Play Wrestling Games

Want to Play Wrestling Games?

Wrestling video games have been popular for a very long time, dating back to the video arcades of the 80s and the original Nintendo. Today, graphics are about as realistic as it gets with incredible lighting effects and individual droplets of sweat dripping off the tips of individual hairs. Gamers are particularly pleased to take control of such stars as Triple H, John Cena, and yes, even Vince MacMahon.

There has been a fair bit of controversy surrounding wrestling video games because of their lifelike violent content. As such, many concerned parents have said that titles of this kind are not appropriate video games for kids.

At the same time, the lines are beginning to get somewhat blurred between wrestling and fighting video games as the two genres continue to mature and become more complex. Street Fighter-like fighting games are still distinguishable, but three-dimensional fighters like Tekken 5 play much the same way as 3D wrestling games.

Is Complexity a Problem?

For the first time gamer, the latest generation of games featuring professional wrestlers may seem too complex. Looking at the controller on the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 2, nearly all of the buttons are used in many wrestling games. One may be assigned to punch, another to grab, yet another to pin or throw your opponent off the ropes. Other unique combinations will lead to special moves.

Thankfully, most offerings come with a useful tutorial or training mode that will walk you through most of these complexities. Younger children, under the appropriate supervision of adults, can still enjoy wrestling games. However, they will have a difficult time doing the more complicated moves and maneuvers.

Evolution of Pro Wrestling Games

One of the earliest and perhaps most successful wrestling video games ever created as the appropriately titled Pro Wrestling for the NES. There were a total of six selectable characters and one boss character, all of which were supposedly based on real-life counterparts. The control scheme was simple and navigating the ring was fundamentally a two-dimensional affair, but loads of fun were had by all.

In the arcades, one of the more popular games based on the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) was WrestleFest. Again, this was a two button affair, but the character animations and move lists were a lot more fulfilling than that which was found in Pro Wrestling. It was particularly pleasing to fans of the "sports entertainment" to be able to do moves like the "million dollar dream", "gorilla press", and Jake the Snake Robert's signature "DDT."

Later on, there were games like WCW vs. nWo: World Tour that introduced the weak grapple / strong grapple dynamic, as well as other innovations. One of the more violent games that were released was ECW Hardcore Revolution by Acclaim, based on the same engine as WWF Attitude for the Nintendo 64. Some liked this system better than the THQ one found in World Tour, but most had the opposite view.

As technology improved and memory expanded, newer titles would give gamers more characters to choose from, larger move sets, and more realistic graphics. Now is a good time to be a wrestling fan, particularly if you like playing video games too.

Popular Wrestling Video Games Today

Some of the most popular titles available now on current and next-generation home consoles include:

• WWE Day of Reckoning 2
• WWE Smackdown vs. Raw
• Rumble Roses XX
• TNA iMPACT! - coming Spring 2008