These are in no particular order...

Pro Wrestling - NES - Nintendo: One of the first wrestling games available on the NES, Pro Wrestling contained a great cast of characters and precise control. To me and many others, it still sits on the short list of best wrestling games ever made.

Power Move Pro Wrestling - Playstation - Activision/Yukes: This one was pretty much the PS1 equivalent of Pro Wrestling on the NES. It was also one of the first wrestling games to use polygon based graphics.The only thing this one was missing in my opinion was a create a wrestler mode and tag team matches.
Tecmo


WCW Vs. NWO Revenge - Nintendo 64 - THQ/AKI: While this wasn't THQ's first N64 wrestling game, it was one of the best. The big rosters, cutting edge(for the time) graphics, tight control, and the seeds planted for the expansive character creation mode in their future games were all started here.
WWF


WWF No Mercy - Nintendo 64 - THQ/AKI: The last N64 wrestling game from THQ was arguably the best of the genre. The gameplay was top notch, characters looked pretty good for the blockiness of the N64, and the character creator / editor allowed players to make up to 4 versions of their character.

Def Jam Vendetta - multiplatform - EA Sports Big/AKI: If WCW hadn't died while this game was in development, this would have removed the memory of WCW Backstage Assault from our memory. Alas, WCW was handed over to Vince McMahon, and with no wrestlers to use in their wrestling game, EA took a risk and got the rights to use members of the Def Jam records roster. The result was absolutely beautiful.

Fire Pro Wrestling Returns - Playstation 2 - Agetec/Spike: The only Fire Pro game released on a home console in the US, and only the third game in the series released stateside total, Fire Pro Returns has effectively kept me from buying a new wrestling game since I bought it in 2007. The gameplay, while taking some getting used to, was extremely deep. The look of the series hasn't changed in nearly 2 decades, and it probably doesn't need to. Finally, this and every other game in the series features the most expansive creation engine ever seen in a wrestling game. You can conceivably make any wrestler you want to in this game.
The beauty of wrestling games is that they are typically plentiful. Every game on this list is under $15, so if you have an old game console laying around and don't want to spend new game prices for your wrestling game fix, then get on Ebay and get to buying.
I like this list. I'm glad you mentioned Power Move Pro Wrestling. That was the move. The only omission I see from the post is WrestleFest The Arcade Game. That's my favorite arcade game ever. I spent a couple hundred in quarters trying to beat that game.
ReplyDeleteI need to find my Fire Pro too. I was amped when I found that stateside.
The only reason I left it out was because it was a console list...Wrestlefest is a dope game, and it's on my short list of favorite wrestling games.
ReplyDeleteI never liked wrestling games at all, purely because I was always so bad at them. I could never figure out the moves or how to beat even the easy CPU characters... Like I can remember I would get the guy all the way "damaged", but I couldn't get him pinned. Like ever. No matter how hard I tried. The matches went on FOREVER.
ReplyDeleteMy friends loved them though, but I just never "got it". Possibly because I never actually owned a wrestling game and wasn't able to practice, but still...