Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2: Ōdō Keishō

Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2: Ōdō Keishō is a deep, Japan-focused N64 wrestling game built around a huge 98-wrestler lineup, flexible match cards, and a long championship chase. Its biggest hurdle is obvious: the Japanese-language interface and altered identities outside its All Japan core ask you to meet it halfway.

If you already love AKI’s N64 wrestling lineage, this is a rewarding branch to explore rather than a substitute for WWF No Mercy. The variety of leagues, tournaments, rankings, edits, and match types gives you plenty of reasons to stay once you learn your way around.

Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first hour of Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2: Ōdō Keishō is likely to pull in anyone who enjoys filling out a wrestling card as much as playing the matches themselves. A 98-wrestler roster gives the game real range, with All Japan names at the center and a wider collection of fighters around them. Singles and tag matches are here, but three-way and four-way battle royals, elimination bouts, leagues, tournaments, and rankings make this feel built for more than quick exhibitions.

What starts to click is the amount of control you have over your wrestling calendar. Royal Road Succession turns the pursuit of championships into a year-long commitment, while the other competition formats let you set up more focused runs. It is a smart fit for a game centered on Japanese wrestling, where standings, tournaments, and the road to a belt can matter as much as a single marquee matchup.

Edit mode strengthens that long-term hook. Being able to alter appearance, costumes, and moves means you are not locked into the default versions of the roster. That is especially useful given that many wrestlers outside the All Japan group use altered identities. If you want a wrestling game to become a personal sandbox for cards, title pursuits, and customized competitors, this has considerably more staying power than a straightforward exhibition-only package.

The friction comes from the Japanese language. You can certainly enjoy the ring action and recognize the broad purpose of the modes, but the deeper calendar, ranking, and edit options demand patience if you do not read Japanese. Familiarity with AKI’s N64 work helps frame the experience, and fans of WWF No Mercy will recognize this as part of the same development lineage, not as a roster swap or a duplicate set of modes.

Graphics

In the ring, the chunky polygonal wrestlers have sharply separated gear that makes a competitor in yellow trunks and boots easy to distinguish from an opponent in black pants. The pale blue canvas, dark ropes, blue padded posts, and ringside barriers give matches a clean, unmistakably late-N64 look. A close angled camera puts corner attacks right in your face, though angular shoulders and smeared facial features look rough even by the standards of the hardware.

Story

This is not a wrestling game with a scripted adventure or a dramatic plot full of named story beats. Its version of progression comes from scheduling matches, entering competitive formats, improving your position, and chasing championships across the year in Royal Road Succession.

That focus suits the subject. Rather than asking you to sit through a predetermined feud, the game lets the structure of a league, tournament, ranking climb, or arranged card create the context. A title match matters because of the road you have built toward it.

The result is less immediately theatrical than a dedicated story mode, but more adaptable. You can make the experience about one competitor’s championship pursuit, a tag pairing, or a whole set of events that you arrange yourself. Gamers who need cutscenes and prewritten rivalries may find it dry; wrestling fans who enjoy making their own continuity will find more to work with.

Overall Experience

Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2: Ōdō Keishō earns its reputation through density and focus. The combination of a large roster, multiple match formats, competitive structures, a year-long mode, and edits creates a wrestling game that invites repeat play instead of burning out after a few novelty matches. Its All Japan authorization is a real strength, as confirmed by the developer’s record for Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2, and it gives the game a firm identity within Japanese wrestling.

Still, this is not the easiest AKI N64 game to recommend blindly. The language barrier is substantial, especially when you want to use the modes that make it distinctive, and the faces have not aged gracefully. If you are willing to navigate Japanese menus or already have an interest in All Japan and its surrounding wrestling scene, the payoff is a remarkably flexible 2000 wrestling package.

Give it a chance if you want to build tournaments, climb rankings, chase championships, and customize a broad cast rather than merely replay a handful of exhibition matches. Skip it only if you need English guidance or want a wrestling game driven by a scripted narrative. For the right kind of fan, its depth outweighs the inconvenience.