Selecting a Version

There are four version of Fire Pro Wrestling for the Game Boy Advance. Two in Japanese and two in English. There are much more than just language differences between the games.

FPWA vs FPW1

The first game is the series Fire Pro Wrestling A has one major advantage over the English FPW1 release and that is proper colors for all wrestlers. When released outside of Japan the game was recolored to avoid copyright issues. TigerMask recently released a color patch that restores the proper colors in FPW1, thus resolving this issue.

FPW1 vs FPW2

Many have argued that FPW2 is a downgrade from FPW1. Removed features include: The UFC Octagon, Tournament Mode, Audience Mode, Faction Customization, and Round Robin Tournament Mode. FPW2 did receive some improvements: Better Submissions, Women in Edit Mode, Much Improved Springboard Accuracy, 18 New Moves, 4 More Edit Slots, Match Interference, Ironman Road Mode, Managers, More Federation Logos, and a Training mode. FPW2 also includes more American wrestlers. Both games have received color patches, but FPW1's is more consistent.

FPW2 vs FFPW

FFPW has one major feature over FPW2 and that is Management of the Ring mode. MOR allows you to create your own federation, book shows, and is generally accepted to be the best RPG mode of any wrestling game. FPW2's Ironman Road mode lacks the depth of MOR, but doesn't have anything "wrong" with it. If you prefer a fighting game style fight from the bottom to the top you may like it better than the booker roleplay. FPW2's biggest advantage is its massive 77 edit slots to FFPW's mere 42.

GBA vs PS2

This debate is the reason this sight exists. Only three FirePro games have ever made it stateside: 2 for GBA and 1 for PS2. The PS2 game is a much bigger game with 500 edit slots and massive sprites. It seems like an easy decisions, but the GBA has some things going for it. 1) MOR mode is unique to FFPW. I wasn't kidding when I called it the best wrestling RPG. 2) Better pinning. In the PS2 FPWR big comebacks are harder because you can be pinned out of nowhere if your health is low enough. The GBA games require momentum to get a pinfall. It is a small difference, but it feels right. 3) Much easier to emulate. The PS2 is a tough system to emulate meaning you can only play FPWR on the PS2 and Windows. The GBA fire pro games can be emulated on dozens of machines, meaning that you can play FirePro anywhere.