WWF Raw

"A raucously fun game that gives new meaning to the term"

For those wrestling fan/gamers no doubt spoiled on fare such as Fire Pro and the AKI wrestling games, WWF Raw may disappoint. However, for years this was the best US wrestling game around, and was still better than Warzone or Attitude.

And it's only slightly less fun than WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game. However, that's not really a TRUE wrestling game, so we'll leave that out of our comparisons.

However, it was never meant to be a sim like the AKI games or an insane game like the Midway arcade title. Instead, it's a simple lock-up-and-bash-the-buttons title that did what it set out to do.

This game is the sequel to WWF Royal Rumble, which, while a fun game, had no difference at all between characters except graphically and of course their finishers. Raw improves on that by making each character have their own set of attributes. Each character is rated from 1 to 10 in Speed (self explanatory), Strength (power of moves), Stamina (recovery time and speed of gaining back energy), and weight (how much damage top rope and similar moves do).

Plus, everyone has a Megamove (although Bam Bam, Luna, and Doink can all do 1-2-3 Kid's too), which is a odd, Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game-style move which can be done no matter what amount of energy the opponent has.

Graphically is where the game falls short the most. The characters look identical to WWF Royal Rumble. While not bad, the character graphics are rather bland looking, and all are the same height and roughly the same proportions. Forgivable for Bret and Owen Hart, for instance, but Diesel being nose-to-nose with Luna? Probably this was done because the lock ups would be awkward looking between a smaller and larger character, so that is understandable. Still, the ring area looks good and the characters are brightly colored. Although when a lot is going on onscreen--particularly in the Royal Rumble, there is flicker, but never slowdown. The character portraits in the select screen are digitized and look marvelous.

Sound-wise the game is above average. Meaty smacks, grunts, and yells punctuate gameplay, and the crowd reacts to big moves and finishers. Plus midi-style versions of the wrestlers' entrance themes play on the select screen and after a win. Very good considering the Super Nintendo's limitations. No commentary, however after playing Just Bring It, that's a blessing in disguise.

Control and gameplay is the feature attraction. Punching, kicking, running attacks, running counters are all present. When wrestlers ''lock up'' they battle for control and whoever mashes the buttons the fastest gets to pull off a move. Unlike in Royal Rumble, the moves aren't the same for everyone. Different wrestlers will do a different move in a grapple for a certain button. However, a lot of the moves are shared and may not necessarily fit a wrestler. Plus many important signature moves are left out (Undertaker has no chokeslam. Diesel has no big boot, although it is in the game). Besides finishers and Megamoves, there is only one top rope move, the elbowdrop. So moves-wise the game is limiting, however still immensely fun.

In a match, you can of course do your grapple moves, punch, kick, run the ropes, running dropkick, run counters, top rope moves (from all four corners, not just the top two like in Royal Rumble), and more. You can even toss your opponent into the turnbuckle, ram them with your body, then climb onto them for ten punches. When the referee is knocked out, you can eye gouge or choke your opponent.

Also, in an area that it beats Fire Pro, there ARE weapons in Raw! A lone bucket and steel chair are available for use, although once the steel chair is dropped or bent up, someone from off screen is kind enough to replace a new one (often in a different color). For even more fun, you can toss your opponent into the ringbell with a ''clang.''

The game has twelve wrestlers available for play:
Bret Hart
Undertaker
Yokozuna
Bam Bam Bigelow
Leg Luger
Razor Ramon
Doink
Shawn Michaels
1 2 3 Kid
Diesel
Owen Hart
Luna Vachon

However, no secret wrestlers, and no secrets are unlocked by winning any modes.

However...what modes they are. One on One, Tag Team, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, Bedlam (Texas Tornado) and Raw Endurance Matches (Think of your typical team battle mode. Teams battle with one guy jumping in after the one before him/her is beaten) are all available, and either under normal rules or ''Brawl'' (no rules, no countout, you get eliminated when your energy is drained). In tag team or one on one mode you can enter a ''tournament'' to try to face groups of CPU opponents. Also, there are 10 difficulty settings to select from.

So it's still a fun game even today, and more so if you can find buds with attention spans long enough that they'll play a seven year old game. Play it until your thumbs are--well--Raaaaw!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/12/02, Updated 06/12/02