Collect all 500!

Like its predecessor, GW is a four-player fighting game set in the Kinnikuman universe. The cel-shaded graphics and authentic voices capture the flavor of the Saturday morning cartoon, and pre-match (spoken) dialogues between characters echo the storylines and relationships of the show and the manga that preceded it.

This time you pick from among four dozen of the colorful and somewhat disturbing Muscle characters and slug it out in singles and tag matches and battle royals. There is no separate story mode, but you do see and hear the characters interact whenever there is something to say. It's a cross between the dialogues in the Street Fighter Alpha series and those in the SSX games: if there is no significant story between the participants, they won't say anything - but when they do, it's in a mini cut scene directly before the action.

Also like in SSX, bios are available for all the competitors. In GW, stats are listed onscreen and the descriptions are provided by one of the game's stars. Alternate costumes are selectable with the Square button, but many of the characters are glorified palette swaps of other characters anyway.

Developer Aki has added a pin but kept the engine pretty much intact from Ultimate Muscle. Once again, this game at first appears to be nothing more than a button masher targeted at casual gamers, but you'll see a little depth if you peek under the hood. It's possible to knock opponents out of the air, counter strikes, and intercept and reverse grapples, so a little practice pays off. A thoughtfully arranged move list is accessible via the pause menu in case you want to brush up on the techniques or their names.

The M.U.S.C.L.E. toy collection makes a return. There are 470 figures to buy in five different virtual vending machines. To earn coins for these prizes, you simply fight matches. If you just plug in a second controller and fight a dummy, you'll only be rewarded with one medal (not that I condone taking shortcuts, you understand). But most matches against the computer yield three medals, and some lay a nice ten-medal bonus on top of that - for winning a tournament or stealing a mask.

New wrestlers are unlocked as you collect figures and meet other requirements. Though there's an awful lot of redundancy in the group, there are also some guys worth getting. Some combinations of wrestlers trigger special double-team cinemas, so you want to unlock at least a few and mix and match. Team names are listed in the intros, but while there are plenty of teams, they certainly don't all have unique team specials. If you poke around a little, you should be able to see all of them, just use some common sense and maybe knowledge of the Ultimate Muscle universe.

The single specials are, of course, a major part of the attraction. The originals make their return and those for the new contestants are in the same vein. If you haven't played the first game and you appreciate unreal impact coming down from dizzying heights, you could do worse than renting Galactic Wrestling. It's fun to unlock new combatants and go through the list trying out the different super moves. You won't even mind that a good number of them are shared. Well, okay, you might mind some, but the overall experience is unique even if some of the moves are repeated.

The power meters aren't just for the level-3 finishers. Each character also has several special moves available at levels 1 and 2, some from behind and others in the air. These are fluidly integrated into the match, whereas the finishers pause a second or two for loading - even if you intend to skip them.

Speaking of peeking under the hood . . .

Tucked away in the Survival menu is a new mode called Mask Hunt. A single player controls one member of the tag team of Neptune and Big Budo, while the computer takes charge of the other. The goal this time is to retrieve your enemy's mask. This is done via a unique two-on-one move, the succinctly named "Mask the End." If you can finish the bout with that spinnining, electric double-team (which is one of the most bizarre in the game), you'll take the mask of the victim. There are twenty-three in all. The problem is that your partner more often than not acts like a complete nitwit, getting flattened, blowing the move on the wrong guy, downgrading his super level by using a level-2 special, pinning when he should be spinning, and butting in when you're closing in for the kill. However, this works out very well in a way. It adds another level of challenge to the proceedings, and even though I hated the mode early on, as I learned to balance all the elements (including my tag partner's irrationality), I got pretty good at getting those masks. And what's more satisfying than mastering something that used to frustate you?

So think of Galactic Wrestling: Featuring Ultimate Muscle as a strong rental, even for single-player. I won't recommend a purchase, but I do suggest you try on the freaky costumes at least once.

· · · Nick Vlamakis