History of WWF Video Games Part 2
WWF Wrestlemania
Release: 1989
Formant: NES
Well here it is the very first WWF game for a Nintendo console, and a little bit of trivia for you guys out there; this game may be the start of the decade long Acclaim WWF relationship. It was in fact developed by RARE, perhaps most famous for Donkey Kong Country (SNES) and Goldeneye (N64).
WWF Wrestlemania at the time let many gamers who loved the WWF do what they wanted to do, and that was play as there favourite wrestlers on the NES. Wrestlemania was actually quite a fun game, and the game play is very basic. For a 1989 Nintendo game and the first WWF game on a console, you really could not expect a whole lot more. Each wrestler has a range of punches and kicks that kind of go with the wrestler, for example instead of punches Randy Savage will throw elbows, and only Hulk Hogan can pick up Andre The Giant. Little touches like this make it more special for fans of the WWF.
While the move set is quite limited, the matches are over so fast you don’t really have time to notice. There are two elements to the gameplay that can extend the match. First of all your wrestler can get “angry”, and when this happens they turn red and can do increased damage. Also there is a power up for each wrestler that will fly across the ring at random. These power ups are tailored for each wrestler. Honky Tonk Man for example has a guitar, and Randy Savage has his sunglasses.
There is only a choice of six wrestlers in this game, but at the time of release these were wrestlers who were all very popular in WWF. It can be argued that the Ultimate Warrior should be in there, and the only reason I can think of that he is not is because of the time this game was developed.
WWF Wrestlemania has amazing music if you are a fan of 8-bit style music. I highly recommend listening to it. Each match has the two wrestlers involved theme music playing.
As far as game modes go, you get to pick between a whole roster of WWF champions in single player mode. However it is in 2 player mode where this game really stands out. You can have little tournaments with up to 6 players (only one on one matches though), and whoever has the best record at the end of the tournament wins.
WWF Wrestlemania sure may be basic today, but at the time of release I can honestly say that (with the exception of there being no Ultimate Warrior) as a kid I never really had any issues with this game.
