WWF Royal Rumble

"The second of it's kind, and the second best"

OK, let's start with a little history lesson.
In 1991, Nintendo, LJN, and the World Wrestling Federation came together to make their first game for the Super Nintendo system. It was innovative, but got VERY boring after a week. I'm speaking of WWF Super WrestleMania.

Two years later, the three came together again and created WWF Royal Rumble for SNES, and to everyone's surprise it actually IMPROVED upon Super WrestleMania's engine! Read the seperate sections.

Graphics: 7/10
They we're pretty impressive for thier time. They way they punch, kick, grapple, swing a chair. Each character has thier own distinguishable traits, so it's easy to tell the wrestler from the referee. And even he (referee) had little sprites, making him as graphical as the wrestlers. The ring is nicely done, as well as the floor, and the chair weapon.

Sound: 8/10
The theme is very catchy, and the wrestlers theme music remains basically the same as in real life, but is synthesised. There is no annoying match music like in WrestleMania 2000 or No Mercy, but there are no commentators either.

Control: 10/10
This is the best part of any wrestling game. In WWF Royal Rumble, you can play up to 12 wrestlers, including:

''Macho Man'' Randy Savage
Ric Flair
Bret ''The Hitman'' Hart
Razor Ramon
The Undertaker
Shawn Micheals
Tatanka
Mr. Perfect
Yokozuna
Ted Dibiase
''The Narcissist'' Lex Luger
Crush

Each with thier own special finishing moves. Grappling is very easy. The grapple-moves are simple to execute. Using the chair is cool. A perfect 10.

Modes: 5/10

OK, there we're some set-backs here, but vast improvement. You can choose to wrestle in a one-fall match, a brawl with no referee, or a tournament. Tag Team with the same options, A six man tag (replacing the Survivor Series Mode) or a Royal Rumble match.
This was the first game to contain a Royal Rumble match, with up to six wrestlers in the ring at once. Not even the advanced No Mercy can do that! But, not as many modes as in WWF Raw. There are no bedlam matches (my personal favorite), or Survivor Series, on RAW Endurance Matches.

Comparison to the Real World Wrestling Federation: 8/10

Very much like the WWF in 1993. Finishing moves (not in Super WrestleMania), illegal chair shots (not in Super WrestleMania) and you can even knock out the pesky referee when your partner is in danger of being counted out. (Not in Super WrestleMania) This part is thankfully identical in WWF Raw.

Final Score: 8/10 (Not an average)

WWF Royal Rumble revolutionized how wrestling games are made today. Without it, there would be no WWF WrestleMania 2000, or WWF No Mercy. Thankfully, Super Nintendo isn't as popular anymore, so you pick this game up cheap, or download it on ZSNES easily. So if you ever get a chance to play this game, don't pass it up. If I had to sell you on it, I would say.

WWF Royal Rumble? Hmm. . .Not as good as WWF Raw, but better than
WWF Super WrestleMania.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/01, Updated 02/13/01