All sports tend to have their headline video games these days, as it’s a great way to reach audiences from all walks of life. From Madden NFL for football fans to MLB: The Show for baseball enthusiasts – there’s a video game out there for virtually every sport. These games are often so complex and licensed that other options feel inferior, so they basically have a monopoly. But that wasn’t always the case, and retro games offer great insight into how developers used to work before huge budgets. This is clear in the case of the WWE, as they’ve had great games throughout history.
The WWE 2K series is one of the biggest sports game series on consoles. However, there is still a selection of games for those who enjoy their wrestling on mobile devices. For example, the fun TOPPS WWE Slam is basically a card-collecting game with numerous wrestlers, and players can trade and duel cards online. There’s even a WWE-themed slot on Gala Bingo called WWE Legends Link and Win. It uses commentary much like the wrestling events on television and features stars such as Stone Cold and Macho Man. WWE Champions is a fun time-killing game as you just need to match three shapes of any type, and your wrestler will perform a move.
The variety in these examples was also evident “back in the day,” when there were almost more WWE games than wrestlers. In this article, we’ll revisit some of the best WWE video games for some fun nostalgia.
1. WWE Legends of WrestleMania
Legends of WrestleMania was an amazing video that gave fans the ability to recreate matches between the legends of the professional wrestling world, thus the ability to change history through the game. For example, the famed Hulk Hogan could be in a WrestleMania III main event going up against the 7 ft 4 in Andre the Giant, among others. That bout outsold a Rolling Stones gig, according to Far Out Magazine, and is the perfect example of the dream bout the game let you create. The roster of 38 Superstars in one game and the chance to fight as the classic wrestlers is what made this game so much fun to play.
2. WWE WrestleMania: The Arcade Game
If you remember playing the arcade game Mortal Kombat, then you’ve probably played WrestleMania as they were both developed by the same company – Midway. WWE WrestleMania became popular in the mid 1990s because it featured digitized representations of popular WWF stars fighting against each other and executing real wrestling moves – the first wrestling game of its kind. The lineup in WrestleMania featured stars like The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Yokozuna and other wrestling stars. What made this game so much fun was the inclusion of special moves of each wrestler during fights, like The Undertaker using an actual tombstone to clobber his opponents with! If this sounds crazy and amazing at the same time, that is exactly why fans loved this game.
3. WWF No Mercy
WWE No Mercy was a fantastic game ahead of its time during its release in 2000. The game gave players a high level of customizability through a fun create-a-wrestler mode, which was not a common attribute of most games. Unlike its predecessors that only had a few characters, the roster of No Mercy included 74 Characters of the WWE Superstars and Women/Diva line. The best part of this game was the improvement in its tactical elements on the controller – a player had the choice to attack, grapple, more power, and reverse that allowed the players to fight and engage just like real wrestlers do.
As fun as modern sports games are, they may get a tad complicated – thus leaving a population of sports enthusiasts missing the old retro sports games. These classic games may be oldies, but they are definitely goodies that can deliver endless hours of fun.
