlight to read):

-Akuma Shogun
-Buttman (Or at least somebody with a HUGE chest and REALLY SMALL/non-existant head)
-Commerade Turbinksi
-Geronimo
-Pentagon
-Kanuckler
-Ricardo
-Specialman
-Wolfman

Edited by Raven Man, 10 March 2004 - 01:46 PM.

[Soupie]

Buttman (Or at least somebody with a HUGE chest and REALLY SMALL/non-existant head)

[Raven Man]

Buttman (Or at least somebody with a HUGE chest and REALLY SMALL/non-existant head)

Crap, upon viewing the higher quality video, it's clear that I saw Buffalaoman, not Buttman. How embarassing for him...
Anyway, IGN also has a preview dealy that mentions cool new features such as pinning.

[Sniper33]

*Hugs Raven Man*

That intro video is amazing, I really cant wait for the game. From the looks of it, both versions of Ricardo are in the game, as well as a few "hidden" characters.

[TigerPrawnMaster]

OMG... Please someone tell me this isn't only gonna be for PS2... THEY GOT TO GIVE IT TO THE GC TOO! CMON! *grumble*...

[Sniper33]

March 09, 2004 - If you were a child of the 1980s then there's a strong chance you'll remember the 'Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere' -- or as they're better known today: Kinnikuman Ultimate Muscle. Despite its huge advertising blitz and more than 230 different toys, however, the license never truly caught on with American audiences until the Japanese anime traveled to our shores a few years ago. If you haven't seen it, the show itself is actually pretty bizarre and humorous with plenty of zany action and wrestling goodness to please just about every type of fan. In short, the Kinnikuman Legacy is quickly becoming one of our guilty pleasures around here at the office, and with its huge cast of unusual characters and strong dub work it's not really much of a surprise.


GameCube owners had a taste of Ultimate Muscle last year when Bandai unveiled its over the top grappler Legends vs. New Generation. And while it did manage to draw several comparisons to games like Def Jam Vendetta and WWF No Mercy (which makes perfect sense considering that Aki developed them all), it didn't stop hardcore Kinnikuman fans and wrestling nuts from picking it up. In fact, the game was so popular with IGN readers that it wasn't too long before our mailbag started filling up with emails asking us when there'd be a follow-up.

Luckily for them, their questions have finally been answered. As Bandai has officially confirmed that the next title in the Kinnikuman series is only a few months away. Expected to appear on store shelves this coming June, Galactic Wrestling: Featuring Ultimate Muscle is jumping ship from its previous location on the GameCube and heading over its mortal enemy: the PlayStation 2.



As heartbroken as GameCube owners may be, they may still be interested to learn that Galactic Wrestling is a lot more expansive than your typical yearly update. Instead of just porting over the original title with a couple of new bells and whistles, Bandai and Aki have really gone all out and expanded upon the existing schematic. For starters, there are more than twice as many selectable characters in comparison to New Generation's -- with a grand total of 48 different grapplers. These personalities range from all ages of the Kinnikuman timeline too; so while current fans may recognize faces like Kevin Mask and Kid Muscle, us old-timers are sure to appreciate appearances by Buffaloman and Rikishiman. To keep things interesting, only 24 of these characters will be playable from the start with the other 24 hidden as unlockables.

Naturally, Ultimate Muscle's gameplay engine remains relatively unchanged from the last version with the same classic model that powered THQ's N64 WWF titles back in the day. All of our favorite maneuvers from New Generation are in here too, with midair evades, counters, tackle breaks, and tag team combinations coming back with all-new animations and effects. To make the game more realistic (kind of funny when you think about it) Aki has also included ground moves and ground grapples for additional damage, and unlike the last Muscle installment, you can actually pin your opponents for a three-count.

Moreover, special maneuvers are handled a little differently this time too, with each wrestler given three torches near their health meter to represent different levels of attack. The more of these torches that are lit (affected by positive/negative performance), the more powerful their move set will become. Holding L1 and doing a regular attack or grapple will utilize the power of those torches from there. If all three torches are filled, your character will be able to pull off an "Ultimate Special Attack" reminiscent of the super moves from the GameCube version. Luckily these have been redone in several areas as well, and we have yet to see a finisher that was used in the previous game. Oh and while we're on the subject of special moves and abilities, expect to see a lot of them from your CPU opponent; as the A.I. is a lot more aggressive this time around.


The in-game options are pretty well-rounded too with seven different environments and various rings types to wrestle with. Barbed wire, electric wire, concrete mats, iced-over canvases, and other such bizarre variables add a lot of personality to an already personable sort of game, but we were surprised to learn that there aren't any foreign objects or item usage of any kind (but there are a couple of power-ups. Yay!)

In terms of gameplay modes there are six in total: Versus, Tournament, Team Battle, Survival, View, and Toy. As one might expect, versus mode is where players will likely spend the majority of their time and they'll be able to participate in singles matches, tag matches, and three or four-character battle royals. Tournaments allow up to eight people to choose their favorite alter egos and battle it out seeing who the superior wrestler is, and team battle pits two teams of five grapplers against one another in single-elimination style confrontations.

Surprisingly the story mode we enjoyed from the last version has been removed, but has been replaced by the Guilty Gear-esque Survival feature. Broken into two different types, the survival mode not only proves to be a great way to earn coins to unlock characters it's the only way you can earn the right to wear the illustrious Golden Mask. The last two selectable modes, View and Toy, are the obligatory novelty settings: with view allowing you to watch the CPU fight itself and the toy option letting you play with virtual toy dispensers so that you may collect a multitude of display-worthy goodies.

Perhaps one of the most shocking changes of Ultimate Muscle in comparison to last year's version, is the developer's decision to use traditional 3D graphics instead of cel-shading. And while the animation and backgrounds are certainly pretty decent by PS2 standards, they're still nowhere near as appealing or crisp as their GameCube counterpart. But at least special effects look great and the super moves are appropriately colorful and elaborate. As an added bonus, the same TV actors that play characters in the American translation of the cartoon will be doing the voice-overs for the videogame as well. So at least fans of the show will be getting a little dose of familiarity with their play sessions.

As we toyed with Galactic Wrestling over the course of the day, we couldn't help but keep playing it. With an incredibly deep grappling system and a ton of personality, we haven't had this much fun with a brand new game for quite some time. Click on the media page below to check out the first movies of our absolutely terrible wrestling skills and be sure and download our new screenshots while you're at it. We'll be back with more on Ultimate Muscle in the coming months.

Edited by Sniper33, 10 March 2004 - 08:24 PM.

[YoshiAngemon]

I saw Wally Tusket, Jeager, and a few others. But maybe the same Intro music with 4Kids VAs would be included as in "Legends vs. New Generation" Of course, the better title would be referred as "Ultimate Muscle: Galactic Wrestling!"

[RobinMask81]

They dont seem to mention anything about a create a wrestler. The other only problem, is that I gotta buy a PS2 multitap for four players. But other than that, I can not wait for this game, WOO HOO!! Im about to reserve this game, hehe.

[Liokaiserbf]

**watched vid and passed out**

*comes too around an hour later*

I CAN'T FOR THIS GAME!!!!!!

So many character, I don't see a reason for a CAW, unless just to have them pound on lame wrestlers of today *cough* Brock Lesnar *cough*

[Siccx Degree]

**watched vid and passed out**

*comes too around an hour later*

I CAN'T FOR THIS GAME!!!!!!

So many character, I don't see a reason for a CAW, unless just to have them pound on lame wrestlers of today *cough* Brock Lesnar *cough*

I downloaded the video, must have watched it about four or so times in a row already, man I want this game already, roster looks to be packed, this is going to be one helluva game!

[Checkmate17]

This games looks awesome. It's got a lot of cool new characters like Ricardo, Comrade Turbinski, Ashurman, Akumashogun, Big the Budo, and Black Hole. Luckily I have a PS2 so I can pick this game up when it comes out. I still wish it would come out on Gamecube because know I have to by a multitap for my PS2.

[Raven Man]

I won't need a multitap because I only have one gaming buddy.... I'd gladly buy one if it means I could have two more good friends with simmilar tastes in games (and the money to buy them) for 4 player action.

[Khaos Kruzer]

Okay, let's see how many of the 48 wrestlers have been identified.

---------------------------------------------------------------

It seems pretty clear that all 20 from the GCN game are returning, but with many new moves.

---------------------------------------------------------------

From the intro video, we know the new wrestlers include:

G1:
-Kinnikuman Great
-Akumashogun
-Ashuraman
-Black Hole
-Pentagon
-Geronimo
-Kanuckler
-Specialman
-Wolfman
-Big the Budo
-Neptuneman


G2:
-Muscle League Ricardo (Human)
-Commerade Turbinksi

----------------------------------------------------------------

At the end of the video, we see the shadowed-out characters.

G1:
-One-horn Buffaloman (Also seen in screenshot. Why not have him as an alternative outfit to the regular Buffaloman? Are their fighting styles that much different, like Ricardo?)

G2:
-dMp Ricardo (Demon) (far right)

bonecold, on the gamefaqs.com message board, mentioned who he thought were the other shadowed figures were:

-Akumashogun
-Planetman
-Atlantis
-Devil Magician
-Mr. Barracuda

---------------------------------------------------------------

So, we more or less know exactly who 35 of the 48 wrestlers are, and we have speculation on 4 or 5 more (anyone care to guess?).

Oh yeah, and it looks like Mantaro has his new outfit in this one:

Official site courtesy of Sniper33: http://www.bandaigam...st/kinniku_gen/

[Raven Man]

I hope they have Gorgeousman and The Adams, even though they've never shown them fight...

[Liokaiserbf]

ofcourse if he was in the game (Gorgeous Man) they would have to edit the blue out of him which I think is wrong.

Though other then that like I said before I can't wait for this game. I do wonder if there may be a CAW mode just hope it's more indepth then the one on the GC game. Seriously though only people I would make are guys in the WEE I'd like to see get Kinnikubusted (Triple H, Football bound Lesnar {will be talked by a small guy and end up injured for the season})

Other then that though just hope don't have any kinda of fighting game style control setup, simple setup like the old GC game or smackdown style would work perfectly.