WWF SuperStars Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]

Game Info
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Developer: Technos
Publisher: Technos
Year of Release: 1989

Game Review & Impressions
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If you're a fan of 300+ pound spandex-wearing blokes slapping and hurling each other around, WWF SuperStars has you covered. This wasn't a game I was aware of until I spotted someone discussing it on Twitter, and the fact the graphics looked oddly reminiscent piqued my interest.

What is particularly interesting about this game is there's clearly a direct link between this and the WWF Wrestlemania game released on Commodore Amiga/Atari ST. I don't believe the two games are officially related, but you only have to take one look at the art style and animation to realise the former was a clear influence on the latter.

Unlike WWF Wrestlemania, WWF SuperStars is, with a couple of exceptions, a pretty enjoyable experience. It features a roster of some the most iconic WWF wrestlers for the time period, including Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man Randy Savage, plus Andre the Giant.

Interestingly, the game chooses tag battles as the focus, with the player choosing two wrestlers from the line up of six available. The player slaps, kicks and suplexes their way through a series of preliminary contests, which culminates in a showdown against Ted "Million Dollar Man" DiBiase and Andre the Giant. Victory can be achieved either by pinning one of the opponents for 3 seconds, or by forcing the opponent to remain outside the ring for longer than 20 seconds, result in a "ring out".

I have two chief complaints with the game, the first of which is the grappling system. Wrestlers engage in a clinch before being able to perform their various throws, suplexes and other special moves, but the outcome are often gated and predetermined by the CPU. There's no way, at least that I could discern, to fight back against an opponent who has the upper hand while grappling; waggling the joystick and hitting buttons has no effect, so you're pretty much screwed. Fortunately, clinches triggered by grabbing an opponent who's been knocked to the canvas usually go your way, so you can chain together some pretty devastating piledrivers and knee slams if you're quick enough.

My second complaint is subduing opponents sufficiently to win through a pin are incredibly difficult beyond the first couple of matches. Your opponent's health isn't displayed on screen anywhere, so most attempts at pins result in your wrestler being thrown off and smacked about by a series of counter attacks. You have a higher chance of success if you can get your opponents outside of the ring and force a ring-out.

The fact the game's a coin-op probably explains why the game behaves in this way; it wants to extract as much cash out of you possible. It's a shame, because it spoils what is otherwise a cool licensed wrestling game, but keep those quarters flowing and I suspect you'll still have fun with this.

Related Longplays & Videos
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WWF Wrestlemania (Amiga):    • WWF WrestleMania Longplay (Amiga) [QHD]  

Chapters
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00:00 Attract mode
03:34 Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage vs. The Honky Tonk Man/The Ultimate Warrior
05:50 Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan/The Big Boss Man
07:32 Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage vs. The Honky Tonk Man/The Big Boss Man
09:27 Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage vs. The Million Dollar Man/Andre the Giant
12:46 Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan/The Ultimate Warrior
14:07 Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage vs. The Million Dollar Man/The Honky Tonk Man
15:38 Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage vs. The Big Boss Man/The Honky Tonk Man
18:28 Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage vs. The Million Dollar Man/Andre the Giant
19:25 Ending

#wwf #wrestling #retrogaming