WWE - Road to WrestleMania X8 ROM

WWE Road to WrestleMania X8 is a professional wrestling video game released on the Game Boy Advance handheld console by THQ in 2002, based on WWE’s 2002 pay-per-view WrestleMania X8. The game featured improved gameplay and grappling techniques compared to its predecessors. This game was the Game Boy Advance successor to WWF Road to WrestleMania from 2001 and was succeeded by WWE Survivor Series in 2004. It was one of two games named after the event, the other being WWE WrestleMania X8 for the GameCube, released five months prior in June 2002.

Of the three WWE games developed by Natsume for the Game Boy Advance, WWE Road to WrestleMania X8 was the most successful in regard to both sales and reviews. With the limited number of buttons on the Game Boy Advance, just “A” and “B”, WWE Road to WrestleMania X8 employed a simple approach to simulating wrestling moves. It has been likened to how Fire Pro Wrestling based the actions on timed button pressing and strategy. The combination of a button push and a direction choice when the two wrestlers lock up would result in different wrestling moves and also allowed for moves to be reversed if the timing was right.

In addition, characters could climb ropes, perform running moves and pick up weapons. The gameplay was seen as an improvement over the “button mashing” approach of its predecessor WWF Road to WrestleMania. Reviewers did point out that the game lacked a “Create-a-Wrestler” feature, most likely due to the limited memory of the Game Boy Advance. While the gameplay itself was improved, several reviewers noted that the Artificial Intelligence that controlled the computer opponents was easy and predictable. The AI also had problems during multi-man matches, on occasion attacking their own partner during a game.