WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game is a funny action, wrestling arcade game released by Midway Manufacturing Co. in 1995. Acclaim published the console ports for the Sega Genesis/Megadrive and the other game consoles during that time.
This was a fun game to own back then. I played the Super Nintendo (SNES) version of this one too. Though the character sprites there were bigger, it lacked 2 big characters and was sluggish compared to this fast and superior Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version.
The Story
Take wrestling to the extreme with intense action straight from the hit arcade game! It is in-your-face mayhem with action-packed head-to-head and team matchups! If there is no pain, then Boomshakalaka! There's no game!
The Graphics and Sound
Graphics are very good for the console. Characters are digitized like the classic Mortal Kombat games and they look nearly realistic. A nice animation feature is the run-up to the fights, where the character runs to his next challenge. If you choose the character Yokozuna, the screen seem to shake as he's running! In the actual ring, the graphics are smooth, although there's a little bit of slow down sometimes when there are four or more wrestlers in the ring, but it's nothing to gripe about. One minor thing is that the crowd is just ''shadows'' or cutouts and not animated at all. Still, you won't notice that when you're wrestling your opponents.
The sound effects are impressive. There are little soundbites through the game, announcing the wrestlers, and little catchphrases while you are fighting. The atmospheric sound adds to an already great game and can give many wrestling games today a run for their money.
The Gameplay
This has a 2 player mode. Unlike many wrestling games, this one has no grapple meter and no referee either. it is just a fun take on the wrestling genre. It features your chosen wrestler (8 to pick from) against 8 fighters to win the championship. Being the last wrestling game on the system, it was released around 1995. So you won't find your favorite modern wrestlers here.
Each character has different moves and some are wacky or unrealistic. The control/moves format is a mix between the Streets of Rage, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat titles and it works well. There are many moves and also combos to perform when the ''combo'' signal is flashing. The controls are smooth like a dream.
The replay value is great. You may want to try out and master the combos of all the characters. You will want to play this again with a friend after long periods of time to savor some alternative fighting game goodness.
My Verdict
Even those non-wrestling fans could enjoy WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game. It feels like a fighting game but plays enough like a funny wrestling game that still sticks close to its theme. The downside is that there are only 8 characters and there are only 2 modes. If you like funny games and if you are getting bored of regular wrestling games, this is the game for you.
Play it on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive console or play it on a good emulator. Play it with a friend.