Ask any Wrestling fan, who is a long-term gamer, what their frustrations with the more recent games on the market are – and most likely the biggest concern will be the realism, or the pursuit of it, through the eyes of the developers. Games that try to recreate, as accurately as possible, what is happening in a real wrestling ring – while at the same time creating expansive and mind-blowing controls in a game that allows you to script everything from the colour of your wrestlers’ socks to the words he is about to give during his/her promo. All this, and when you finally get in the ring, the spirit of the Arcade is long gone.
Considered the beginning of a golden trilogy of wrestling titles, Super Wrestlemania is a classic multiplatform wrestling game, released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992 and then porting itself to the Megadrive, with slight changes between each. The concept is simple, and that makes a big change from most wrestling titles of today, with the player controlling one of 10 wrestlers (eight on the Sega port of the title) and fighting their way to the WWF Championship.
Music and soundtrack being such an important part of the gaming experience at the time, the SNES port of this title has an iconic soundtrack, with wrestlers themes created using MIDI (remember that?) and played in glorious surround sound – my personal favourite being that of Hulk “Real American” Hogan – Mean Gene Okerlund giving a personal announcer's introduction to the ring before they suddenly appear there (complete with referee and commentators).
This game really broke the mould, considering how it was the first to introduce the “tug of war” style game play that would become almost universally staple in wrestling games for the next decade, a grappling system where moves are performed by locking up and out tapping the other player to perform your desired action. Of course, those actions were much more limited, with each wrestler having almost the same move set in terms of scoops and slams, the Genesis version improved things slightly with the inclusion of a signature move for each character that can be performed at any time in the match.
A colourful, if not simple, ring layout mean that wrestlers are normally kept looking extremely well (or at least enough like their real-world counterparts not to piss anyone off). Other than some crowd cheering, and reaction to kicks, the only real voice in this game comes from the referee counting to three – that's not much of a hindrance, since most of commentary on current wrestling titles should be turned off anyway. You've also got simple reactions to punch and throws, and an arcade feel to the game, but nothing as bad as those coins and flags that would shoot out of the British Bulldog if you tossed him in WWF In Your House on the PS One. If you're struggling with which version to pick up on Amazon, then you should know that SNES games tend to age well, but Super Wrestlemania looks almost identical on both formats so the cheaper option would probably be the best to go with.
Another thing which becomes a victim of the times in this game is its roster, with both versions of the game containing Hulk Hogan, Ted DiBase and Randy Savage – whereas Shawn Michaels and The Ultimate Warrior (two extremely popular wrestlers at the time) only make appearances on the Sega version while The Undertaker and Jake Roberts only appear on the Nintendo version. This reflects the very real limitations of space available on games of the era, but also the console wars, with Acclaim having to agree to give each port of the game exclusive characters so that both consoles agreed to release it – and presumably, the gaming public would then have to make a choice as to their favourites, something which no doubt caused incredible confusion for parents everywhere. In total the Nintendo version gets 10 characters, while the Sega version receives 8, although it also contains a WWF Championship mode you won't find on the SNES.
There are a couple of downsides to this game, not least at all the improvements made in titles like WWF Raw and WWF No Mercy which render this somewhat obsolete overall, but it's early improvements and trend setting still make it an essential purchase if you can find a copy. Overall, this is a fun game, and a Friday night in with some mates and an old Megadrive mean this title could keep you up all night – even solo this is a game you can enjoy, and helps you reconnect with the basics of why Wrestling titles became so amazing in the first place – and why those crying for Arcade titles need to be listened too more.
Oh, and while you're at it, make sure to rent that copy of Suburban Commando for after!
Pros: A great, nostalgic, title with a simple control method and arcade graphics
Cons: A limited roster and match types mean there are better wrestling games from the period out there, but you should really play this one too, if not least of all because where else can you find Papa Shango!