When I first started this blog, I reached out and asked people to write something entertaining to read so I can share it with all of you. Some people responded, including "The Magnificant" Mike Rickard from World Wrestling Insanity.com
Below is his list of the top 5 WORST wrestling video games of all time. So enjoy and be sure to pre-order his book "Wrestling's Greatest Moments" which can be found on the right side of this blog via the Amazon link I provided. Thanks!
LE CRÈME DE LA CRAP: A LOOK AT THE WORST WRESTLING GAMES OF ALL TIME:
Anyone can throw together a list of the best wrestling video games of all time. With No Mercy and the SmackDown! series you’ve already got a top five list. No, it takes a real masochist to survey the slew of garbage out there and present the worst of the worst. When it comes to wrestling video games, they’re a lot like the sport itself. There’s good and bad to be found everywhere and just because it’s from a major promotion doesn’t guarantee it’s going to be good.
Quite Frankly, it’s easy to talk about the good wrestling games- But I’d like to talk about the bad ones! Let’s look at what I refer to as the cream of the crap.
5. WWF In Your House- take everything you like about WWF Wrestlemania the Arcade Game and throw it out the window. Personally, I always hated Wrestlemania the Arcade Game. The idea of mixing Mortal Kombat and the WWF was cool in concept but poor in execution (just like WWE Creative). This one though stripped away any of the redeeming qualities that made Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game a hit with some fans. I’d like to say it doesn’t get any worse than this but the list is just beginning.
4. WCW Backstage Assault- who needs a wrestling ring for a wrestling game? Not the folks at Electronic Arts who designed this one to feature nothing but backstage brawling. Mix in some awful graphics with the forgettable game engine from WCW Mayhem and your frustration is complete.
3. WWF Wrestlemania (NES): This video game epitomized WWF merchandising at the time-poorly made products designed to make a quick buck. The graphics were so crude that I still think this game was ported from the Atari 2600. I remember dropping fifty bucks on this baby and rushing home to play it. Imagine my delight when I had the game finished in less than two hours. The first but definitely not the last wrestling game that had you wishing you never bought it.
2. TNA Impact!: For a game that was three years in the making, Midway really shit the bed with this one. It’s a sixty dollar glorified demo version of what could (and quite frankly should) have been a great game. The game has a clever submission and counter system but the rest of its combat system is inexcusably flawed. Where do we begin? Brain damaged AI? Repetitive announcing from Mike Tenay and Don West (oh wait, in that respect the game captures TNA perfectly)? A shocking lack of specialty matches? A bankrupt create-a-wrestler system. Even better is that Midway reportedly had thousands of moves captured for the game only for Midway to cut most of them due to “time constraints”. Not happy with this one? Don’t worry because Midway reportedly will be releasing lots of downloadable content including new matches and wrestlers. How generous of them! You pay $59.95 for a glorified demo and then get to drop some more bucks on what should have come with the game in the first place. Any redeeming qualities that Impact! has are totally wiped out by this unacceptable release.
1. Showdown: Legends of Wrestling: Like TNA Impact!, this one could have been a classic. With over sixty true legends from the 80’s and 90’s, announcing from Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Larry Zbyszko, and Tony Schiavone, and classic arenas like Maple Leaf Gardens, Madison Square Garden, and the Omni, you’d think this would be on everyone’s list of all-time greats. Unfortunately, the game featured incredibly stupid AI, more bugs than the latest version of Windows, and a control system that simulated the horrible effects of cerebral palsy. This one could have been so good and yet it ended up being so bad that you can’t help but wonder if it was the victim of industrial sabotage. Avoid this one like the clap (and you’ll have more fun getting the clap than you will playing this game).
5 comments:
Interesting comments about TNA Impact. I don't think it's the best wrestling game ever by any means, but certainly not one of the worst. I've had it since launch day, and I really have been impressed with certain aspects.
The gameplay is quick and fun. The grapple moves get repetitive, but there are so many other in-ring options. Each wrestler has about 4 different turnbuckle moves. The high flyers have about 3 different springboard moves. Plus there are other hidden moves that I keep finding.
Its not the deepest game - the grapple moves and strikes are quite limited, the CAW is rather weak, the roster is small, the match types are shallow, etc, etc. But the game is very fun, especially because of the quickness and the reversals. The graphics are amazing, and the TNA atmosphere is captured quite well..I think the future installments will be great if they add more stuff.
Oh, and they captured over 2000 MOVEMENTS, not MOVES. This includes all animations, like walking, reactions, exiting the ring, climbing the turnbuckles, etc.
I think Impact was a solid 1st effort, especially with the insanely fun Ultimate X match. It may not come close to matching the depth of SvR, but just give it a few years. The fun factor, insane moves, realistic graphics, and overall speed really make this game shine in my opinion.
My worst five:
1. Tag Team Wrestling(nes, arcade)
2. Wrestlemania(nes)
3. M.u.s.c.l.e (nes)
4. Pro Wrestling(Master system)
5. Battle Royale (Turbo Grafx 16)
My top five favorites
1. No Mercy
2. Smackdown series
3. Champion Wrestler (arcade)
4. Pro Wrestling (nes)
5. Mat Mania (arcade)
Worst 5 Wrestling Games of All Time...
1. WWE Wrestlemania 21 (XBOX)
2. WWF King of the Ring (NES)
3. WCW Backstage Assault (PS1)
4. WCW Nitro (PS1)
5. WWF In Your House (PS1)
5 Best of All Time...
1. No Mercy
2. WCW/NWO Revenge
3. Wrestlemania 2000
4. Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain
5. Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth
Honorable Mention...
Def Jam: Fight for NY and Def Jam: Vendetta (more fighting than wrestling, but based off the AKI wrestling engine).
WWE Day of Reckoning 1 and 2 (good grappling engine that had the potential to give us the next No Mercy...but of course Yukes decided to scrap it and make stale old Smackdown a multi-platform game)
WrestleMania 21 for the original XBox was probably one of the worst games I've ever played. People complained about the RAW series but the fact remains that RAW's create modes - specifically, the create-an-entrance - had more replay value than the entirety of the WresleMania 21 game.
To arc31181, I bought iMPACT the day after launch, and it's been sitting on my shelf collecting dust since the day after that. I wouldn't rank it as low as Mr. Rickard has it, but it's still pretty low on my list.
Now, on to Showdown: Legends Of Wrestling. I own the game - it was bought for me. I think I played it for a day or two before the game actually seemingly ruined my PS2. I managed to exchange my PS2 but I never did have the guts to try S:LOW again. Maybe next time I see the RRoD I'll give it a shot.
What about Royal Rumble for the Dreamcast/Arcade? IIRC, it had exactly two game modes; the Royal Rumble (obviously) and tag team. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, there were only 20-something wrestlers in the game so by the end of the Rumble a couple of guys were getting a second chance.
I didn't really care for SmackDown! on PS1. SmackDown 2: Know Your Role was a huge improvement over that. While the original had some cool things as far as the in-ring action goes, "unlocking" characters was absolutely retarded. You wouldn't so much unlock the characters as you'd unlock Create-A-Wrestler parts resembling the characters. Since you only got four save spots for your CAWs, that was horrible. And the entrances... Your characters walk in front of their titan-tron video. Yup.
Then of course, there was WWE Betrayal on the Game Boy Color. It was a beat 'em up game where you got to pick Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, or The Undertaker and you had to rescue a kidnapped Stephanie McMahon. Yup.
Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head, and I didn't include WWE Crush Hour, since I've never played it before.
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