When you mention wrestling video games, a few will undoubtedly come to mind, and for some, it won’t be long before they think of WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game. Developed by Midway in 1995, the Mortal Kombat inspiration is unmistakable, which makes sense since it was one of the biggest games out at the time. As a result, the game featured heavy motion capture and similar graphics, and Bret Hart ended up doing quite a bit of it during the process. During the most recent episode of This Is Awesome, Hart revealed the process was fun but did take a toll, saying he remembers it feeling like he was being punched in the ribs all day.
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“It was actually a really fun experience. I got to go to their warehouse where they had their whole setup. We had to dive and jump, just like you’re doing these moves on the invisible man, but nothing’s there. It took a lot out of me. I remember that it felt like someone was punching me in the ribs all day long. But it shows in the quality of the game,” Hart said.
The roster was small at only 8 characters but featured Hart, Bam Bam Bigelow, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, Yokozuna, Doink The Clown, Lex Luger, and The Undertaker. At the time Hart was the company’s top star, so he was also heavily featured in marketing of the game, including an advertisement with the arcade cabinet and a part in the home release that had him giving players tips on how to play the game and behind the scenes details on the making of it.
Like Mortal Kombat, WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game was done entirely through digitized graphics as opposed to familiar sprites of other fighting games like Street Fighter, and though it featured WWF Superstars, it played mostly like a fighting game. You had health bars and super moves like in most fighters, but the superstars also retained their signature moves, just taken up to 11.
The Undertaker for instance didn’t just hit people with his Tombstone move. Instead, he literally had a Tombstone and hit them over the head with it. That said, he could still move across the ring and hit you with the Choke Slam, and everyone else had equally ridiculous accents to their already signature moves. It was over the top and absurdly entertaining, and it would be kind of amazing to see what WWE could do with the same premise now, especially seeing what Mortal Kombat did with its franchise over the past few years.
What was your favorite wrestling game of all time and why? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
H/T Fightful
