Wrestling video games are most often associated with home consoles, but there have been a few released for the arcades that managed to stand out. These games managed to do something different and while some had home ports, they fell short of the arcade experience. These are the ones that have shown off just how creative wrestling games could be at the time and are a nice contrast to the console games, and today we look at five of the best.
Wrestlefest
A WWE classic, Wrestlefest was made by Tecnos Japan, themselves no strangers to wrestling video games. This was the sequel to WWF SuperStars and was a bigger and more developed experience that was easy to pickup and play, but required time to master. The game had a variety of modes such as Royale Rumble mode, and a tag team mode that served as one of the best tag team modes in any wrestling game ever. With a nice roster of names to choose from, Wrestlefest was a masterpiece in the arcades.
King of the Monsters
Wait What? King of the Monsters? Have you lost your mind, Jon? Well, yes long ago, but King of the Monsters from SNK is indeed a wrestling game. The game sees you take control of several Kaiju and go at it in bouts using cities as your wrestling ring and elements such as powerlines as ring ropes. You would pull off special moves, but always end with a 3 count pin. This was a great take on wrestling games for the arcade, and showed just how creative the genre could be,
Wrestle War
Not to be confused with anything from WCW, Wrestle War was an arcade wrestling game from Sega in 1989 and was one of the most successful arcade games that year. While it received a Genesis/Mega Drive port, the arcade version was better, with more detailed graphics and better sounds. The movements felt right here, and the moves were satisfying to pull off. It may not have been a licensed wrestling game, but it is one of the better Wrestling games of its era.
Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game
What happens when you cross Mortal Kombat with WWE? You get Wrestlemania the Arcade game. This title from Midway used pre rendered graphics to give a new look to Wrestling games, but its the combat that stands out. This felt like a cross between a fighting game and a wrestling game, and there were even neat little secrets like a finishing move for The Undertaker. No home port did the game justice, but the unique nature of the game kept fans coming back to the arcades for more.
Saturday Night Slam Masters
If Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game was a cross between Mortal Kombat and WWE, then Saturday Night Slam Masters crosses pro wrestling with Street Fighter. Capcom’s excellent fighting mechanics are blended beautifully with wrestling mechanics here, and we have a unique cast of characters to choose from to give the game a sense of identity. There is also a nice bit of continuity as well, by having Mike Haggar from Final Fight appear as a playable character here, set before the events of the brawler. While the sequel would be more of a traditional fighting game, Saturday Night Slam Masters is the perfect marriage of arcade fighting and pro wrestling and stands out as a true gem.
And there you have it. The five best arcade pro wrestling games. Did we leave any out? Let us know!
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