• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

After 4 years of hounding, it finally happened: Wrestlenauts!

K

krae_man

Member
IsFhHO8.gif

I think the first time I became aware of pro wrestling was through games — specifically, the first issue of Nintendo Power I received, which had a feature on WWF Wrestlemania for the NES. Having no idea who anybody was in the game, I thus had no real interest in wrestling, and pretty much ignored it throughout my childhood, never quite getting it. But I came to realize there was real passion for the sport since it was televised, by people as smart and nerdy as I am, plus nearly 30 years of video games to fuel that passion. And that’s pretty much the focus of this week’s episode, requested by backer Alex “krae_man” Forsyth — who, if you were ever on the 1UP message boards during the Retronauts heyday, probably saw his demands for a “Wrestlenauts” episode. Well, Kickstarter can make dreams happen on either side, and I guess it works out that this is releasing close to Christmas.

Joining us are Dave Rudden and returning guest Henry Gilbert, both from Laser Time and their associated wrestling show Cheap Popcast; and Michael Donahoe, whom you may remember from EGM and 1UP (and respective podcasts). All three are experienced wrestling nerds who played most of the games that were released on this side of the world, and more, and as I guide everybody through a chronology of wrestling games, I more or less leave it to these guys when it comes to discussing them in greater detail.

Sure, there’s the typical going-down-the-list treatment, but we really get rolling once we get to Fire Pro Wrestling, the premier Japanese-made series filled with customization and realistic fighting system, and the 3D/polygonal era, when the developer formerly known as AKI made some of the best (and best-remembered) licensed wrestling games of all time. Those are times when Japanese developers were honing their skills and making the best wrestling games, becoming a sort of latent golden age for the genre. There’s plenty more to be said about certain arcade games, too, like Midway’s Wrestlemania game with the real digitized wrestlers, and as we reach the present day, some talk about where the genre could be going, perhaps always being led by the WWE and developer Yuke’s.

Maybe this won’t be the most relatable episode of Retronauts — even for me it isn’t, on the whole. But again, it’s filled with information and enthusiasm, and no matter what your interest in wrestling is (if you get lost by any jargon, don’t forget this handy glossary), it’s still pretty fun to hear people who really know what they’re talking about share their expertise on games that can rise above the much-maligned sport they’re based on. Don’t shy away from this one!
Click to expand...

Direct download (MP3) | SoundCloud | RSS
Find us on the iTunes Store and leave a nice review!

Whooo!
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
I thought this was going to be about a WWE-themed Scribblenauts game.

I really should go catch up on Retronauts
 
C

Credo

Member
I remember when you first started screaming for a Wrestlenauts episode back on the 1UP boards, Krae. I can't believe it finally happened! I was a huge wrestling fan as a kid, so I'm looking forward to listening to it.
 
T

ToastyFrog

Inexplicable Treasure Hate
I'm sad I was dying of a nasty cold imported from the UK when this was recorded and could only stick around for a few minutes. I had been looking forward to trolling this episode from start to finish.
 
M

Manbig

Member
Damn I feel like I'm the only one that played the Tecmo pro wrestling game over regular ass Pro Wrestling on NES. It was far superior in almost every aspect.
 
R

Recall

Member
Never listened to this podcast before but for a bit of wrestling talk I certainly will give it a go.

Cheers for sharing. Hope they cover Saturday Night Slam Masters and WWF Wrestlemania The Arcade Game / WWF In Your House
 
J

JPeeples83

Member
Manbig said:
Damn I feel like I'm the only one that played the Tecmo pro wrestling game over regular ass Pro Wrestling on NES. It was far superior in almost every aspect.
Click to expand...

I just replayed that, and it's held up very well. I remember being blown away by the cutscene moves when I first saw them in the early '90s.
 
R

Recall

Member
Dismissing the entire Combo system of WWF Wrestlemania The Arcade Game is super dissapointing, shit had some awesome depth to it.
 
K

krae_man

Member
Great episode guys. That was exactly what I wanted. Thanks!


Just some minor house cleaning:

-Savio Vega was not in WWF Warzone. The Characters you were thinking of were Bret Hart, British Bulldog, and Ahmed Johnson. The game was in development pre Montreal Screwjob and came out post Montreal Screwjob so they were all still in it. Well Ahmed Johnson wasn't involved in the screwjob but he got released/not resigned at that time. Or maybe you were wondering why the Headbangers were in it.

-You missed the best part of WWF Royal Rumble for the SNES: ref bumps! You could knock the ref out and do illegal moves while he was down. If you beat up the ref too much, he would DQ you. However, if both wrestlers abused the ref, he would eventually get fed up flail his hands in the air as to say "The hell with you" and leave which caused the match to become a Brawl instead of a pinfall type(To win a brawl, you just had to completely deplete the health of your opponent).

-You missed one of the LJN 16 bit games: The 32X version of WWF Raw. I mean come on, it had Kwang!

And you missed this pinnacle of game development:
PZWQZfj.png


Seriously though, awesome episode. Worth every penny. Now to think of another topic to hound Jeremy for. You guys already knocked off Simpsons games and handhelds so this is going to take some thinking...
 
E

Edgeward

Member
I loved this episode, anytime you can have people gushing over Fire Pro and talk about 16-bit wrestling games, and play the fucking chip tune version of Goldust's music it's guaranteed 5 stars.

Great job in getting this funded, krae_man
 
J

JLynn

Member
This is the only podcast I've listened to more than five times on my itunes counter. It's so easy to listen to and you can tell the guest hosts were so excited, passionate and enjoyed dropping knowledge on Bob and Ray (Who may have cared less on the subject.) I subbed to Cheap Popcast because of this.
 
K

kick51

Banned
i wouldn't have known there was a new one if I hadn't thought this thread was about some kind of space wrestling game
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Do you watch / Have you returned to watching pro wrestling recently?
2
50
2K
violence replied
WWE 2K24 - Reviews Thread
7
2K
adamsapple replied
.....why did nobody notice The Witcher 3 - PS5 port was a glitchy mess?
2
51
4K
Xtib81 replied
Resident Evil 4 remake sales top seven million | Milestone achieved one year after release
Sales-Age
38
2K
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
After focusing on Devil May Cry and Dragon's Dogma for 20 years, Capcom's Hideaki Itsuno says 'it would be fun to create something new'
Game Dev
18
990
deriks replied
Top Bottom