Top 10 Wrestling Games #1

#1. Virtual Pro Wrestling 64(N64)

This game was a Japanese import for the Nintendo 64 that was easily modified by cutting the extra plastic off of the cartridge making it able to play on the American system. The game is basically the Japanese version of WCW Vs nWo: World Tour for the original PlayStation. There are a few major differences to the game though, most notably you could edit your wrestlers to go along with a much deeper character list with every major Japanese promotion represented along with the WCW wrestlers from the American version. Overall my favorite wrestling game of all time and in my top 10 of all video games overall. A definite must have for any wrestling game fan or N64 fan.

Top 10 Wrestling Games #2

#2. Fire Pro Wrestling Returns(PS2)

This is by far the deepest and most complex of the wrestling games I have ever played. The game has 327 wrestlers from several different organizations across the world. Along with the wrestlers in the game there is room to make up to 500 custom wrestlers. You could customize and make pretty much every wrestler imaginable. You could also customize rings, belts, referees, and even whole promotions. This game is a stark comparison to most button mashing wrestling games as you have to use strategy in your matches. This game could be found on ebay and other places for around $15 and it is still well worth the price to purchase it if you have a PS2 or a backwards compatible PS3. This game was made with the hardcore wrestling fan in mind. One of my favorite matches I ever had on here was American Dragon(Daniel Bryan) Vs Karl Gotch in a dream match for technical wrestling fans.

Top 10 Wrestling Games #3

#3. WWF No Mercy(N64)

WWF No Mercy was the last WWF game for the Nintendo 64 and it was definitely the best of the bunch. In my opinion this is the best game that the WWF/WWE has ever produced. The game innovated several new ideas including the ladder match and being able to wrestle into the back areas of the arena. The customization level on the game was immense especially for the time. You could basically Create any and every wrestler you would want in the game for the first time, it also let you edit the existing characters  which for me was amazing. Editing the existing wrestlers let me keep up with the actual wrestlers character development in real life. One of the most interesting things about the game was it's fluid story mode, it would change depending the outcome of the matches. Yet another innovation was the title holders, if you won a title in the game that wrestler would be the champion until beaten in the game instead of one static champion like games of the past. Overall one of the deepest and most fun wrestling games ever made.

Top 10 Wrestling Games #4

#4. WWF WrestleFest(Arcade)

This is by far my favorite arcade game ever, closely followed by Mortal Kombat 2. This game had amazing graphics at the time, a deep roster of some of the best wrestlers in history, great replay value, and it still holds up very well. There were two basic modes, tag team mode where you but together a team of your 2 favorite wrestlers of the time and go after the tag team titles eventually facing the Legion Of Doom and Royal Rumble mode which should be self explanatory. My team was always Mr. Perfect and Sgt. Slaughter, something about that combination seemed unbeatable. 

Top 10 Wrestling Games #5

#5. Pro Wrestling(NES)

This is probably one of the most beloved games of my childhood. One of the main attractions of the game is that the roster has totally different move sets and strengths for each wrestler, thus making it a game you could play over and over taking each of the wrestlers to the championship. The game came out right at the height of the 80's boom period for wrestling and it was a game that everyone had. The characters are legendary everyone from Starman to The Amazon. The popular meme "A winner is you" first showed up in this game as the message you would get when you won a match. After all these years it is still great fun to play this game.

Top 10 Wrestling Games #6

#6. WWE All-Stars(Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, Nintendo 3DS, and PSP)

The game is a throwback to the simpler arcade style wrestling games of the past. The whole concept of the game is what would happen if the stars of this generation squared off against the stars of the 80's and 90's. The graphics are pretty much cartoon versions of the actual wrestlers. It is one of the games that work best if you play it with a bunch of friends. If you are looking for a pure fun game to play this is the way to go.

Top 10 Wrestling Games #7

#7. WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw(PS2)

WWe Smackdown Vs. Raw was the first in the series to carry the SVR title. The graphics were a marked improvement from the previous game and this was this first game to incorporate actually wrestler dialog on a large scale. Several new match choices were added as well as a more linear season mode. The game was a lot of fun and made several advancements that are considered standard in wrestling games that have come since.

Top 10 Wrestling Games #8

#8. Battle Royale(Turbo Grafx 16)

Battle Royale was the only wrestling game made for the Turbo Grafx 16 console, the console itself didn't pan out to well but there are quite a few games that on the system that are classics and Battle Royale was one of them. As opposed to the standard tag team and singles matches common in the wrestling games of the era this game allowed you to compete in a battle royale. The was one of the first games that really tapped into the 4 game multi tap accessory for the Turbo Grafx 16 and it allowed you to play with three other friends for the first time. The graphics were superb for the time frame and still hold up pretty well today even. If you never played this game and you have a Turbo Grafx 16 or an emulator search it out it is still rather fun.

Top 10 Wrestling Games #9

#9. Tag Team Wrestling (Arcade)

This was the first wrestling arcade game I ever played and I would spend countless hours and quarters playing the game. Another game that hasn't held up well to time. Basically you play as a team of identical twins and fight against a variety of opponents until you either got pinned or just decided to quit because your fingers got tired. The game did have an impressive move set for the time frame. It was eventually ported to Apple 2, Comadore 64, IBM pc, and eventually the NES system. However none of the home versions were as fun as the arcade version, mostly because the games that came out after were graphically superior. 

Top 10 Wrestling Games #10

I've decided to make a little change to the lists i make on this blog. Instead of doing the entire list as one post I will do a countdown with one post a day until we get to #1. The reason for this is i can go a little further into each nomination instead of the 1-2 sentence explanation I usually write. For the first list in the new format I have chose wrestling video games. Before we get into the top ten here is the best of the rest: WCW(NES), WWF Steel Cage Challenge(Sega Master System), WCW  Vs. The World(PS1), and WWF Wrestlemania 2000(N64). Now onto the list....

#10. M.U.S.C.L.E(NES) 


Most people remember M.U.S.C.L.E. as the little rubber toys that you could buy rather cheaply and have fun with. The game and toy series were based off of a popular Japanese anime and manga series called Kinnikuman. The game had three basic modes singles match, tag match, and vs. The graphics were not great even by the standards of the day, but for some reason I really had a great time playing this game. As with most games of the era there was one action button that did all the moves, while the other button was the jump button. I think the reason it made the list for me was the hours of time I personally spent on the game.