Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home

Playboy

We finally fulfilled our dream of beating guest stars Insane Clown Posse with a baseball bat. [Oct 2003, p.37]

Game Chronicles

If you were a fan of Backyard Wrestling before the game then this title was made just for you. If you enjoy ultra-violent games like "Tenchu" or "Thrill Kill" then you will definitely want to play this game.

GameZone

As a wrestling game it is average at best, but as a fighting game it walks the line between average and good. "Real" wrestling fans will probably be disappointed because of the controls.

Next Level Gaming

Crappy computer AI, and a very "vanilla" Create-A-Wrestler mode just doesn't put this in the same category as Smackdown, Raw, or Wrestlemania.

GamePro

It feels sloppy and looks simple, but from time to time the brilliance of the game design shines through.

Weekly Famitsu

7 / 6 / 7 / 7 - 27 [Vol 801; 23 Apr 2004]

IGN

Overly shallow in the mechanical department and not quite sure if it wants to be a fighting game or a wrestler, Don't Try This At Home isn't as fulfilling as it should be.

Cheat Code Central

They made the areas interactive and while it is cool to be able to use and destroy the areas you're fighting in, somewhere along the way they seemed to pass the reality factor of the whole theme the game was based on.

GamingTrend

Backyard wrestling is violent, bloody and mimics everything that makes the 'sport' popular, including the culture, music and even the violence... Unfortunately the game isn’t a whole lot of fun.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Don't count on using this stuff the way it was intended, though. Unlike the routines real wrestlers choreograph, these matches are absolute button-mashing chaos. [Dec 2003, p.194]

Game Informer

I can't put my personal feelings on crarpy games aside enough to recommend Don't Try This At Home to anyone but people who think that getting thumbtacks stuck in your ass and scalp are a fun way to spend a Saturday. [Dec 2003, p.148]

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

If you strip away the seedy premise, the game shows promise of being a knockoff of Capcom's "Power Stone," yet it ultimately falls short of replicating the fun and intensity of the Dreamcast classic. [Dec 2003, p.168]

netjak

This game had serious potential amongst fans of the genre, but Eidos and Paradox have totally sacrificed depth and mechanics and put out true garbage.

GameSpot

While Backyard Wrestling certainly has qualities that could make for an interesting wrestling game, Don't Try This at Home is so unpolished that it's far more of a chore than a pleasure to play.

G4 TV

There's some shocking stuff, but nothing exciting happens. It's just like watching Jerry Springer. If you've seen it once, you've seen it all.

PSX Nation

The cartoony violence, blood spills and redneck appeal of Backyard Wrestling’s rural locales and colorful cast of characters wears thin quicker than the time it took its equally-shoddy sequel to come out.

PSM Magazine

About as fun as being hit in the face with a chair. [Holiday 2003, p.44]

Deeko

The hardest part about reviewing this game is that it is so fundamentally awful it is hard not to want to give it the lowest score possible.

Play Magazine

There are many reasons to be appalled by this game, but it all starts with a poorly designed game engine that's spazzy to the point of near unplayability. [Dec 2003, p.100]

GMR Magazine

Seriously, don't be tempted to suffer through this painful experience. [Jan 2004, p.56]

GameSpy

Compared to most wrestling games, the movesets here have been whittled down to almost nothing.

Gamer's Pulse

This game stinks like raw, untreated, sewage. The gameplay is short lived, repetitive, and poorly balanced.

Gamestyle

Try hitting your head against a brick wall for about half an hour instead.

Maxim Online

Sadly, the sloppy controls and graphics make the game about as fun as a blow to the brainpan with a spiked bat.