WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game

Let me start by saying that WWF WrestleMania The Arcade Game is a legit top 20 game of all time for me! The arcade version is amazing and it would eventually find itself ported to pretty much everything available at the time. Apart from the Super Nintendo, each console of the day got a good port of this game. The version I am looking at today is the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive port that was released in 1995.

Become The Champion

In single-player, you have two game modes to play through. You can compete for the Intercontinental Championship or the WWF Championship. Each mode in WWF WrestleMania The Arcade Game posses a different challenge. When you compete for the Intercontinental Championship you face four one on one opponents. This is followed by a couple of one vs two and then final a one vs three matches for the title.

The WWF Championship mode is much harder. Here you face four one on two matches, two one on three and then a Royal Rumble where it is you against eight other wrestlers (three at a time) to become the WWF Champion. You can also play multiplayer where you can fight a friend or team up to take on the Royal Rumble. My only complaint is that the arcade version has these fun endings, but they are missing from the home versions.

Mortal WWF

The real beauty of WWF WrestleMania The Arcade Game is that you do not have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy this game. This was made by many of the same people behind Mortal Kombat and it shows. It has the same five button system. You have two punches, two kicks, and a block. You do special moves with button combinations and also via entering what the game calls a head hold. There is a great selection of moves ranging from standard dropkicks and slams to over the top stuff like smashing an opponent with a tombstone or electrocuting them. Above all else, the gameplay is fast, frantic and a ton of fun. It is a game that can be enjoyed by pretty much anyone. Those wanting to learn can dish out massive combos, but there is also fun to be had via button mashing too. I will say to get the best out of it, you need to use a 6-button control pad.

Eight Of The Best

The game has a roster of eight characters which may seem small, but each character is truly unique. They actually digitized the wrestler the same way they did the characters in Mortal Kombat and they look great. The Genesis version here is probably the weakest looking of all the versions in terms of visuals, but the game still looks good.

I am a massive wrestling fan and as great as the roster is by the time the game was released in 1995 the roster was a bit out of date. For example, no Diesel, Owen Hart or British Bulldog were in the game despite being a major part of the WWF for well over a year before the game was released.

I love WWF WrestleMania The Arcade Game and no matter what version (except the SNES) I know I am having a great time. It is so over the top and fun that you cannot help, but have a smile on your face while you play. While I do feel that the arcade version is the one you really want to play. You are still in for a fun time here with this 16-bit version. This is a game I play multiple times a year and I always have fun when I do.

Pros:

• Each of the eight characters feels special
• The moves range from standard wrestling moves to crazy stuff
• The game looks great
• You have two modes of play
• The gameplay is easy to pick up and learn

Cons:

• It is missing the endings from the arcade game
• The roster is missing some major stars of the time

Everyone loves WRESTLING (Really? - Ed) but it took until 1995's WWF' Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game for digital grapple enthusiasts to really get a full taste of the exhilarating bodyslamming action of the WWE (or WWF as it was before animal lovers got tetchy).

Most of that is a load of nonsense, but this was the first WWF game that allowed you the Undertaker to cast ghosts at people and for the late Yokozuna to throw salt in his foe's eyes. The roster was weak, with only eight characters to choose from, including Bret Hart, Lex Luger, Shawn Michaels, Bam Bam Bigelow and Doink the Clown. Mr Fuji was there too, as was Jerry 'the King' Lawler and Vince McMahon providing commentary. Nowadays, the lack of chair shots, barbed wire and tub-of-scorpions death matches makes this look tame, but I'll always remember the day I defeated Doink with a 'ghost shot' to the face.