GameCrate takes a look at five rasslin' classics in this list of old school wrestling games.
The year is 2003, a simpler time where both wrestling and the games it spawned were at their absolute peak, and no wrestling game came as close to perfection as SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain did.
Ngl, that was the last good wrestling game and is still objectively the best one. The roster was missing almost no one and this game was one of the first to properly incorporate rpg-like stats back near the start of every game involving rpg elements. Oldschool undertaker (93) > brock lesnar (91) > goldberg (90).
The AEW Dynamite game is made by the creators of Here Comes The Pain, Yukes, with the head director of No Mercy. It's a return to both No Mercy and HCTP style gameplay. Google footage of the game. The graphics have a stylized look similar to the Def Jam games. I think it will be the game we've all been waiting for. With the best and biggest roster in all of professional wrestling.
I have a childhood soft spot for the earlier SvR games too but they're not wrong, HctP was the top of the PlayStation wrestling titles whilst No Mercy was right up there on N64.
I enjoy the Smackdown games a lot, and still play Smackdown 1 and 2 on my PSP and PS Vita often. its true that Here Comes the Pain was the last really good game in the series, I bought the first SvsR and I just couldn't get into it. The new grapple system wasn't what I was used to, and I shelved the game almost immediately.
That said, I love the N64 AKI games even more, and I've been playing No Mercy frequently. Last night I got 74 eliminations in Survival mode, a new record for me. Hoping that the new AEW game will actually be the first compelling wrestling game in almost 20 years.
Just like the WWE show has sunk to new lows, so has the WWE games sunk to new lows. What a shame.
My experience with wrestling growing up was mostly games since I didn't had cable tv until I was 16 to watch WWE. SmackDown 2 on the ps1 was such a big part of my childhood. Then my best friend got HctP for the ps2 and we were hooked. It had everything i loved from my game and more. Last one I've played was 2K14 so you can imagine how much I'm craving for a good new game (and hopefully AEW's game is it)
Half-Glass Gaming: "It’s a long shot, but I hope WWE 2K22 features a gameplay system that’s more in line with WWE Day of Reckoning. There’s never been a more polished wrestling game. Considering fans are always talking about how they want something like No Mercy, I’m surprised more people don’t talk about Day of Reckoning since that game was basically No Mercy but much faster and smoother."
Asking for the "engine" of that old game means asking for old graphics. Gameplay wise, you know fully well they're more leaned into the simulation crap than the arcade stuff that game had. It ain't happening. Wait for the AEW game instead
I get that. In the article I talk about how I'd prefer a gameplay engine more in line with that of DOR's -- not necessarily the exact engine. And honestly, with a few exceptions here and there (pixel audience, for example), I'd argue that the newer WWE 2K games hardly look much better than DOR did.
In this week's Retro Respawn, Mike looks back at Fire Pro Wrestling Returns for the PlayStation 2.
Day of Reckoning! I always thought that one was underrated.
Played every single one of them. Fire Pro is one of my favorites. Author has great taste in wrasslin' games. Although I'm sad to see that WCW vs NWO was not on the list.
A WINNER IS YOU!
I loved playing the WWE and WCW games on the N64. Still feel they are the best.
I would've definitely had Smackdown: Just Bring it on the PS2 put on that list.
I miss WrestleFest. I sunk SOOOOO many quarters into it in various arcades of the 90's.