| WWF WrestleMania | |
|---|---|
 Arcade flyer featuring Bret "Hitman" Hart. |
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| Developer(s) | Midway |
| Publisher(s) | Midway, Acclaim Entertainment.inc Sculptured Software (Console ports) |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Mega Drive/Genesis, SNES, PlayStation, Saturn, DOS, Sega 32X |
| Release date(s) | August 10, 1995 (v 1.30) |
| Genre(s) | Fighting, wrestling |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, simultaneous |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Midway Wolf Unit hardware Sound CPU: ADSP2150 Midway Digital Compression System (DCS) - Amplified Mono |
| Display | Raster resolution 400 x 254 (Horizontal) Palette Colors 32768 |
WWF WrestleMania (also known on console versions as WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game) is a professional wrestling arcade game released by Midway Manufacturing Co. in 1995. It is based on the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) professional wrestling promotion.
The game featured digitized representations of eight WWF performers who are pitted against each other in fast-paced matches inspired by Midway's Mortal Kombat games. Commentary is provided by Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler, who also appear in the game sitting at the announcers' table to the right of the ring.
Acclaim, who published the console versions of the game, developed a follow-up, WWF in Your House for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and DOS.
Contents |
Gameplay [edit]
Despite being based on professional wrestling, WrestleMania's digitized graphics and fast-paced gameplay make it more of a fighting game inspired by Midway's popular Mortal Kombat series.[1] The game is regarded as over the top for its use of attacks. While actual wrestling moves are present, matches consist primarily of special strike attacks and outlandish combos, such as The Undertaker casting spirits at an opponent and Doink shocking the opponent with a joy buzzer. There are other similarities to the Mortal Kombat games, such as the winner being the victor of two out of three rounds and players being awarded flawless victories, which are simply called "perfect" here.
WrestleMania's one-player mode has the player choose one of eight wrestlers - Bam Bam Bigelow, Bret Hart, Doink the Clown, Lex Luger, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker or Yokozuna. One unique feature is that each character can "bleed" his respective objects other than blood upon taking damage from most attacks in the Mortal Kombat sense. Such "bleeding" objects include Yokozuna's food and Bam Bam Bigelow's flames.
WWF WrestleMania features two single-player modes: the Intercontinental Championship and the WWF Championship. In the Intercontinental Championship mode, the player must win four one-on-one matches, two Handicap 2-on-1 matches, and one Handicap 3-on-1 match to win the title. In the more difficult WWF Championship mode, the player must win four Handicap 2-on-1 matches, two Handicap 3-on-1 matches, and finally a "WrestleMania Challenge," where the player must defeat every wrestler in the game in a gauntlet, starting with a three-on-one setup, with each eliminated opponent being replaced with another until all eight have been defeated.
The game also features two multi-player modes; head to head, a one-on-one match between two players, or cooperative, where the two players team up in a tag team version of the WrestleMania Challenge in which they must defeat the game's eight wrestlers in groups of two to become the Tag Team Champions. In-game music consists of snippets from the roster's circa-1994 entrance music (with the exception of Shawn Michaels, who has the older, Sherri Martel version of "Sexy Boy"), as well as the opening themes to WWF Monday Night RAW, WWF Superstars and WWF Wrestling Challenge.
Development [edit]
Many years after the game was released, developer Sal DiVita confirmed an old rumor that Adam Bomb was a hidden character, but also stated that the character in the game was not fully completed.[2]
Ports [edit]
Ports were developed for Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, 32X, SNES, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and DOS. The SNES release omits Bam Bam Bigelow and Yokozuna. When the maximum of three characters are on screen simultaneously, the game slows down. It also lacks several voice and commentary samples and damage taken by in-game fighters from attacks was reduced.
The Genesis version retains most of the voice and commentary samples from the arcade and allows for four wrestlers on-screen, also with slow down. The Sega 32X release is similar to the Genesis version, but with improved graphics and audio. However, the frame rate was reduced to 30 frames per second in the 32X port compared to 60 frames per second in all other versions.
The CD-ROM (PlayStation, Saturn, DOS) releases are visually more similar to the Arcade, but the graphics are still not as sharp and sprites are slightly smaller. There is also no in-game music on the PlayStation and Saturn ports. The PlayStation and Saturn ports also freeze for a moment during gameplay to load the next character in a Battle Royal after a character has been eliminated.
References [edit]
External links [edit]
- WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game at MobyGames
- WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game at GameFAQs
- WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game at GameSpot
- WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game at the Killer List of Videogames
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