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Caption: Step into the past with great wrestling games.
There are definitely things in life that get better as they age, such as a fine wine or a comfy leather sofa. Another thing that can be added to that list is retro video games. Nowadays, we might have fantastic near photo-realistic graphics in video games but sometimes the gameplay can be too complicated to just pick up and play.
Compare that to games from the past, where it can take you mere seconds to realise exactly what you have to do and how to do it. Pair this simplicity with the world of wrestling and it made for some legendary gaming experiences. Here is a quick look at some of the greatest retro wrestling video games.
WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game
If there’s one game that sums up the sheer lunacy and fun of mid 90’s WWF, it’s this cracker from game developers Midway. It was released into arcades in 1995 and then was ported onto home consoles the following year. It was a huge hit as it was basically the much-loved Mortal Kombat games reskinned with WWF characters and settings. This allowed players to control their favourite wrestlers in digitized graphic form and button bash their way to victory.
The roster of wrestlers included by Midway showcase the madness of WWF in that era, as alongside legendary performers such as Shawn Michaels, you also could choose to fight as Doink the Clown or Bam Bam Bigalow. The wackiness doesn’t stop there though, as each character also has a special move that creates chaos on screen.
Gladiator: Road to Rome
When it comes to retro wrestling, it doesn’t get much more retro than gladiators. They may have had more sharp weapons than modern day wrestlers, but like modern-day wrestling, the gladiator battles of Ancient Rome were very much the electrifying sports entertainment of their day. If you want to experience the excitement of gladiator wrestling, then there are a surprising number of casino real money slots that are based in Ancient Rome.
One of the best is Gladiator: Road to Rome, which is a truly epic online slot machine which was released in 2017 by DW Studios. The game contains five reels and twenty-five fixed paylines and has many features such as multipliers and pay-out boosts to make you enjoy every spin.
WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain
Let’s now go back to 2003, back when The Rock was just the most popular wrestler in the world and not yet the highest paid actor in Hollywood. It was the year that game developers Yuke’s released the monumental Here Comes the Pain on PS2, which was the fifth entry of the revered Smackdown games, and it managed to elevate the series even higher in both critics and players eyes.
This was in part due to the huge selection of match types and characters you could get in the ring as, with the roster of playable wrestlers clocking in at an immense sixty-five. Plus, it gave players the ability to elbow drop off of a flying helicopter. No wonder it was such a success!
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