The pro wrestling game craze gets started on Super Nintendo with the WWF's
Super Wrestlemania by LJN. This game features ten of the best WWF
Superstars from the early 90's, which are Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Jake
"The Snake" Roberts, Sid Justice, The Undertaker, Ted DiBiase, Hawk
and Animal from the Legion of Doom, and Earthquake and Typhoon from The Natural
Disasters. There is one and two-player modes with a One-On-One, Tag Team,
and Survivor Series play option for each. The game also features the basic
wrestling holds on every game, (Body Slam, Suplex, Kick, Punch, etc.,) and
action that can go outside of the ring.
Graphics [6/10]:
The overall graphics aren't too bad, but could be a lot better. The
opening screen with the ring and crowd in the background and the Hulkster
to the side looks very nice. However, the only thing you can do with this
screen is push start and move to the actual game!!! The wrestler pictures
in the 'Select Wrestler' screen are very realistic. The playing portion of
the game is average if best, but the ring, crowd, and wrestlers are almost Nintendo-like, maybe a little better.
Music and Sound [6/10]:
The music is average again. The wrestler's theme music at the 'Select
Wrestler' screen are good. When wrestling, the crowd reacts little. The
grunts from the wrestlers are better than regular Nintendo games, but then
again isn't everything when you compare NES to SNES. Not
bad, but it could have used improvement to put more sounds into the game.
Game Play [2/10]:
No tournament for the WWF Championship Belt. No tournament for the Tag
Team Belts. No Cage Matches. No codes for hidden wrestlers or other
options. Bottom line, absolutely nothing special. There is a one and two
player option. From there, the One-On-One, Tag Team, and Survivor Series
choices exist. After that, you have the choice of Easy, Medium, or Hard
levels. After the match is done with, you have a chance to rematch or
start over. Nothing more. But if you like to one match at a time thing,
then this will do. Also you can't perform any wrestler's
finishing manuevers. No Atomic Leg Drops or Tombstone Piledrivers on this
game. That's unfortunate.
Challenge and Replay [7/10]:
The levels of Easy, Medium, and Hard are very different from one to the
other. Easy is easy, but medium is a lot harder. On medium, I found
myself winning about half the matches only! You have to get the advantage
quickly and not fall behind. If you are losing by a fair amount, you might
as well lay down because it's hard to rally back. The test of strength
(when the wrestlers become locked up,) is a bit of a challenge and you have
to be tapping the buttons fast to gain the advantage. This part makes the
game worth coming back to, and the challenge of it is the better part of
the game, I thought. It would have been interesting if LJN would've put a
tournament mode on here, especially with the challenge it gives in a
regular match.
Conclusion/Overall [5/10]:
Super Wrestlemania isn't the "event of the year" as Wrestlemania is
in pro wrestling. Without a tournament to win the belt, the matches can be quick
and not self-fulfilling. The graphics are average, the sound is average,
the playablilty is average. One bright spot is it contains some of the
ole' great wrestlers (Hogan, Savage, Roberts,) and can be fun to relive to
days of watching Saturday Night Main Event wrestling and seeing your old
heroes. It's a flash of the past when wrestling was classic and great.
Too bad the same can't be said of LJN's Super Wrestlemania.
