Original Release: Sega, 1986, Master System
A very basic wrestling game from Sega.
Pro Wrestling (Master System, Sega, 1986)
Where to Buy: Amazon
How to Emulate: coming soon!
Review by: C. M0use
I’m not sure how Nintendo and Sega were both able to release a game called Pro Wrestling in the 80s without suing the pants off of each other … Nintendo clearly won the battle of quality, though, as Sega’s Pro Wrestling is a primitive clunky mess.
The game is tag-team only … four fictional tag-teams (loosely based on real-life wrestlers of the the period like the Road Warriors) battle it out. You pick one, then face the other three in a series of matches for the belt. A loooong series of matches … 10 for each of the other teams! Talk about milking those PPV dollars.
The action proceeds in beat-em-up style … one button punches, the other kicks, which are effectively the same. You have to stand just above or below the oncoming enemy and hit them just as they scroll down in front of you, in cheesy old beat-em-up style. The kick button “touches” your partner, the game’s Engrishy equivalent of “tag” apparently. I think to do slams and holds you have to hold down punch or kick near the enemy while they’re down, but I never really mastered that art because pressing it either throws them into the ropes uselessly (punch) or goes for the pin (kick). I know its possible though, because the computer spams the shit out of them against you.
You’ve got a lot working against you in this one. First of all, the CPU can refill its health fully by tagging out, while you seem to either get only a tiny sliver back or none at all. Once it takes about 1/4 a bar of damage, it tries to stun-lock you with some punches then run for the corner while you’re down, which it’s hard to really do anything about. This is where you’d like a Mr. Fuji roaming about the outside of the ring. There’s also a time limit on each match … and if it runs out, you lose automatically.
There’s a two player option which I didn’t try, but I doubt it adds much.
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