WCW Wrestling

WCW Wrestling (a.k.a. World Championship Wrestling) is a Nintendo Entertainment System professional wrestling video game that was originally released in Japan in 1989 under the name Super Star Pro Wrestling, with a different lineup of wrestlers. It was later released in North America in 1990 with a more familiar lineup of wrestlers.

For the professional wrestling promotion, see World Championship Wrestling.
WCW Wrestling
Cover art featuring The Road Warriors
Developer(s)Nichibutsu
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Hiroaki Kawamoto
Programmer(s)Hiromu Yamamoto
Artist(s)Kyoko Nakagawa
Hisaya Tsutsui
Yoshimasa Furukawa
Aiko Ochi
Composer(s)Kenji Yoshida
Platform(s)Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

It was the first (and, to date, only) video game based on the National Wrestling Alliance (at the time, WCW was a member of NWA). After The Road Warriors left WCW for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), WCW continued to advertise the game in their own catalogs with a mock-up cartridge showing Sting on the label, though no such copies of the game with an alternate label are known to exist or believed to have ever been manufactured. To date, the game has sold over 100,000 copies.

Gameplay

Each wrestler in WCW Wrestling has eight "selectable" moves, two Irish whip moves, and a finisher.

Selectable moveset

WCW Wrestling differs from most wrestling titles in that the players select their wrestler's moveset prior to the match. Each wrestler has a menu of eight moves (with each wrestler featuring a unique moveset), from which players choose four (each move selected is assigned to a direction on the D-pad).

Playable wrestlers and final opponent

Playable wrestlers in the game are Ric Flair, Sting, Lex Luger, Mike Rotundo, Road Warrior Hawk, Road Warrior Animal, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Kevin Sullivan, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Rick Steiner, "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, Michael P.S. Hayes, and the final opponent, a masked wrestler named "WCW Master".[2]

Irish whip moves

These moves are performed by first initiating an Irish whip (throwing the opponent into the ropes by pressing left and B or right and B) and then pressing either A or B when the opponent is near. Each wrestler has a different Irish whip moveset (though these moves are not selectable in the moveset menu).

Finishers

Each wrestler has his own finisher move. These must be performed in the middle of the ring and can only be accomplished when the opponent had two squares remaining on his health meter. The move is performed by pressing A and B simultaneously. Finishers deliver significantly more damage than a regular move and are likely to end the match in a knock-out or submission.

Super Star Pro Wrestling
Cover of Super Star Pro Wrestling

Super Star Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling, or puroresu, game made by Nihon Bussan and published by Pony Canyon for the Nintendo Famicom system. Released on December 9, 1989, the game features play for both one- and two-player modes. It was released a year later in the United States as WCW Wrestling on the Nintendo Entertainment System, with different wrestlers.

The game featured a different roster with wrestlers well-known in Japan's AJPW and NJPW promotions. It featured Antonio Inoki, Giant Baba, Jumbo Tsuruta, Gen'ichirō Tenryū, Riki Chōshū, Akira Maéda, Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, Big Van Vader, Abdullah the Butcher, Road Warrior Hawk & Animal, and André The Giant.

Below is a list of which WCW Wrestlers took the place of the original Super Star Pro Wrestling roster:

  • Lex Luger is replaced with Antonio Inoki.
  • Ric Flair is replaced with Giant Baba.
  • Mike Rotunda is replaced with Jumbo Tsuruta.
  • Kevin Sullivan is replaced with Gen'ichirō Tenryū.
  • Sting is replaced with Riki Chōshū.
  • Rick Steiner is replaced with Akira Maéda.
  • Ricky Steamboat is replaced with Bruiser Brody.
  • Road Warrior Hawk is replaced with Stan Hansen (even though he is in both versions, the WCW Wrestling version of Hawk is not based on the Super Star Pro Wrestling version; this is why the US version uses Hansen's trademark Western Lariat as a finisher in the game).
  • Michael P.S. Hayes is replaced with Road Warrior Hawk.
  • "Dr. Death" Steve Williams is replaced with Big Van Vader.
  • "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert is replaced with Abdullah the Butcher.
  • Road Warrior Animal is the only one who remains unchanged.
  • WCW Master is based on André the Giant, the final opponent in Super Star Pro Wrestling. His mask is reminiscent of André's "Giant Machine" gimmick.

There are some inaccuracies in the game, mainly with the birthdates of some wrestlers, and Big Van Vader's hometown and date of birth are not listed in order to protect his gimmick.

Other games

WCW Wrestling was the working title for at least two other WCW games. One was a canceled game for the game.com handheld system. The other was a sequel to Electronic Arts' WCW Mayhem, intended for release on the PlayStation 2 platform (the game was later renamed WCW Mayhem 2, and eventually canceled when WCW was sold to the WWF).

See also

References
  1. "WCW World Championship Wrestling Release Information for NES". GameFAQs. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  2. NES WCW Wrestling (Intro), 2008-08-20, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2016-11-29
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