WWF WrestleMania is a game for the NES. It is the first licensed game of the company. Today, there are many different WWE games out there as that is the company today. There were a few other wrestling games that came out for the NES that will be looked at for future reviews as they are played.
Graphically, there is just the ring, the pictures of the wrestlers and of course the wrestlers directly. There is not a lot that is present. By NES standards, this is ok. Fighting games were not really a strong suit for the system. As technology got better, there was improvement.
There are not that many moves that can be done. Given the limitations on the NES itself, WWF WrestleMania has a very small number of moves. All of them can perform punches, kick, body slam, and of course pin. Andre the Giant is the only one who could not do a top rope move.
The gameplay has two different modes. There is the standard, which is only for the two players and then there is a tournament for all players. For standard, it’s basically just a wrestling match and that it’s. Basically, just select the wrestler. Should be noted on this that you can do a mirror-match. To perform that, both players must select the same exact wrestler.
With respect to tournament mode, that is slightly different. For example, if you select one player, it will go from one match to the next. Think of it as like a later game such as Mortal Kombat. If there are two or more players, it is a round robin style. The computer could end up facing each other unless you have six people playing.
Once you win the tournament, you are the champion and that’s essentially the end of the game. You are the champion, and you can do it again. WWF WrestleMania is not a long game at all. It’s fairly short.
For the actual tournament to happen, it started with Hulk Hogan losing the WWF Championship to Andre the Giant back on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Andre would surrender the title to Ted Dibiase. While not an official title reign, Dibiase held it until it was ruled by Jack Tunney that the transaction from Andre to Ted was invalid.
Because of that, the championship was vacant and won in a one-night tournament. The actual winner was “Macho Man” Randy Savage as he defeated Ted Dibiase for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania IV.
Of the six wrestlers in the game, only the Honky Tonk Man did not compete for the WWF Title back at WrestleMania IV. He was the Intercontinental Champion and defended against Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. The other wrestlers did participate.
WWF WrestleMania is an ok game. While it will never win awards, it’s at least a starting point for WWF wrestling games in general. Fighting games on the NES were limited to what buttons they had available and controls. For finding better games, check the later systems on the Super Nintendo onwards.
