WWF Wrestlemania
NES Game Reviews #32 – WWF Wrestlemania
Acclaims name is on the boxset, but Rare of all people programmed WWF Wrestlemania, Thank goodness, I guess we can expect another Rare Triumph then right?
Wrong! WWF Wrestlemania for the NES is broken! A rush job, produced by the WWF purely as a cash cow to milk something more from their audience. What can you expect from a company that tries to sue a wildlife charity?
With only 7 wrestlers to choose from, you’d be forgiven for expecting some move variety. The NES controller has only 4 buttons, so I didnt presume much, but with simply a punch, kick, running attack and a Suplex it’s pretty limited. Supposedly you can jump from the top rope but I could never do it. Characters do look a half decent but the positives end there. All the wrestlers do the same amount of damage and have the same range despite their differing heights.
In the practice mode Andre the Giant consistently put me in unbreakable beatdown loop ending with a pin. Hulk did the same! Screw this, tournament mode it is! Might as well be Andre too, he seems tough enough!
First fight is against Billion Dollar Man, its my practice match in reverse. He ambles around the mat, randomly punching at invisible enemies and generally twitching all over the place. I can literally close my eyes and keep hitting punch and he’s done for. You can pin a wrestler once their lifebar is depleted, but it’s best to knock em down a few more times before it’ll work, if it works at all!
Fight 2 is some big fat guy. The AI has improved some but with a bit of manipulation and a bit of stun locking he’s down pretty easy.
Round 3 the AI is near impossible! I try to give this Elvis lookalike a decent match, but it’s clear the computer is no longer fucking about! None of my tricks work! I keep losing. Every loss it’s back to the start! Eventually a slow cheap attack of sniping with hit and run tactic gets the win. It comes with the risk of running out of time and forcing a rematch but it’s the only way to win! It works for the remaining wrestlers Hulk and Macho Man too.
An awful game that’s never going back in my NES!
