Evolution Schematic 03.15.08: WWE Video Games (Part 2)

Hello, and once again welcome to the guy who brought 411 THAT Warrior photo. It’s been an odd 24 hours for me, what with the incident in the Pro Wrestling match I had last night. I’m not going to go into details, since if you’re not Australian you probably don’t care and if you are you probably already know. All I’ll say is that you, as a fan, should NEVER throw any liquids at a wrestler unless you’re provoked, i.e. they threw something at you first.

Now that I’ve totally mystified you (assuming you actually read this. I’m not sure if people do, I mean my oh-so-witty photo comments have yet to get a single remark so I can only assume no-one’s noticed them), I’ll get down to the real business at hand, Part 2 of our look at the world of WWF/WWE Video Games.

Part 1 is there, and I suggest you read it again. Not just because I want the hits, but because last week I missed a game, and after a week of hard thinking, I edited it to include it, given that I want this to be comprehensive. Anyway, on with the show.

Phase 8- And now things get complicated.

Name: WWF Super Wrestlemania
Console/s: Super Nintendo Entertainment System, a.k.a SNES/Sega Genesis a.k.a Sega Mega Drive
Release Date: 1991 (SNES) /1992 (Genesis)
Playable Characters: Animal (SNES only), British Bulldog (Genesis only), Earthquake (SNES only), Hawk (SNES only), Hulk Hogan, Irwin R. Schyster (Genesis only), Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts (SNES only), Papa Shango (Genesis only), ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels (Genesis only), Sid Justice (SNES only), ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase, Typhoon (SNES only), The Ultimate Warrior (Genesis only), The Undertaker (SNES only).
Unplayable Character/s: The Fink
Match Type/s: One-on-One, Tag Match, Survivor Series, WWF Championship mode (Genesis only).
Other Features: Bigger roster/better graphics on the SNES, ‘Finishers’ on Genesis.
Screenshots:
Genesis:

SNES:

Info:

You may be wondering why it’s called ‘Super Wrestlemania’. Well, see, practically all games in this era had Super at the front, since they were on the Super NES. Like how later on so many had 64 tacked on the end.

Regardless, the WWF’s first foray into the glorious 16 bit era was, well… Flat. Both games had half the features you’d expect. The SNES version had better graphics, a bigger roster, and better sound. Genesis had the unique finishers (as well as all the normal moves that everyone had) although they could be used at any time, and the Belt mode, where you fought everyone one on one to win the belt. If you could only have combined the two, you might have had a good game. But such as it was, both seemed half there, and are only really nostalgia pieces now.

Especially for me, since the Mega Drive version was my first Wrestling game. But just because the 16 bit era was beginning, doesn’t mean the 8 bit machines were dead and berried…

Phase 9- Steel Cages! Game Gear! Tatanka! Buffalo!

Name: WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge
Console/s: NES, Master System, Sega Game Gear
Release Date: 1992
Playable Characters: Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart, Hulk Hogan, Irwin R. Schyster, Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts (NES only), The Mountie (NES only), Papa Shango (Sega only), ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair (Sega only), ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper (NES only), ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels (Sega only), Sid Justice (NES only), Tatanka (Sega only), ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase, The Undertaker.
Unplayable Character/s: None.
Match Type/s: Single, Cage, Tag, WWF Championship mode, WWF Tag Team Championship mode
Other Features: None.
Screenshots:
Master System:

NES:

Game Gear:

Info:

Of course, maybe there was a reason why the 8 bits were now old technology. I mean, sure, for a first go on a new portable console like the Game Gear it was a good game, and the first game on home consoles to have a Steel Cage was a step forward, hence the name, but this game, frankly, sucked. No finishers, bad controls, odd camera, it was not a great game. Not terrible, but not at all good. It was, however, the first and last Master System WWF game, thus combining a bad first step with an unmemorable last gasp.

The WWF was expanding, you see. They were trying to get into every market they could, every console they could. So while they went backwards (and would have kept going had the old consoles not died, or at least had the Master System not died) they also got onto a machine that was years ahead of it’s time.

Phase 10- Europe: Hotbed of Tag Team Wrestling.

Name: WWF European Rampage Tour
Console/s: Amiga, C64
Release Date: 1992
Playable Characters: Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart, Hulk Hogan, ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior.
Unplayable Character/s: The Legion Of Doom (Animal & Hawk (Amiga only)), Money Inc. (IRS & Ted DiBiase (Amiga only)), The Nasty Boys (Nasty Boy Knobbs (Amiga only) & Nasty Boy Sags), The Natural Disasters (Earthquake (Amiga only) & Typhoon), Sean Mooney.
Match Type/s: Tag Team Tour (Amiga Only), Single Tour (C64 only), 2 Player Practice
Other Features: Pre-Match Analysis.
Screenshots:
Amiga:

C64:

Info:

Nowadays this concept would never fly. You picked 2 out of the 4 options of good guys, and you did a tour of 3 European arenas, first stop being The Britannic Arena in London then The Deutsche Nationale Arena in Munich, final stop being the Palais Omnisports arena in Paris and then the main event in that great European landmark of Madison Square Garden, NYC. In each arena your two man Superteam had to defeat The Nasty Boys, Money Inc. and the Disasters one at a time, and then the final 10th match would be against the champs, the LOD, at MSG.

But that’s the Amiga version. The C64 port was only half as good, as you only controlled one guy, and yet you had to beat Sags, Typhoon and IRS on your way to fight Animal for the belt. In each case the weaker member of the team (ok, you could argue Sags and Animal, but still). When you have to remove the whole concept of the game to fit it on the console, you might want to rethink your strategy.

Of course over on the Game Boy, rethinking was for losers. If it worked on the Game Gear, it had to work on the Game Boy, right?

Phase 11- It’s still all green, but it’s a green CAGE!

Name: WWF Superstars 2
Console/s: Game Boy
Release Date: August 1992
Playable Characters: Hulk Hogan, Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, The Mountie, ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, Sid Justice, The Undertaker
Unplayable Character/s: None
Match Type/s: Single, Cage, Tag Team, WWF Title
Other Features: Strength Regain.
Screenshot:

Info:

It’s funny. You compare this game to the Game Gear, and the Game Gear smokes it in seemingly every way. Better graphics, better roster, slightly better game play, no stupid ‘Press Select and you recharge your health’ feature. But which console won that war?

I’ll give you a hint, it’s the one who’s sales are being limited by how many copies of games they can make.

The game itself seems to be one step forward, one back. While it had a steel cage, it had less options than it’s predecessor, with fewer moves. Still no special moves, all generic ones only. Still, it’s somewhat nice to imagine a world where the Mountie and Hulk Hogan have equal footing.

But the next Game Boy game would not be a continuation of the Superstars series. Instead, it was brought in line with… The NES?

Phase 12- All Hail King You! All Hail King You!

Name: WWF King Of The Ring
Console/s: NES, Game Boy
Release Date: 1993
Playable Characters: Bam Bam Bigelow (NES only), Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart, Hulk Hogan, ‘The Narcissist’ Lex Luger, Mr. Perfect, ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, Razor Ramon, ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker (NES only), Yokozuna, ‘You’.
Unplayable Character/s: None
Match Type/s: Single, Tag Team, WWF Title, King Of The Ring.
Other Features: Stats, Prototype ‘Create A Wrestler’ mode.
Screenshots:
NES:

Game Boy:

Info:

This game is not important because it had an 8 man King Of The Ring tournament feature, although that was a first. It’s not important because it was the best NES WWF game, or the best NES GB game, both of those statements are arguable. What it is important for is You.

Or rather, the character of You. You had been in a previous WWF game, Wrestlemania Challenge, but this time round it was different. Each character was the same in terms of their move set, but there were 3 S stats that differentiated each guy. Speed, Strength and Stamina (4 categories in the Game Boy version, Strength, Speed, Agility, and Endurance). This was logical, in that HBK and Yoko should probably not have the exact same stats. Each character had 14-16 points spread between the 3 groups.

But that wasn’t the only innovation. No, you see when you picked yourself, you got to decide where your 15 points went. 7 was the max a skill could be, so if you wanted an ultra strong, ultra durable guy would could barely walk, 1-7-7 was your go. Want balance? 5-5-5. Want Ric Flair? 4-4-7. You could decide. Sure, nowadays that would be (rightly) criticized, since you couldn’t change the moves, or the appearance, but for the time, it was revolutionary. And for that, the game gets its place in the record books.

But while the NES was writing it’s place in said history books, the next gen were still just milking some cash.

Phase 13- Hogan’s last appearance for a decade or so.

Name: WWF Royal Rumble
Console/s: SNES, Genesis.
Release Date: 1993
Playable Characters: Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart, Crush, Hulk Hogan (Genesis only), Irwin R. Schyster (Genesis only), ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan (Genesis only), ‘The Narcissist’ Lex Luger, Papa Shango (Genesis only), Mr. Perfect (SNES only), ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, Razor Ramon, ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair (SNES only), ‘The Model’ Rick Martel (Genesis only), ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels, Tatanka (SNES only), ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase (SNES only), The Undertaker, Yokozuna (SNES only).
Unplayable Character/s: Mean Gene Okerlund, Referee
Match Type/s: Single (One Fall, Brawl, Tournament), Tag Team (One Fall, Brawl, Tournament), 6 Man Tag Team (called ‘Triple Tag Team’, One Fall, Brawl), Royal Rumble.
Other Features: Illegal moves, Brawl mode, Referee attacking, same character playing.
Screenshots:
Genesis:

SNES:

Info:

To all those who complain about the current series of WWE games’ tendencies to ‘Add A Feature, Take A Feature’, spare a thought for the games a decade and a half ago. Back then, when they took/added a feature, that was 15% of the game gone. But while the loss of the Survivor Series match was a disappointment, this was an improvement over the last go rounds. Everyone had their own unique finisher, and graphically it had improved slightly. But the company was starting to head down another path, as Hogan left, the company went from Superheros to looking for an identity to what would eventually be known as ‘Attitude’. But it started, arguably, here, as while chair shots and eye rakes and such had been in some previous games, the Royal Rumble was the first one where the illegality of these moves was an issue. If you were in a normal one fall match, you couldn’t just go round nailing people with chairs, at least in the ring, on the outside it was fine to do whatever. But to bring a chair into the ring, you first had to take the ref out, which was a first. After a few solid shots (why can’t real refs be that resilient?) the ref would be knocked out, and you could then cheat to your heart’s content. Of course, if it was a brawl match, then anything went, Brawl being basically a hardcore match, or more accurately an I quit match, as once your opponent’s life bar had run out, he ‘submitted’ and you won. The tournament mode followed the one fall rules.

Another innovation was the slight removal of believability (given that the Underfaker was a year or so off) in that you could have two players with the same character, Bret Hart V Bret Hart, Perfect & Flair V Perfect & Flair.

And finally, the Rumble match was a part of the game, of course, with no ref and 6 men in the ring at any one time, a major breakthrough in home console technology.

However, talk of ‘breakthroughs’ and ‘Add A Feature/Take a Feature’ would be turned on their ear with the next game, for this new fangled technology of CDs…