Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home
| Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Paradox Development |
| Publisher(s) | Eidos Interactive |
| Designer(s) | Kevin Gill |
| Series | Backyard Wrestling |
| Platform(s) | Xbox PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Sports, Fighting |
| Mode(s) | Single Player Multiplayer |
Backyard Wrestling is a video game developed by Paradox Development, and published by Eidos Interactive in 2003 for Xbox and PlayStation 2.
Gameplay
The goal of backyard wrestling is largely to use the environment to defeat an opponent. The gameplay could be better described as a cross between classic pro wrestling video games and 3D platform fighting like Power Stone.
Aside from the standard backyard locations, Backyard Wrestling's arenas include a truck stop, a slaughterhouse, an outdoor parking lot, a talk show set and a strip club. Each environment is littered with barbed wire-laden bats, fluorescent light bulbs, breakable tables, steel chairs and other objects players may use to injure their opponents.
The game had a "Story" like mode, entitled "Talk Show Mode" circling around a show called "Today's Topic", which resembled The Jerry Springer Show. The talk show host, a nameless character that resembled Kevin Gill, one of the game's creators, interviewed different victims and personalities of backyard wrestling. After the interview, your character would be placed where the victim was and you would fight three other backyard wrestlers. You had to face three opponents with one health bar.
Roster
| Character | Place or Origin/Occupation | |
|---|---|---|
| Violent J | rapper (Insane Clown Posse), wrestler (WWF/WCW/JCW) | |
| Shaggy 2 Dope | rapper (Insane Clown Posse), wrestler (WWF/WCW/JCW) | |
| Mad Man Pondo | Independent wrestler, notably JCW | |
| The Rudeboy | Appears in JCW | |
| Josh Prohibition | Appeared in Best of Backyard Wrestling Vol. 1 & 2 | |
| M-Dogg 20 | Appeared in Best of Backyard Wrestling Vol. 1 & 2 | |
| JCW's Evil Dead | rapper Jump Steady, wrestler (JCW) | |
| Jamie Madrox | rapper (Twiztid) | |
| Monoxide Child | rapper (Twiztid) | |
| Sabu | legendary hardcore wrestler (ECW/Japan/TNA/WWE/WCW/JCW) | |
| Tom Dub | employee for Psychopathic Records, wrestler for JCW | |
| Masked Horn Dog | Comedy wrestler from Best of Backyard Wrestling: Backyard Babes | |
| El Drunko | Independent wrestler | |
| Masked Mike Jackson | Appears in The Best of Backyard Wrestling Vol. 1 & 2 | |
| Gupta | Appears in The Best of Backyard Wrestling Vol. 1 & 2 | |
| Karnage | Appears in The Best of Backyard Wrestling Vol. 1 & 2 | |
| Dameon Redd | Appears in The Best of Backyard Wrestling Vol. 1 & 2 | |
| Da Bone Doctor | Pro Wrestler (Formerly of WWF/WWE) | |
| Tylene Buck | wrestler (WCW), model, host for Best of Backyard Wrestling | |
| Kitana Baker | Model, actress | |
| Josh Asbill | Won a contest to be a playable character in the game. | |
| El Chicharron | unknown | |
| Commissioner | Appears in The Best of Backyard Wrestling Vol. 1 & 2 (The Epic Battle segments) | |
| Sonny D. Chopper | Unknown | |
| Atrocity XXX | Unknown | |
| Ross Lover | Unknown | |
| Sally | Unknown | |
| Jezebel | Unknown | |
| Rosie | Unknown | |
| Adrianne Pain | Unknown | |
| Hernia | Unknown | |
Reception
Released in 2003, the game went on to sell nearly half a million copies worldwide. Its reception from critics was lukewarm, but player interest was high enough to justify the development of a sequel. Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood was released the following year, including more wrestlers and moves but mostly the same basic gameplay
References
Further reading
- Archived review, from the April 2003 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly