Wrestle Wars review - Sega Megadrive

I've taken quite a lot of phone calls asking about Megadrive wrestling games over the last few months, but I reckon I can relax a bit now, because although this isn't actually a WWF game it should be good enough to keep most wrestling fans happy! The fighter graphics are really great - certainly the best I've seen on any wrestling game outside of an arcade - and he animation is spectacularly dynamic. There is quite a bit of skill involved in the gameplay, and though the control system will more than likely break either your wrist or your joypad, it all adds to the frantic fun. Definitely the champion Megadrive tussling game.

Wrestling is a silly sport, so it's good that this is a silly game. Not as silly as Ringside Angel, admittedly, but lots of laughs nonetheless. The challenge is easy enough at first but soon gets tricky (unlike Ka-ge-ki where you can win every game with one move). The wrestler sprites are chunky with superb animation and the only graphical annoyance is the screen switch that happens when they move around the ring. Like Paul I think you'll get lots of enjoyment out of this, so buy, buy, buy!

Back in the early 90's wrestling was massive. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie, and Sega released their own take on the 'sport' in the arcades as Wrestle War. The Megadrive conversion isn't quite arcade perfect but the gameplay is all present and correct. Although it features fictional fighters (The SNES got the WWF licence first) it's a great game and was easily the best of its type when it was released. The fighters are big, bold and nicely animated, the moves look good and the button-bashing control method, so typical of the time, works well. It does tend to hurt your fingers after a few minutes (even more so if you're playing a human opponent and the thought of losing is unbearable!) and there's not a lot of depth to it, but as a multiplayer game it's loads of fun. I wasted many hours playing this with my mates.