History of WWF/E Games Part 25
WWF Betrayal
Release
2001
Format
Game Boy Colour
Time to look at the last WWF Game Boy Colour game.
Background
Now this is something different. This is not a wrestling game, but instead what we have here is a side scrolling beat em up. Think of something like Final Fight, Double Dragon or Streets of Rage, and you will get an idea about what this game is. The story for this game is actually based loosely on a story that happened in the WWF.
WWF Betrayal was the last game to be made for the Game Boy Colour before THQ started to publish WWF game’s on the Game Boy Advance. This game was absolutely panned by critics when it was released, and I think many of the criticisms it got were very unfair.
Presentation
I think the game looks great. It has a classic 8-bit style look to it, and the characters are designed in a way so they look kind of cartoonish. The characters have big heads, and are actually really well detailed. There are four characters for you to choose from including The Rock, Steve Austin, Undertaker and Triple H. Who all look great. The supporting cast of characters from all the enemies to other WWF personalities are just as equally detailed.
Many people complain that the game used the same enemies over and over again. Well so did games including Streets of Rage and Final Fight. So I have no idea why people were so critical of WWF Betrayal for this reason. The stages in the game all look great as well. They are very highly detailed, and have some cool secret areas for you to explore. One of the things that I always found amusing is how The Rock and Triple H walk around the streets in there wrestling trunks.
Game Play
WWF Betrayal plays very similar to other scrolling beat em ups. You will pick one of the four wrestlers. Each wrestler can punch and kick, but once you have stunned an opponent you can use there unique finishing move. Apart from the finishing move the wrestlers control the same, but there is actually a reason to play as all four wrestlers.
The story in the game will slightly change depending on what wrestler you select. The story sees Stephanie McMahon being kidnapped, and her father and WWF chairman Vince McMahon offers a WWF championship match to anyone who can find her (hey who needs the cops). What I love about the story in this game is the way the wrestlers communicate. It is all done through text boxes, but they talk in the game the same way they do on TV. They manage to capture the individual personalities of the wrestlers very well.
There is no generic comments here, but it’s all personalised. So if you select The Rock he will have a slightly different conversation with Triple H than Undertaker would. It’s really cool that they went to the trouble to do this when it would have been so much easier to just have all the wrestlers say the exact same thing.
You will go through the stages beating tons of cannon fodder enemies such as referees, security guards and other random people until you get to a boss. The bosses in the game are the three other wrestlers that you did not choose. I would have preferred if they had used different wrestlers as the bosses. Also along the way during the levels you can pick up weapons and health upgrades like you can in other simular style beat’em ups.
While there is only one game mode in this game it is still a game that you can play through multiple times. It’s worth while beating the game with all four wrestlers just so you can experience the story from the different perspectives. I will say that to get the most out of the story you really have to be a WWF fan. While the core game play I think is fun, I am sure the story will be very weird to non WWF fans.
Final Thoughts
I love this game, and I consider it a under rated gem. I will go as far to say that I think this is the best side scrolling beat em up on the Game Boy Colour and original Game Boy. It makes me wish that a game like this was made years earlier on the NES with a two player function. I would have love it if a similar game was made on Xbox Live or PSN today. I would not even want updated graphics keeping the old school style would be just as awesome in my book.
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