Ultimate Muscle is here, and it is poised for combat on your GBA. If you grew up in the eighties, you might remember these little pink figures called Muscles. You could collect, and trade them with your friends. Now flash forward for an all new Muscles revival, a new show on the Fox block, and a new game for your Advance.

Muscle at it¡¦s root is a wrestling game. Complete with body slams, throws, and pile drivers. However, it has more in common with a standard fighting game.

You have your standard punch/kick, but that is not all. This game uses a timing gauge. Once you start a grapple/hold a timing gauge appears. It has three colors, red yellow, and blue. A cursor appears, and if you press the corresponding button with the color, you executed the move. Pressing a direction on the control pad at the same time alters the move. Yellow is easier to hit than blue, but blue does more damage. If you press a button on the red mark, the cursor stall for a second, and then continues. Waiting makes the blue, and yellow areas larger, and easier to hit, however your opponent is trying to do the same, and the first one to press a button on the correct color wins.

The game also features a Power gauge. As you pummel your opponent, your gauge gradually fills. Once it is 1/3 full you can evade certain attacks, or insure a direct hit with your signature move. Which brings me to how you win a match, since there is no pinning, you have to perform your character¡¦s signature move(s) to win. Each character power gauge is either friendship (Heroes), or dark powers (Villains).

The game has several modes of play which include:

Story

Survivor

3 x 3

versus

training

In Story mode you can only play as Kid Muscle, and you work your way up the ranks. Your powers are limited, but as you progress you get stronger.

Survivor is your standard beat the entire game with one man, depending on the difficulty, you can unlock certain hidden characters.

Here we go, 3 x 3 is pretty self explanatory. You take your guys, and you beat the crap out of their guys, and if you complete it you will unlock more stuff. Specifically Ramenman, your instructor in training mode.

Versus mode is where you can play against the computer, or a friend via link cable.

Training is essential to understanding this game. I have never played a wrestling game quite like this, and it took some getting use too. So if you decide on getting this game, bank on spending some time in this mode.


If you play this game in any mode other than story, your character¡¦s power Friendship/Dark Power will increase. This is very unique, and it adds alot to the game. Further, you can trade characters with friends.

There is alot of depth is this pint sized game, you have a ton of moves at your disposal. Submissions are even included, and repeated use of this can injure an arm or leg, and make your opponent¡¦s attack ratio go down. The characters are all vibrant, and have a great out of this world quality. Most crucial moves can be countered, and the pace of the game is always exciting.


Here comes my only real complaint with this game, the animation. To say it is stiff is an understatement. When your characters are standing still, their idle animation is decent, but once they do a move, it turns into almost two frames of animation. This took alot of getting use too.

The sound and presentation are really well done. Each character has speech, though limited, it is still impressive. The music is upbeat, and fits the game well. But it is nothing to get excited about. The game has a very anime style, and add to that a good dose of humor thrown in. This honestly is the reason I believe the game got a Teen rating. For example in the story mode, before the first match Kid muscle moons his first opponent. Humor like this runs rampant through the entire game. From fighting cell phones to characters with dinosaur tails, expect the unexpected.

Finally I would like to say that I enjoyed Ultimate Muscle, and there is alot of fun to be had with this little brawler.