Its presentation is nearly perfect for its era, and little things like commentary and voice clips added to the charm – even if they weren’t good. Even now, over 25 years later, it remains fun to play. Moves can’t be interrupted mid-stream outside of counters for things like splashes, so there’s no worry about starting a move only to have it undone by someone nearby.Īs a wrestling game, WrestleFest was limited in some ways, but always fun. Aiming for any one foe isn’t really possible, but aiming in the general direction of someone will at least result in some blows landing and then probably leading to some grappling moves if you’re lucky. This may seem like a bad thing, but thanks to the large sprites, it’s never really tough to find your character in the pack. The Royal Rumble mode is pure chaos due to how many characters on-screen at once. Conversely, this means that you also need to be on your toes – because one crediting it in the arcade was nigh-impossible and running low on health meant that you could pump a quarter in for a life refill in either game mode.
Wrestlefest game full#
While its limited roster doesn’t allow for a full 30 character run through, it does feel rewarding to beat the mode and I love that you can earn a pin in it to advance. However, the game has more to it than just tag teams – the Royal Rumble mode is one of the best virtual versions of that mode ever.
The tag team mechanics work shockingly well, and when it comes to actually providing smooth team-based gameplay, it’s better than most games released since then.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the cartoonish nature of the WWF at the time really did allow for a cartoonish portrayal to work far better – beyond the winning team playing patty-cake after a win, that remains kind of weird even if it is hilarious.
Perfect used precision and punctuates his moves with arrogant posing. The Ultimate Warrior darted around uncontrollably, while Mr. The in-ring personality of the roster was captured quite well – and better than in most games before or since. Submissions can be applied by pressing both buttons near the legs, showing off moves that weren’t normally seen in games at this time – like Ted DiBiase’s Mid-South Wrestling finisher the figure four leglock. Each character has custom moves for when a foe is really worn down – signified by them being in a nearly-vertical position on the mat to open the door for a bigger variety of moves like flying splashes or even Earthquake’s signature vertical splash. A downed opponent can either be stomped or hit with a flying elbow by hitting both buttons. You can also grab a downed opponent and pin them down for stomps or put an opponent in a headlock and set them up for a big diving axehandle from your partner to deal heavy damage. In tag team matches, you can grab someone from the apron for an attack from your partner – or you can be the victim of it. No one has an elaborate moveset, but there are some nice context-based things that make the in-ring action flow smoothly. If the match is just starting, you will do a forearm exchange before holds like snapmares and slams will be used while more advanced signature moves will be applied when enemies are worn down. Movesets remained simple in theory, with only two buttons for a punch and a kick – but context changes your grappling. Beyond having a tag team mode that was basically the same as Superstars – go through a set amount of bouts and then face an unplayable boss battle tag team, it refined things and added a solid amount of new content. This took the tag team formula from Superstars and expanded upon it. It wasn’t until 1991 that the definitive WWF arcade game was released - WWF WrestleFest. WWF Superstars was a short tag team-centric affair that captured a small portion of the ’88 roster well, but it felt like a rough draft.
While Acclaim and its subsidiaries generally handled the console games, Technos Japan handled its arcade games. The company did still have enough momentum from the ’80s boom to remain a force in gaming, however, which has remained the case to this day.
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The early ’90s were a turbulent time for pro wrestling in the United States, with scandals rocking the industry and attendance falling across the board. We come here to pay our respects, to reminisce, and to wonder aloud what a passing mad doctor might be able do with all these corpses and some high-definition lightning. Out back of the Hardcore Gamer office you’ll find our Graveyard, where countless long-dead classics lie.
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