Top 10 Wrestling Video Games

I'm a massive video gamer and I'm even more of an old school gamer, I can happily sit back and not care about new games but when I get the chance to play some old school games I'm there. I have a Super Nintendo and am getting a N64 in a matter of weeks for my birthday. So I got to thinking there have been a lot of wrestling games out there and I've played a lot of them so I thought I'd share my personal Top 10 with you the "viewing" audience. Prepare for some slagging off and some serious praise!

No.10-Backyard Wrestling the Video Game Series
One thing can be said about this game and that it perfectly sums up what backyard wrestling is. It's random, makes no sense and is just a serious of big moves and weapons. While the game allowed for some indy wrestlers to get a pay day it didn't make it a good game. The only up side was some of the extras you could get, mainly music videos. Seriously not much else can be said about it, much like the game I've forgotten a lot about it and that's better for everyone.

No.9-TNA iMPACT
Like many wrestling fans when I heard this game was coming out I was excited as it was something different than WWE Smackdown vs. Raw which seemed to be the only game. So when I got my hands on it boy was I disappointed. It was frustrating to play, all the characters practically had the same movesets except for their finishers and the story mode revolved around a guy called Suicide who would get created and put on TV because of the game. So what do they do with Suicide in the game? Give him the most insane finishing move that no human could actually do! Smart move TNA since they knew they would create the character. But lets be honest it wasn't the first or last stupid decision TNA ever made. And apart from the Ultimate X match, which didn't play to well, the game didn't really add anything to the wrestling games that were out before it. Hopefully Chikara will do a better game when Rudo Resurrection finally comes out.

No.8-The Def Jam Series
What does Def Jam records and wrestling have in common? Nothing at all! Alright lets move on, number 7.....
OK more info on it. For some reason the guys over at Def Jam records decided to make a wrestling game and what do you know it was pretty damn good. I'm not the biggest fan of rap but the sound track was good, the gameplay was fun and remained me of the old THQ wrestling games. The moves were insane and over the top and the stages included some special finishers. The problem is that unless you were into rap you wouldn't know anyone who was playable and the story line was relatively stupid. But besides that it wasn't too bad.

No.7-Legends of Wrestling series
How Accailm manage to create this and get 3 games in the series amazes me when you consider how sue happy the good ol' US of A is. But it was a simple concept put all of wrestlings past legends into one game and allow the fans to create dream matches that never happened or would happen. However problems would arise. By the third game in the series they had ran out of legends to add but still wanted to add so we got a ton of Von Erichs and Koko B.Ware, I would rather play as his bird than him! Also the game play was really slow. You would tie up, wait to see if you were reversed, then get them in a move, wait to see if you were reversed, then try to hit a move and wait to see if you got reversed and that was the case for EVERY move. And speaking of the moves they gave the guys moves they had never done before, I don't know about you but I don't remember Hogan doing crazy powerbomb moves. Also the reversals were awful a little bar would come up underneath your name and a point would fly across, you had to hit the right button in a small yellow section to reverse. It was a real pain and often hard to pull off.
But the game had it's up side. In one version you could have 8 players. The create a wrestler mode was pretty good and the career mode was well done. In career mode you would jump from territory to territory facing its talent becoming the top name and then moving on, like the wrestling of old. A nice idea which if done again could work well.

No.6-ECW Hardcore Revolution
So back when the N64 was just introduced there were many wrestling games that looked and felt like this game, mainly from WWE. While the games may not have flown well when actually playing and when compared to other games in the past and the future it looked like crap. But it was still really fun to play and had so many more options to mess with. For example you could make the game "adult" which as a young kid I obviously did when I found it, this basically changed what the wrestlers said from being PG to a more 18 rating. You could include blood and not just from the head but all over the body. The reason why I picked ECW's game over WWE's version, even though they were the same games, is because for one I liked the roster better and two ECW's version had more match types including No Rope Barbed wire and I'm a huge fan for No Rope Barbed wire after seeing Terry Funk vs. Sabu when I was young. I still remember playing that match and running into the ropes as I forgot and my guy fell down.

No.5-WCW/nWo Revenge
Now we're getting to the good stuff. THQ made many wrestling games for the N64 and this was one of many good ones included in that list. They all played the same and it was extremely well done. The game looked brillant for the times and there was a great cast of characters. The championship mode was great, you had to work through the rankings of each title and at the end you would face a guy who you would unlock if you beat them. You then got the title as well,
But there was some weaknesses when compared to the other THQ games. One problem was that the main menus didn't change when going from one screen to the other and they were very dull. The other problem was there was no create a wrestler but you could edit pre-existing wrestlers. So if you wanted to make Kevin Nash into Diesel or Scott Hall into Razor Ramon you could try your hardest but would likely do a crappy job.

No.4-Virtual Pro Wrestling 2: Odo Keisho
A second THQ wrestling game on the list this one was based on the land of Japanese wrestling and what a difference that made. Boy what a game. Tons of unlockables, a HUGE roster that covered several wrestling companies and MMA companies and a vast improvement on the move list. What I thought was a great addition was a secondary finisher for some wrestlers, like many japanese wrestlers have a special move that they would use every once in a while to win a match eg. Misawa's Tiger Driver '91. You would be able to do such moves by taunting while in special mode. The biggest problem with this game, it's in Japanese and I can't make head or tales out of it. But like the gamer I am the language barrier didn't slow me down one bit.

No.3-The Smackdown vs. Raw Series
While some games in the series are easily missable there is no denying that the Smackdown series is probably the biggest wrestling video game series there have ever been. The continous addition we get from every new game in the series is amazing. From a simple feature like limb damage to the insane level of customization you can do which has included creating your own finishing move. Not to mention it's probably one of the best flowing wrestling games ever and is probably the closet thing to an actual pro wrestling simulator there can be. When you mix in the great soundtrack you will get with every game and a ton of game modes and match types you have a winning formula. The only downfall is the changing of the controls that happens every once in a while. You get used to playing it one way and then in the next game it's completely changed and you have to relearn it all! Kind of annoying. And while the series is no dead and many of the later editions weren't that impactful as the others the series still deserves this spot.

No.2 Fire Pro Wrestling
I have never played this game however it's infamy can not be ignored. Check out youtube and you'll see exactly what I mean. What makes this game so special is the fact you can modify it to such a huge degree. I've seen TNA mods, Chikara mods, CZW mods and so many more. I don't know how it's done, hell creating a wrestler these days takes it out of me in most wrestling games so modify a game is wwwaaaayyyy beyond me. This is one game I have to search out and play and I feel that all wrestling fans should because lets face it we've all played games and said "man I wish I could play as this guy" and Fire Pro lets you do that.

No.1 WWF No Mercy
If you're a wrestling fan and a gamer than this game being number 1 should not surprise you in the slightest. Again it's another THQ wrestling game and I love all of them as they just play so well but the thing that seperates this game from the rest is there is just so much depth. There is championship mode where you can unlock titles, a shop which after gaining money allows you to unlock new moves, weapons, gears and even wrestlers. There were so many match types to play that it was hard to get bored. There were a number of slots available if you wanted to create wrestlers so while you were ultimately limited the number you were given was fair enough I thought. But the biggest positive to this game was the unlockables, you couldn't get them all one way or another you really had to work to get everyone and while some were a waste e.g. the Godfathers Ho, they were all worth unlocking. The best way to do so was in the survival/gauntlet mode, you would start off with 4 in the ring and if you knock them out of the ring or beat them the next guy would enter, at certain numbers a new unlockable wrestler would enter and if you beat them then you unlock them. I still remember playing that mode and seeing Andre the Giant run out, I pretty much pissed myself and then was beaten before unlocking him but I still remember it. And speaking of Andre this brings me to another great feature which was including weight differences for example if you were X-Pac you couldn't do all your moves on Viscera, you would be put in a position where your wrestler tries to pick them up and if they do you will see a dramatic difference in your momument bar if you succeed.
I can praise this game all day and I can play this game all day. Believe me when I get my N64 in a matter of weeks this is a game I plan to get and it's a game I plan to play to death once again. It is by far the greatest wrestling game ever! FACT!

You know what's really funny I think this list will actually stand the test of time. A lot of times as the years go by there are new things that come out and you rethink what are your favourites but you go check out the release date of No Mercy and see how long it's been and how many wrestling games there have been. No Mercy stands the test of time and more to the point no new wrestling games have really stood the test of time. When you look at the Smackdown vs. Raw series there's a new game every year and so even if they were really great you wouldn't be able to appreciate it. The way the gaming industry has gone a new sequel to a game comes out every year and that likely won't change as it gets them money.

So that's another blog in the books. If you give it a read a big thank you and let me know what your views are on it, good or bad I always welcome feedback.