WWF Super Wrestlemania (Genesis) review "Ohhhhh yeah, dig it (and bury it)!"

I've said it before and I'll say it again: old school wrestling games don't age well. Their enjoyment almost entirely depends on nostalgia.

WWF/E's line of products serve as a prime example of this concept. Their lineage stretches all the way back to the '80s, when their humble game carts offered little more than tournament modes and exhibition matches, along with slim rosters comprised of men who are either long retired or deceased. Modern apps from that particular brand provide numerous modes of play, updated rosters, expanded move sets, various creation modes (including the ability to create and customize your own wrestlers), online play, and detailed story/season modes.

Obviously, it's not fair to hold older games up to this standard. However, you also have to consider that we're not living in 1993 anymore, and there are far more advanced wrestling goods on offer. With that in mind, it's difficult to fully recommend a vintage WWF or WCW piece without mentioning that only gamers ages thirty-five and over need apply.

Bear in mind that this standard mainly applies to wrestling games that were at least acceptable during their heydays. It doesn't account for ones that were sub-par or worse back then, such as WWF Super Wrestlemania on Genesis...

This installment brings together eight WWF performers from the early '90s: Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, British Bulldog, Ted DiBiase, Papa Shango, IRS, and Shawn Michaels. As with previous WWF entries, this one gives you a few different choices of match types: one-on-one, tag team, and Survivor Series. For those who don't know much about WWE, Survivor Series is a yearly event that takes place in November. It revolves around numerous gimmick matches in which two teams of wrestlers (usually consisting of three to five members each) compete in huge tag team matches. Anyone defeated during the match is "eliminated," meaning they exit the arena while their teammates continue without them. The match ends when all members of a team have been taken out.



Of course, Super 'Mania also showcases a tournament, which is a straightforward engagement in which you wrestle everyone on the roster. Nothing more, nothing less.

Let's face it: though these gameplay styles constituted average content for 1992, they're not even close to adequate now. We're living in an era where major franchise products contain boatloads of options, and even the Fire Pro brand has expanded to the point that it's heavily moddable and customizable. Again, if you're checking games like Super 'Mania out these days, it's definitely not for the bells and whistles.

The lineup and features may appear meager, but they're hardly this game's main issue. Most of developer Sculpted Software's wrestling projects give you user-friendly mechanics with a low learning curve. You only have to tinker with the buttons for a few minutes to get the ins and outs down before you can start wrestling. Here, if you don't have an instruction manual, you'll likely be lost. The thing is the Genesis made do with three buttons, which meant some functions required you to press two buttons at once to pull off. Even then, control response remained spotty. You'd try to run by pressing B and C together, but often ended up punching or kicking instead.

To worsen matters, grappling proves confusing unless you've played some of the other Sculpted WWF software. In those versions, a meter pops up above the wrestlers when the two lock up. You fill the meter up by mashing the button you want to utilize, eventually resulting in your character carrying out the move associated with it. Here, you don't get a meter, so you may not know how grappling works immediately. Sadly, even if you successfully guess at how this function operates, each dude sports a limited grappling move set consisting mostly of a body slam, a vertical suplex, and a headbutt.



That's not all. You might notice that the animation is a bit jerky, which complicates acclimation just a little bit. You see, you need to be on the ball here. Your opponents are aggressive and already know the mechanics from the get-go. They'll rush in and grapple you to death before you can do anything. Wonky animation hampers precision, making positioning yourself properly difficult. Granted, I'm not saying it's this outing comes with a steep learning curve, per se, but it's definitely not as gentle as other Sculpted offerings.

Other aspects of this affair come across as awkward or cheap. For instance, the crowd and commentators just sit there, looking angry. You get the impression a bunch of bloodthirsty mannequins are watching you perform, judging every laggy move you make. They're just waiting for you to hit a finisher. Well, they're in for a treat, because this installment allows you to execute a finisher at any point in the match. That's right, you don't need to wait until you're opponent is nearly dead to give 'em the old Atomic Leg Drop or Million Dollar Dream. You can spam it to high hell and make the crowd practically climax.

While remaining still, of course...

As you might suspect, that also means: A) your opponent can do the same, and B) since you must press two buttons together to use these signature throws and holds, they don't always cooperate. You constantly end up mashing those two buttons, screaming at the screen that you didn't want to do a basic grapple.



And don't even get me started on the finishing moves themselves. A couple of them are flat out wrong, including Michaels' and Bulldog's killing blows. In 1991, Michaels utilized a finisher called the Teardrop Suplex (often called a "side suplex"), which he administered by approaching his opponent either from the side or from behind, looping their arm around his head, hosting them up by their crotch, and dropping them on on their back. Apparently, whoever assembled the moves for this title didn't know what Michaels' maneuver looked like, and thus had him deliver a standard vertical suplex with his foe landing somewhat on their side. It looks nothing like his actual finisher.

Bulldog hit his enemies with a running powerslam back in the day, but here he appears to lift the opposition, spin around, and clumsily drop him on his back. Again, it doesn't even somewhat resemble his own slam.

Honestly, even as a chunk of nostalgia, WWF Super Wrestlemania isn't appealing. It doesn't properly or lovingly stir memories of that era of WWE, and serves only to remind you how far along its genre has come in the last thirty years. Yeah, I know modern WWE games are full of inadvertently hilarious bugs, but there's no denying that we can't turn back from the evolved form of modern wrestling titles or awesome simulators like Fire Pro Wrestling World and go back to primitive, janky, cringe-inducing cartridges like this one without at least acknowledging that we're only doing so as an act of reverence or remembrance. But hell, if "old time's sake" is your aim, I'd advise skipping this one and playing the later releases from Sculpted instead.

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (March 04, 2022) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.