WCW World Championship Wrestling

"One of the first wrestling games to feature finishing moves"

Graphics: 6: The graphics are pretty simple, but aren't crappy. Wrestlers are big enough and you distinuish them from their opponents. There is even a ref at the beginning of the match and he's also there to make the pin counts. The crowd animation looks all weird though.

Sound: 7: The gameplay music is alright, but can get annoying after a while. The game even makes use of voice during the pin count("1, 2, 3") A victory cheer("Yeah"), At the beginning of every match("fight"), a rope break("rope") and at some other moments too. Music for the wrestlers would've been nice, but the game didn't have any.

Gameplay: 7: Gameplay is simple: Either punch or kick an opponent 4 times and he'll rest for a little bit by bending down on one knee, then you press a direction on the control pad and the A button simultaneously and your wrestler will do a move. The game was also one of the first to offer finishing moves. When your opponent was weak enough and if you had him resting in the middle of the ring, tap A + B simultaneously and the screen would flash red indicating he was about to perform his finising move. There were a variety of modes the game offered from one-on-one, one-on-one championship, tag team, and league mode(where you get points for wins, losses, and draws). The game featured 12 wrestlers: Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Sting, Rick Steiner, Ricky Steamboat, Eddie Gilbert, Steve Williams, Michael PS Hayes, Road Warrior Animal, Road Warrior Hawk, and 2 other guys. Then there was "The WCW Master" who was the grand champion singles championship mode. This guy is really tough to beat.

Replay Value: 7: There was a password feature to save your progress through championship mode. Plus there was a two player mode so you can bash it out with your friend.

Overall Score: 7: The game is pretty good, overall. The only downside in the game is some of the wrestlers looked kinda weird. Also, this was the only WCW game for the NES unlike WWF Games which had 4 for the NES. The game is really fun playing with a friend, but don't plan to buy the game for the 1-player mode.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99