David’s Retro Rewind - WrestleMania: The Arcade Game

I used to adore WWE programming from approximately 1997 to 2004. Everything except the last two years of this period is commonly referred to as the famous “Attitude Era,” for those among our audience who might be unaware. It didn’t matter very much that I was barely two years old when the Attitude Era began in December 1997 (at least, according to WWE Network). I still loved the spectacle of the events that WWE put on week in and week out.

That’s because I was later able to experience most of what I was originally too young to understand through the medium of weekly shows and pay-per-view events that my parents recorded onto VHS tapes for me so that I could watch them as soon as I got home from school. Of course, that isn’t even mentioning the hugely-significant role video games played in that entire scenario as well.

I bring that up because it has recently been brought to my attention that The Undertaker, one of my favorite wrestlers in WWE’s employ throughout my childhood, has officially retired from sports entertainment as of 2020’s Survivor Series pay-per-view. If you’re a fellow fan of wrestling, you might be suspicious of that announcement considering how many times The Undertaker has gone on hiatus in recent years. Despite that though, his retirement is apparently final this time.

I’m essentially using the news of The Undertaker’s retirement as a thinly-veiled excuse to break out the “Retro Rewind” series again and cover the very first wrestling game I remember playing, even though it was released well before the start of the Attitude Era. I’m referring, of course, to WrestleMania: The Arcade Game (henceforth referred to as simply WrestleMania) from all the way back in 1995.

Although the game began life in arcades, as its title implies, it was eventually ported to several home consoles and even MS-DOS thanks to the efforts of Acclaim Entertainment. Specifically, for today’s discussion, I’ll be covering the original PlayStation version of this title. If that sounds up your alley, I invite you to hop on into the time machine with me so that we may return to where it all began.

I’ve seen a few outlets from back in the day compare this title to a faster-paced fighting game like the original Mortal Kombat, as opposed to a more modern wrestling game. Taking into account how this title actually plays and considering that WrestleMania was developed by Midway (the studio which presented to the world the controversial gift that is the Mortal Kombat series, to begin with), I can’t say I’m surprised by that.

I’ve always thought in this case that Midway essentially just took the WWE license (you’ll notice that I’m avoiding referring to it as “WWF” just to err on the side of caution) and used it as a different backdrop against which they could do what they’re arguably best at. I would argue that this scenario is quite similar to that of NetherRealm Studios, which is composed of many high-level developers from Midway, doing the same thing with the DC Comics license in their Injustice franchise of fighting games.

Don’t get me wrong, WrestleMania is definitely quite a cartoony, over-the-top fighting title. To what I consider its benefit, however, I would say it doesn’t take itself quite as seriously as 1992’s original Mortal Kombat. In any case, WrestleMania certainly isn’t anywhere near as violent as MK and certain aspects of its gameplay are more humorous than anything. The Undertaker may be WWE’s fantastical “master of death,” but I sure don’t remember bats and skulls ever flying out of him anytime he took a particularly nasty bump. That’s entirely possible within the realm of this title, though.

Upon entering WrestleMania, you’ll hear none other than the unmistakable, booming voice of longtime ring announcer Howard Finkel welcoming you to the event. Since I grew up hearing Mr. Finkel declaring countless times that “the following contest is scheduled for one fall” and explaining the rules of many years’ Royal Rumble matches, I think that’s quite a nice dose of nostalgia.

You’ll then quickly find that you have two paths available to you in that you can strive to earn either the Intercontinental Championship or the WWE Championship. I’ve noticed that the latter of these two routes tends to place you in more intense and potentially more difficult matches, although I recognize that this could just be my personal experience with the game thus far. In order to earn your shot at winning either of those title belts, you’ll first have to choose one contestant from the eight available wrestlers.

The wrestlers in question are as follows: Doink the Clown, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Lex Luger. Since I started this article by mentioning The Undertaker’s retirement and felt like reminiscing about his tenure in the business, I decided to primarily play as him during the time I spent with the game for the purposes of this piece. I felt that doing so would be appropriate as a sort of token of my respect for his efforts.

One of the first things I noticed when I started actually playing WrestleMania for the first time since childhood was that my mind kept wandering back to the subject of this year’s Steam Awards. For those unaware, near the end of each year, Valve’s venerable gaming platform offers a series of awards for which players can nominate their favorite recent games. One of this year’s possible accolades is the “Best Game You Suck At Award.” That’s precisely what I kept thinking about during my time with this title.

That is to say, if Steam had been around when WrestleMania released in 1995, I’d certainly consider the game a leading contender for that particular award. I’ve never considered myself skilled at games like this, in all honesty. In my defense, however, WrestleMania operates equivalently in certain ways to the aforementioned original Mortal Kombat.

As I’m sure some portion of our audience knows, that’s a game whose characters fight so similarly to one another, in many ways due to the implementation of so-called “dial-a-combos,” that they are often only differentiated by their unique special attacks. 2006’s Mortal Kombat: Armageddon suffered from an eerily similar problem. Perhaps this is an issue that rears its ugly head every few years. I’m starting to steer myself away from the topic at hand, though.

What I’m trying to say is that as far as I’ve been able to tell, it doesn’t really matter which of WrestleMania’s competitors you pick. They’ve all got the exact same attack buttons, the same attack styles, and the same lackluster methods of blocking and otherwise defending themselves. Furthermore, I haven’t noticed the existence of any character-specific special moves, nor are there any of the wrestlers’ famous finishing maneuvers (whether in the Mortal Kombat sense of the term or that of professional wrestling).

Your primary goal is to essentially beat your opponent senseless, thus completely draining their health bar and allowing you to win by pinning them as soon as they hit the mat after losing the last of their vitality meter. The process by which you do this is, I think, the main reason the game has been classified as an MK-style fighting game rather than a more traditional wrestling title. For example, when using their heavy attacks, Bam Bam Bigelow’s fists catch on fire and Shawn Michaels takes a swing at his opponent with a baseball bat. That’s where the more cartoony elements come into play.

I should also note that there’s a small chance that you or your opponent can receive a “second wind” upon being pinned that puts you back into the fray with a minuscule amount of remaining HP. Based on my own personal experience (and lack of skill) with WrestleMania, I really don’t see the point of this mechanic. Yes, it gives you a chance to make a comeback, but only allows you enough restored stamina to withstand a well-placed strike or two before you fall right back down again and accept your fate.

On top of that, I’ve noticed that my AI opponents seem to be experts at winning matches after receiving a second wind. This definitely depletes the “fun” factor of the game for me. The one saving grace in this regard is that each match is structured for two out of three falls rather than the normal, one-and-done style of contest. That means you still have a chance to ultimately achieve victory, even if your opponent completely wipes the floor with you during the first round of the match.

I think I’ve droned on for long enough about WrestleMania: The Arcade Game. I wanted to cover this title in some detail because I thought it would be a fun little nostalgia trip. That’s what I primarily use this series for, after all. It was indeed enjoyable and nostalgic but only for a few minutes before my rose-tinted glasses fell to the ground. Due to the game’s nature as an arcade title at heart, I just don’t think it has enough to offer that isn’t designed to drain every possible quarter out of your pockets at the local amusement hall.