In the world of sports entertainment, there are casual viewers, and then there are the fans. Casual viewers could care less about the latest plotlines and occurrences from week to week, while fans are often glued to message boards, debating the merits of a wrestler's performance on any given night, be it in the ring or on the mic during a promo. Modern wrestling games, and specifically those that utilize the World Wrestling Entertainment license, are made with the hardcore wrestling fans in mind. These are the loyal enthusiasts who care just as much about the melodrama and out-of-the-ring antics as they do the actual wrestling. WWE Day of Reckoning is the latest attempt by Yuke's to come through with a stellar wrestling game for the Nintendo GameCube, and fans of Vince McMahon's spectacles will no doubt be pleased with the result.

The Sights, The Sounds, The Spectacle

Professional wrestling is all about being larger than life. The wrestlers in Day of Reckoning look more muscular, flashier, and animate more capably than their real-life-counterparts, but this is what you want. The facial likenesses are great throughout, and you'll find little to complain about visually. The arenas and pyrotechnics are impressive, although the crowd, which has always been a challenge to recreate, still stands out as an eyesore. The game's audio has also seen an improvement since last year's Wrestlemania XIX, featuring the same solid sound effects, and the addition of several licensed audio tracks, including Public Enemy and Anthrax's "Bring The Noise."

Flip It, and Reverse It

At the core of any wrestling game is the grappling, and the system employed in Day of Reckoning rolls together light and heavy grapples, strikes, aerial techniques, weapons, and everything else you've come to expect. The core challenge is the countering system. Your success against friends and the AI will depend on how well you can master it. Subtle things like location damage play a large effect on gameplay, with wrestlers holding their heads after a steady pounding. Momentum plays a factor as well, with nearly decimated wrestlers being able to pull off a trademark move with their last ounce of strength, and allowing for a possible comeback. Size disparity is also a huge deal, with smaller types having a hard time trying to pick up larger opponents.

Day of Reckoning plays at a pace that should appeal to wrestling fans that aren't looking for non-stop action and prefer a deliberate feel to their bouts. Late in a match, wrestlers will stay down for quite a long time if on the receiving end of a big time move, or if they take a nasty fall off of a ladder. Occasionally you'll encounter issues with collision detection, such as when running or trying to stomp a downed opponent, but they aren't too serious. Overall, the action is intense without feeling too arcade-like and quite fun, even if not an accurate simulation of a televised match.

Tag, You're It

There are plenty of match types to explore, including cage matches, ladder matches, bra and panties matches, and the favorites that are included from year to year. While the one-on-one match types work very well, tag team matches suffer from annoying AI issues. Computer-controlled opponents will always run in and break up pins, while your partner stands idly by, snickering at your misfortune. A way to call out your partner to run interference would have been quite welcome. You can play around this flaw by nailing an opponent's partner before going for a pin, but in some heated matches you can't afford yourself this luxury.

Excellence of Execution

The roster includes most of the top names in professional wrestling today including Triple H, Undertaker, Stacy Keibler, Trish Stratus, and many more. Not everyone is available for selection, with some noticeable omissions including the table-smashing Dudley Boyz. On the other hand, playing through the story mode will earn you a choice selection of classic wrestlers from the glory days, including the original big man, Andre the Giant, and fan favorite, Bret "The Hitman" Hart. The inclusion of these characters alone is worth the price of admission to many fans.

Make it Big

The create-a-wrestler feature is deep, giving you all the tools necessary to make a new superstar from scratch. You have a slew of ways to modify appearance, from the curvature of the eyebrows to the size of the afro. Entire move sets can be customized, as can ring entrances, and a custom stencil can be drawn for a logo. There's plenty to play with, and there's a lot to unlock using cash earned in the story mode.

From Jobber to Superstar

In a departure from previous story modes, Day of Reckoning focuses on your created wrestler's rise within the ranks of the WWE hierarchy, starting as a lowly new recruit working the development circuit, to his rise to television, pay-per-view, and champion status. The episodic storyline plays quite entertainingly, mixing interesting story angles along with challenges that must be met during matches, such as not using finishers, or countering a certain number of moves. It definitely ranks as one of the better story modes in recent wrestling games.

Will The Belt Change Hands?

Whether or not WWE Day of Reckoning will convert fans of the games on the other consoles is still up in the air. Those who are willing to give it a shot will find that it's a great package, offering wrestling fans more than enough to keep them entertained until next year's games offer something bigger, badder, and better.