Video Game Collecting

Does Wrestlemania Challenge really need two posts?  Does any of the Wrestlemania games need two?  Probably not.  Having acquired all three WWF games for the Nintendo NES I can say that this one has the best wrestlers but the most awkward gameplay.  The ring is isometric which makes the game silly in many respects.

Part of what makes a videogame great is it’s presentation.  When you watch wrestling rarely do you see the ring from a top down position from the corner.  It’s always presented from the side.  So why make it that was in a game?  Who knows.

Of the three WWF games this one seems the most rushed.  The characters are small and their distinguishing features are so tiny it doesn’t really make a difference.

But the game rocks with it’s soundtrack.  The theme for Ravishing Rick Rude is spot on.  Hearing that 8-bit glory makes me want to thrust my hips and fling sweat at the screen.  The other themes are great too but only invoke some toe tapping and nothing more.

In part 2 of this post I’ll tear this game apart more but for now enjoy Rude destroying The Ultimate Warrior’s baby maker.

Two men dancing and twirling around a ring isn’t wrestling… its just… two men dancing and twirling around a ring.  I love Wrestling video games and I don’t know if it was because the WWF license fell into the lap of Acclaim that this sucked so bad; I hate to blame Acclaim for the quality of their games because they just served as the publisher and didn’t necessarily have anything to do with the development of many of the abortions that were released.  Or maybe they are at fault.  Who knows…

Anyways Wrestlemania for Nintendo NES started out with some awesome music and a cool title screen.  As you select your wrestler you’re greeted with even cooler music, and the music within the game is great.  But thats where the fun stops.

Bigger, Better, Badder?  Perhaps a bigger dissapointment, better then cancer, badder than… Anticipation?  The controls are non existent, and the AI is terrible.  Sometimes the computer will get stuck in one of the corners and will just twirl around.  It sometimes looks as if the wrestler is peeing on the missing audience.  Wrestling is a spectator sport and the louder and flashier it is the better…  Steel Cage Challenge is a much better wrestling game, but the crown remains on Pro Wrestling in the NES arena.

If you’re a collector of all things WWF don’t spend more than a buck for Wrestlemania.

Jinks! Earlier I read about how SEGA Power Base converters might be faulty in their old age due to bad capacitors. So that was my first thought when Pro Wrestling for SEGA Master System took a dump on me.

It was weird, I played and won one match then the game glitched. I restarted it and it would crash on the title screen. Repeated attempts and a needless cleaning cured nothing.

Instincts told me it was the Power Base converter, why else would a game just stop working? So I tried Rastan but it worked fine. Tried Pro Wrestling again and it still crashed.

Boooooo!

I purchased a couple games from pedrogames.com tonight.  My budget has been cramped recently so I had to be pretty selective.

The first game I bought was WWF: Steel Cage Challenge.  I’ve always had an interest in wrestling games and have posted about them before (http://www.salzmafia.com/labels/wrestling.php).  But two things occured that started to make me jones for this game.  The first is I finally got to watch “The Wrestler” and it was an incredibly cool movie.  I don’t particularly like movies with alot of action and no dialog, but this movie was perfect.  If you haven’t seen it yet, there is a popular scene in the movie where the main character “The Ram” returns home (to a trailer) from the hospital after recovering from a heart attack.  He now needs to take it easy and he’s bored.  Looking down below his TV he sees his Nintendo and invites a neighborhood kid over to play Wrestle Jam.

Wrestle Jam is a fictious game.  It doesn’t actually exist as a rom or cart that I know of and from what I read it was specifically programmed for the movie.  Here are a few screen shots:

We’ll find out in less than a week if WWF: Steel Cage Challenge is worth it or not.

The next purchase is going to remain a secret for now.  But I’ll give a hint.  If Elevator Action and Shinobi had a child together it would be this game.

ideogames, believe it or not, can serve as a legitimate record of history. For example, if you watch a movie made in the 1940′s you can see the particular feel of that era. The same is true with music, but not only will music reflect a particular era, but the technology used to make the music is a reflection of the time as well. Intentional or not, movies and music archive a legitimate record of history.  The same is true for videogames and I have an excellent example.

 
So in reading the article on FoxNews.Com I was a little shocked.  I was a little surprised.  And here is why:
 

Wrestlefest featured 12 WWF wrestlers.  The line up was as follows:

• Mr. Perfect: The man known as Mr. Perfect passed away on Feb. 10, 2003, from an acute cocaine intoxication. His father says steroids and pain killers also contritubed to his death. He was 44.

• Earthquake: Earthquake retired from wrestling in 2004 after he revealed he had bladder cancer. The disease took his life on June 7, 2006. He was 42.

• Big Bossman: Ray Traylor, a former prison guard, made his wrestling debut in 1985. He joined the WWE in 1988 as the Big Boss Man. He died on Sept. 22, 2004, after suffering a massive heart attack. He was 41. 
• Crush: Brian Adams began his wrestling career in 1986 and debuted with the WWE in 1990 as part of the tag-team Demolition. In March 1995, Adams was arrested for purchasing steroids. He died August 13, 2007, at the age of 44. Authorities believe nandrolone, testosterone, and HGH played a part in his death.
• Hawk: Hawk battled through drugs and alcohol most of his career. He passed away Oct. 19, 2003, from an apparent heart attack. He was 46.

So 5 out of the 12 are already dead.  Hulk Hogan is still trying to get his life turned back around.  Ted DiBiase does alot of Christian work I hear, Jake “The Snake” Roberts entered rehab at WWE’s expense, Sgt. Slaughter doesn’t have any relevant gossip (although in relation to this videogame blog he did appear on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show along with follow Wrestler Captain Lou Albano who played Mario, who is also dead).  The Ultimate Warrior started a blog http://www.ultimatewarrior.com/ which is worth a good laugh, and as for the rest of them… who really gives a damn?

The point is that a videogame captured a moment in history, when these 12 men were on top of their game, with their names and likenesses to be found in almost every arcade in America.  And now they are just filler material on a slow news day for FoxNews.Com.  18 years from now will the rest be dead?