While I admittedly play my fair share of video games, moments of genuine giddiness over upcoming titles are unfortunately few and far between. Disclaimers be damned for ‘WWE All Stars,’ a release that induced salivating from both myself and possibly my trusty PS3 as well.

Why the elation? WWE All Stars (‘All Stars’) is the arcade-centric bedfellow to ‘WWE Smackdown vs. Raw,’ the latter I found quite ambitious…but unfortunately a far bit too technical for my liking. More importantly – and the cause of said drooling - All Stars, in addition to current superstars, features an entire roster of WWE (formerly WWF) legends, a very capable cadre sporting the likes of Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man, Ricky Steamboat, and Jake Roberts, among others.

Now, nearly every male in his mid-30’s partook in wrestling’s arguable first heyday, of epic battles between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, political-laden theatrics of Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik, and finally – my personal favorite – the Bushwackers tag team duo shellacking of any and everyone.

So excuse my rant, but it’s about damn time someone gave this wrestling era license a whirl. If movie makers are hell-bent on recreating every crappy, film and/or TV program from the late 80’s, at least give me Jimmy Snuka back. It’s really not much to ask for.

Moreover, an arcade style, wrestling console title is disgustingly overdue, with any and all offerings over the past decade posing as technical fighters. In the age of MMA actual and video game, there’s simply no logic in emphasizing supposed complex transitions and/or fighter tactics within wrestling, showboat-centric titles. It’s one thing to aspire toward recreating Smackdown, Raw or Wrestlemania experiences. It’s another to argue for John Cena executing Olympic-caliber grapple to strike…to aerial move…in realistic fashion. With All Stars’ release, at least someone out there, it appears, played the original Wrestlemania arcade game. I salute you, THQ San Diego

WWE All Stars is the absence of realism in presentation, and makes no apologies for it. Enormous, exaggerated wrestlers fly across your screen, muscles to everywhere and physics be damned. Steve Austin’s biceps…have biceps. Roddy Piper may very well be capable of changing arena light bulbs when leaping from turnbuckles.

Character models in WWE All Stars are nothing short of brilliant, yet another stunning example of the capabilities of the Unreal Engine when combined with both Havok’s environmental physics system and Bink Video implementation. Resurrected WWE Legends both look and behave like their counterparts of yore, down to signature moves and poses, archived video, and crowd interactions. Ditto for current Superstars like Sheamus, Rey Mysterio and Big Show. This is truly a game done for fans, by fans. Related – and in contrast to Smackdown vs. Raw – moves are semi-simplified into button presses of light/heavy attack, the same for grapple types. Shoulder buttons are running/interaction modifiers, finally block/combo reversals.

Underneath All Stars’ glossy exterior, however, lies an inconsistent core. For literal starters is a glaring cache problem upon disc load, one that randomly forces up to 10 minutes of waiting for WWE All Stars’ Main Menu. While unable to determine what is actually being cached, it seems only logical that much of this data can be stored via a multi gigabyte software install. All Stars, PS3 message boards are ripe with complaints over this dynamic, one THQ will hopefully fix via a future patch.

Loading matches is an equal wait-and-see irritation, with venue and character introductions requiring three additional separate loads. A simple alternative is to patch said intros into a single entity, with a player option to skip through any/all of these elements. EA’s sport titles often employ this approach, one very sorely needed here. Perhaps not surprisingly, I ultimately turned off character intros completely out of lack of loading patience.

Perhaps the most key of criticisms: WWE All Stars needs to be either all in…or out…in its arcade commitment. Despite limited button press options, aforementioned controls end up being far too complex to execute. Core game play is comprised of long chained sequences requiring a slew of button presses and/or counter attacks to simply survive a match. The only alternative is methodical punch-counter-kick-grapple combat, one that the CPU is always a bit smarter and faster at. Thus, WWE All Stars sorely needs: 1) a tutorial option, and/or 2) on-screen indicators for ideal move execution points for its seemingly very different fighters.

Complicating matters is slightly off collision detection, one that produces phantom swings/grapples in key match moments. This flaw is borderline comical when gigantic, exaggerated character models are factored in. Sister frustrations emerge from buggy counter-hit, timing dynamics. There appears no rhyme or reason why counters work in some instances…and not in others. In contrast, computer opponents can counter to infinity on seemingly any move you throw at them.

Soapbox time: such essential, game play hiccups should not be present in a title powered by a joint Unreal/Havok engine. These engines pride themselves on fluid, action-oriented game play married to interactive environments. Instead, WWE All Stars – an advertised arcade title - stumbles its way toward these ends.

Similar disappointment emerged from match choices, all slight variations on single player, 1-on-1. Tornado Tag is a far cry from an old school tag team match, often resulting in your teammate doing much of the dirty work while both enemies converge solely on you. Not surprisingly, this idiot combat approach produces easy pickings for your CPU teammate, a mate who wails on the blind side of opposition committed only to your demise.  Teammates pins opponent, you move on in anti-climactic fashion. Sadly, adding more opponents to the mix (in handicap modes) exponentially increases the flaws of this dynamic…but not much else.

Steel Cage contests are clever in principle, but unfortunately don’t execute as intended.  Winning by completing five cage climb minigames(?) felt very artificial. Last, does anyone really want to play through 10(!) matches to win the Path of Champions…then repeat said process with every fighter out there?

I did, however, enjoy the Fantasy Warfare element, of pitting WWE Stars old versus new…accompanied by snazzy video intros. Still, all of these matches – comprised of fighting style matchups – should be playable from the get go, even more so as each victory unlocks additional fighters and venues.

If these comments seem nit-pickey, it’s from a realization that many are avoidable. Better collision detection, reversal timings are simple fixes through enemy radius adjustment algorithms. Ditto for halting enemy AI from converging on a single opponent except in rare instances, ones where attack patterns plus available health equate to a logical opportunity to group pummel. Unlock characters via matches played…not necessarily victories alone. Motivate players to come back for more, not through punitive means.

Unfortunately, the most needed fix may have to wait for a sequel. The original Wrestlemania arcade cabinet was fun because it was button-mashing greatness. Joy lied in bridging simple moves to make complicated ones…not the other way around. AI adjusted accordingly, and player skills matched these steps.

Thus and in playing WWE All Stars, I often felt the beautiful, over the top graphics and moves were wasted on a need to infuse combos where there need not be…also a tactical fighting sense simply unwanted. I craved more sped-up game play, a bridge between the over-the-top presentation and actual execution of it. It’s that not WWE All Stars is a bad game; it’s just capable and deserving of so much more. All the makings are there for improved, follow-up product; I hope THQ sees it through via patch or subsequent releases.