Wrestling games had very awkward history at first, with some questionable WWE and WCW game. Nintendo and Sega put out their own wrestling games and they have not aged particularly well. It seemed like we would never have a game that let us truly go wild in the ring until Capcom unleashed Saturday Night Slam Masters upon us all.
The game was a unique beast in that it combined the experience of the squared circle with the style of Capcom’s traditional fighting games. It was an experience in the arcade that was unmatched with only Wrestlefest coming close at all. You had characters both original and pre-existing such as Mike Haggar, which was actually the first time Mayor Mike was in a fighting game and not just a beat em up. The action was intense and fast paced and playing with several people was a blast and did things Capcom had not done before. This game directly led to later fighting games such as Power Stone and other beloved fighting gems.
In today’s era, with online gaming, 3D fighting and good wrestling games, Slam Masters is a series Capcom should revisit. It could be an over the top wrestling action game that uses mechanics of 3D fighting games, to blend the genres. Considering this was one of Capcom’s first fighting games to use more than just 2 players, it is surprising they have not revisited the series for the modern esports scene. Imagine including the Death Match modes from the Sega Genesis port, and having online matches with as many as 12 players if not more.. I would love to see Capcom go revisit some more of their experimental fighting games and this would be a perfect choice to revisit. Considering the WWE games are the only wrestling competition in town ( even with fire Pro Wrestling making inroads here), there is plenty of opportunity for Capcom to do well with Slam Masters once more.