...and you thought The Longest Yard had too many wrestlers...
This term is thrown around at least a few times a week on any of the Pro Wrestling shows that one may happen across on the television. To risk the dreaded top rope Iconoclasm, I am going to go out on a limb and make a call only the commissioner can make (is this a heel turn?). The undisputed champion of wrestling consoles is from a couple of generations ago. That console weighing in at 64 bits, hailing from the island nation of Japan….(powerful voice here) NINTENDO 64!
...image secured during the short lived face turn...
No discussion on Pro Wrestling video games should ever fail to include the game that taught me the power if the Back Brain Kick and to avoid the fearsome bite of the Amazon. That would be the aptly named Nintendo Pro Wrestling. This game had it all for me. Different characters to select, different move-sets for those characters, managers, and the mysterious Great Puma. This game showed that the industry was headed in the right direction.
Behind the purple mask is....Ted Striker?
Now I know that there have been some great games since then, even my beloved Fire Pro D. There was something special about the games at that time that really stands out to me. The modern systems offer online play and some of the best creative options yet, but some thing seems missing to me. Maybe it is the frustrating controls? Maybe it is trying too much for immersion into a story line, but no real control over your characters real path? Maybe it is wearing your belt to the ring. I know a strong game presence appeared on the Playstation 2 and the I owe a thank you to Playstation for being the first console to carry one of my favorite franchises.
The Crow? Never heard of it.
Released in 1997 for the PS1, came a little gift for the waiting wrestling fan. That present was WCW vs The World (here is a secret, they eventually lost). This game set the pace for what was to come from AKI and THQ. For the time it had an impressive roster even if you had to guess who you were using, since they included wrestler that they did not have permission to use. Instead they did things like name some one Saladin (pronounced “Salad-in” in my circles), who was really Abdullah the Butcher. There was a fairly large roster of wrestlers form Japan given the fake names. It was a port of Virtual Pro Wrestling from Japan and that is why the roster was set up in such a fashion.
"TED TURNER YOU INCUR THE WRATH OF DOOM FOR YOUR HUBRIS!"
Now onto THE CHAMPION….N64! The follow up to WCW vs the World was WCW vs nWo World Tour for the N64. This title was also released in 1997. If you are paying attention, you will note that the WCW realized “The World” was not a good idea to fight against. Instead they choose to travel. Maybe they realized Dr. Doom did things like that. I digress. This title introduced the highly successful grapple system that several games to follow would adopt. This control scheme was extremely fun to play and stuck around for a few years. World Tour was the American version of Virtual Pro Wrestler 64, which once again lead to many unlicensed wrestlers appearing under alternate identities. Saladin included. This was a taste of things to come.
I stared in The Condemned, now on Showtime!
Meanwhile playing with the characters in Vince McMahon’s court, Acclaim released WWF Warzone. This title had its own unique grapple system. The only thing this accomplished was making me grapple with my sanity over making the wrestler do as I planned. Warzone featured much better graphics than it’s rival from WCW, but the previously mentioned game play held it back. Commentary by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross gave the title a little unique selling point over the competition. The highlight of this game was the create a wrestler mode. You could create a wide variety of wrestlers by playing around with the features. This led to creating some very odd competitors between my friends. Despite how annoying the game play was, I have to shout out to Warzone, because it was the birthplace of the 7th Egg Dynasty. One day I will have to write a confessional on that. The WWF vs WCW war was now on the consoles.
Come on Bill, pull it!
WCW may have been losing the war to their New England rivals the WWF, but the Championship belt belong firmly around the waist of THQ over Acclaim. The next THQ entry WCW/nWo Revenge took everything great about their stroll around the world and made it better. They expanded the roster to include more real wrestlers. More moves were introduced to the game as well as signature moves, so their was no mistaking the character models. There was no real create a wrestler feature, but you could make the wrestlers wear each other clothes. Was it odd I made everyone dress like Fit Finlay?
Start is on the controller, 'cause Stone Cold read the buttons
WWF Attitude was Acclaim’s 1999 response to Revenge. They returned with their awkward grapple system and superior graphics intact. Also returning was the in match commentary duties now taken over by Shane McMahon and Jerry “I worked the Country with Andy Kaufman” Lawler. Most exciting was the return of the create a wrestler system and of course in my home returned those demons of my imagination, the 7th Egg Dynasty. There was an interesting create mode for the rings themselves. I found little use for this mode, since I was busy making egg shaped heels the likes of which had never been seen! I will admit that it was fun to be punished by the game’s video crowd for repetative moves. This forced the player to not rely on the same moves over and over again. Which curiously is what wrestling looks like today.
Dwayne thought long and hard about his shirt and decided, yes it was too much.
The title may be Wresltemania 200, but this gem appeared in 1999. It marked the jump of THQ from WCW games and the debut of their making games for the WWF. Game play style was wisely continued from its predecessor WCW/nWo Revenge. The graphics were improved and finally a create a wrestler mode was added to the fantastic game play. A wide variety of moves were present as well as options for creating your own wrestlers. With a little time and creativity many “real” wrestlers could be added to the roster. Once again my evil boys showed up to destroy all opposition that my friends could muster. They did stay clear of their fellow heel, Sea Bass aka Eddie Ajax. Though once again that is a story for another day. X-pac lost to so many people it made me smile on the inside.
Just how did they attach that turkey to Edge's head?
I feel my heart strings being pulled as we near the end of our journey. No Mercy was released in 2000 (unlike Wrestlemania 2000 from 1999) and brought about the end to my personal golden age of wrestling games. No Mercy had some odd problems that were not present in WM2000. For example, my first copy erased itself. I was not happy at all to lose everything I had opened and my prized eggs. There was also some odd slow down when all 4 players were present. This did not stop my friends from thoroughly enjoying the game (once a copy was acquired that was stable). The Eggs rolled again, Eddie Ajax scared everyone and X-Pac continued his losing streak.
I know there have been many games since. The Fire Pro Series offered more depth and creativity (especially for egg based wrestlers) and the newer games look prettier, but this period of time holds a special place in my heart. All of the previously mentioned games had their home on the N64 and that is why I call it The Undisputed Champion of wrestling games. HUSS, HUSS, HUSS!
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