WWE All Stars featured an all-new take on WWE with fast, fun, fluid and furious arcade-style gameplay, with larger-than-life WWE Superstars and Legends.
What you might not know, is that WWE All Stars was supposed to have a Sequel. YouTuber ItsMyYard shared an email exchange he had with a developer of the game from the defunct THQ San Diego Studio.
The developer revealed plans for WWE All Stars 2, as well as features that were cut from the original game. Here are some extracts from the developer's words:
As for All Stars 2, I can tell you that we wanted to do many more types of special attacks that work in the same spirit as the RKO. They would have different properties associated with them and could be used in many different ways and situations. I would have made huge changes to the juggle system to allow for more 'creative' combos with aerial attacks. I also wanted to have all the characters be very different and not follow the classes as much.
They would have had MANY more unique attacks and combos. There were also other bounce mechanics we played around with, that were really cool. There would have been unique special Team Moves and setups for guys that play as a team. I would have had unique navigation animations and navigation properties for each character. I would have also pushed to give them their gimmicks and reflect the essense of the character and obviously factor into combat.
- WWE All Stars Developer
He also shared details about match types that were cut from the original WWE All Stars:
We needed more modes. We had Ladders and Tables match modes working before we shipped WWE All Stars, but some people were too afraid they would take too much time to fix, so they got cut.
The tables match was particularly fun. It was a fast paced match mode where you had to throw the opponent through as many tables as possible to win, but we changed some of the rules. I would have experimented with different weapons you could throw, with different velocity trajectories and speeds to mix things up. I would have overhauled the way weapons worked and give them distinct combat properties.
Also, we always wanted to take the fight backstage since there is so much you can do there gameplay-wise. There were a lot of other ideas and fixes as well, but these are the ones I can think of off at the top of my head.
- WWE All Stars Developer
Unfortunately, the WWE All Stars Sequel never came to fruition due to the closing of the THQ San Diego Studio in 2012.
You can find the full video by ItsMyYard below, with even more behind-the-scenes details about the game. The developer, that also worked at Midway's TNA Impact videogame, also hinted that a sequel for TNA Impact was originally in the works as well.
