It's Wrestlemania Day, a day in which people all around the world gather and watch sweaty, half naked men (and women) play fight. I love it, and I look forward to it every year. I love the spectacle, the athleticism, the storylines... everything.
So I sat here and thought, "How can I piggy back off the success of the small independent organization WWE and their tiny event?" Then it hit me like a Clothesline From Hell, and when I woke up I realized I could do my Top Ten Wrestling Games Of All-Time.
Just one note before I give you what you came here to see: I can't believe how hard it was to place these in order. Ten and nine were easy, but eight was relatively simple to place but considering how much I adore it, it's weird not seeing it higher. That speaks to the quality of the other seven games.
10: WWF Wrestlefest
I have fond memories of going to the arcade and playing this game. Like a lot of old games, it's hard to really know how much of my love is nostalgia and how much is because it's genuinely a good game.
Still, these types of lists are always a mixture of newer games that have legitimately evolved the genre and old games that the author remembers loving. All I know is that I watch videos of it and fall in love again.
9: WWF Smackdown
I don't remember which Smackdown was the best, so I'm picking the first one. I don't like the engine and pace of the matches as much as some other games -- coming later in this list obviously, but if you're a wrestling fan you can probably guess what they are -- but I did enjoy it. It was a little different than what I was used to playing, and since an old engine has almost entirely died outside of an upcoming indie game named Pro Wrestling X, the current WWE wrestling games have been more influenced by this one than others. It's a solid game, though.
8: WCW vs NWO: World Tour
Despite the fact that this is the wrestling game that brings back the fondest memories, it's not my favourite wrestling game. I know that sounds weird, but hear me out.
Is it influential? Oh god yes. Do I remember renting a Nintendo 64 over Christmas vacation just to play this and Goldeneye 64? Hell yeah. Would I sleep with it? You bet your ass I
But then I got older and I look back at it and I realize that the reason it was so memorable is because it was the first of its kind. They improved upon pretty much all aspects of this game with future releases.
Don't get me wrong: it's still a blast to play even today. It's still one of the funnest wrestling games ever, but there is better. It had a ballin' roster though.
7: Total Extreme Wrestling 2013
This is a game that I only found recently. It's different than the rest of the games on this list because you don't actually wrestle. You book an entire wrestling organization, negotiate with talent and do other things. It's a complex affair, but for anybody who has wanted to book wrestling, it's a dream come true. Just be prepared to put some work in.
6: Virtual Pro Wrestling 2
Here is a game that is a victim of circumstance. It could possibly be the greatest wrestling game of all-time, no word of a lie. It isn't a WWE/F licensed game, but it's probably AKI's greatest accomplishment. It takes everything great about their games and even throws in MMA elements.
So why isn't it higher? Because I don't understand it. It was never released here, and I couldn't get the english translation patch to work, so I had to look at GameFAQs, where they have a walkthrough that translates everything to english. Unfortunately, that means I have to constantly Alt-Tab out of the game to look.
I'm not kidding, that is possibly the only reason it's not number one. I'd have to play it in English to know for sure but it's an amazing game.
5: Saturday Night Slam Masters
Saturday Night Slam Masters is more of a fighting game than a wrestling game, but it's in a ring with a wrestling motif. I love everything about it though, from the music, to the in-ring action to the roster. The roster is pretty tiny but I can't quit them. The Scorpion, El Stringray and The Great Oni were always my favourites.
Sure, you do wrestling moves, but the action is set up like a fighting game. Still, it's a hell of a lot of fun.
4: WCW vs NWO Revenge
For the longest time I thought World Tour had a better roster than Revenge, but then I played Revenge again and realized it had a pretty awesome roster itself. There are a couple characters that I loved from World Tour that are missing, but I love how it mixes WCW with other organizations and made up wrestlers.
As for the action, they just evolved what worked in World Tour. It's a better game almost entirely.
3: WWF Wrestlemania 2000
For the longest time I thought this was my favourite wrestling game because it's what I remember. Then I played my number one again because everyone said it was the best and I realized that I was mixing the two up. Wrestlemania does have a great story, and again just evolved the action from the previous AKI games. I don't like the roster as much as the WCW games, but it's a better game in terms of gameplay than any wrestling game up to that point.
2: Fire Pro Wrestling Returns
I seriously considered putting this one as number one. Fire Pro has a completely different look, feel and game engine than most of the other wrestling games on this list (I'm aware that the AKI games populate most of it), but I don't give it the number one spot due to the lack of a real story mode.
However, if you like customization, you're not going to beat this game. Seriously. There is an unbelievable amount of stuff you can edit. Want to be a roughneck wrestler? Sure. Want to be more MMA-influenced? Got ya. Want to do magic and stick forks in peoples eye? Yes, yes I do. You can do so much with your wrestlers in this.
You can also fight in an MMA cage. So there's variety here.
1: WWF No Mercy
But I feel like the ol' AKI game No Mercy has to be number one. It improved upon Wrestlemania 2000 in almost all ways, which is quite a feat in itself. I don't feel like I have to say a lot here because the game engine is the same, but seriously, if you haven't played No Mercy, you have to go back and play it.
No comments:
Post a Comment