WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game

Review by Shady

"Don't listen to that other guy - listen to the wheat crackers."

WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game is quite different from most of the newer wrestling games. The most obvious difference is that the game is a straight port from the arcade game of the same name, meaning that the game is not even close to being realistic. As a result, many gamers tend to stray away from Wrestlemania. It's a shame that they are missing out on a fun arcade game.

Wrestlemania features eight WWF wrestlers from the year 1994 - Bam Bam Bigelow, Doink the Clown, Bret Hart, Lex Luger, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, The Undertaker, and Yokozuna. Each wrestler has their own set of moves and finishers. Since it is an arcade-style game, many of the moves are unrealistic. For example, Doink's 'special attack' consists of him shocking his opponent with a joy buzzer (the buzzer that you slide onto your hand). The shock is complete with electrocution special effects and it actually does quite a bit of damage. Each wrestler does share a few basic moves such as the punch, uppercut, super kicks, and more. There aren't many actual moves, but there are many different combinations that can be used to make it seem like there are more moves.

The use of different combinations makes the game feel like a fighting game. There is a lot of button mashing to be found here, especially when you are trying to recover from a brutal hit. Most matches can be won by merely hitting the same button over and over again - the 'super punch' button is my favorite choice for that technique. Moves are easy to learn, but they can be hard to pull off since the action is extremely intense most of the time.

There are three different modes in Wrestlemania - Intercontinental championship, World championship, and Tag Team championship. All three modes involve the same mission - to get through a series of matches without losing. The first two modes (IC and World) are one player, whilst the tag team mode is for two players. World title mode is the biggest mode in the game obviously, since it is the most important title in the WWF.

In world title mode, you go through a series of handicap matches (2 on 1 at first, 3 on 1 later) with hopes of becoming world champion. If you successfully make it through each handicap match, you must go through a 'royal rumble' match. Actually, that title is very misleading - the match is not a real royal rumble. The name 'handicap gauntlet match' is more suitable, since you must defeat the other wrestlers in the ring instead of actually throwing them out. Defeating a wrestler does not involve pinning them here - you just beat them down until their health meter runs out, then a new wrestler will enter the ring. Thankfully only eight wrestlers participate in this match so it does not become extremely difficult. It's definitely not easy though, it can get downright hard with just the eight wrestlers.

Wrestlemania lacks any real replay value thanks to the fact that it only has three modes. Once you go through each mode once, which only takes 10-20 minutes at most, you probably won't want to play it again. Sure, playing against a real life friend is always fun, but the game is really lacking in singe player fun. Maybe a cool ending would have helped - not the stupid ''congratulations'' screen that you get upon winning.

One of the things that Wrestlemania was first to bring to the table were some very realistic graphics. Although the wrestlers were incredibly pixellated, each of them was easily recognizable from the others. Even the scale models used were great - The Undertaker is the tallest wrestler in the game, while Yokozuna is the fattest. The crowd, however, looks crappy (aside from the front row fans). All in all, the visuals are a mixed bag - pixellation is bad but realistic characters are good.

The audio is also a 'mixed bag', if you will. Wrestlemania does feature ringside commentary done by Vince McMahon and Jerry ''The King'' Lawler, but the sound quality is poor. Besides the commentary, music plays in the background of the matches and there are many sound effects produced by the wrestlers' actions. The music has a hard rock-ish type feel to it and the sound effects are very loud, but they both suffer from poor quality just like the commentary. If more effort was put into the quality of the audio, the sound could have been much better.

Overall, WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game is a fun diversion from the more realistic wrestling games currently out. Since it doesn't have any replay value aside from the two player mode, I doubt that you will be playing this for more than a few days. I myself prefer playing the actual arcade game, but this is an acceptable port. If you see it for $10 or less, pick it up - it can't hurt to try it.

Best Feature: Fun arcade play.
Worst Feature: Little replay value.

Final Analysis:
Graphics 6/10 - very pixellated but realistic looking characters
Sound 6/10 - commentary is nice, but poor quality takes the score down a few notches
Gameplay 6/10 - no real replay value, fun arcade play
Control 6/10 - moves easy to pull off, controls can be customized on keyboard
Replay Value 3/10 - multiplayer only reason to play again
Challenge 6.5/10 - handicap matches can get difficult
Overall 6/10