Snes Central: WWF Raw

WWF Raw

Review by GoDSmurF

Probably one of the best wrestling games on the Super Nintendo. This game features a majority of the bad-ass brawlers from the pre-DX days and pre-WCW/NWO days... Among these are The Undertaker, Bam Bam Bigelow, Luna, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, 1 2 3 Kid (now X Pac), Diesel (Kevin Nash), Razor Ramon (Scott Hall), Yokozuna (deceased), Doink the Clown, Lex Luger, and Shawn Michaels.

Graphics: 7.5/10

Two words: Old school. When this game came out, 3D was a new concept in gaming. Everythign in the ring is animated. The "squared circle" looked like "rectangular circle". The wrestling moves are very nicely animated. The wrestlers are as well as they can be represented at the time. The pictures of each wrestler's biography looks TV-accurate. Jerry "The King" Lawler sits by the ringside makes funny gestures just like the way he always does. Everything in the visual department of this game is what a wrestling fan should expect. But this is by no means jaw-dropping or fantastic...

Sound & Music: 6.5/10

Given the Super Nintendo's voice capabilities, I guess the game developers tried to make the best voice imitation possible. But the sounds in this game doesn't strike me as being watching a telecast of "Raw Is War Live". The music sounds somewhat muted for each player, the in-ring sounds made by wrestlers sound like they had too much chili for lunch. On the plus side, all the musics are pretty accurate, and the bell rings pretty realistically. The sound of a wrestler's body hitting the mat sounds very good indeed.

Gameplay/Fun Factor: 9/10

This game's gameplay is relied heavily on button-mashing. I understand that the new wrestling games nowadays are really more arcade-like than back in the days. In short, this game got the standard punch/kick/run/grapple buttons. Here's how the game works. You press grapple to lock up with a wrestler. When the two wrestlers lock up, a meter appears above both of their heads. As one mashes button faster, the meter would fill up on his side. But if the opposing wrestler is doing a better job than you, then the meter would "teeter-totter" its way to the other wrestler. As the meter fills up, the moment it does, you have the option of performing several moves from each character. The moves I've seen so far are suplexes, atomic drop, belly-to-belly suplex, brain-buster, whip in to the ropes, foot-trip. You also have more moves with players laying down, including sharp-shooter, knee drop, heel kick. There are tons of moves for each player for you to explore. All in all, this game's gameplay captures the essence of technical wrestling, instead of the overly-abused market of arcade-style wrestling.

Conclusion/Overall: 8.5/10

This is not a perfect game. But this is a darn close perfect wrestling game. Although the graphics are lacking, the music leaves something to be desired, but the pure wrestling goodness counts as SOMETHING. If you like to feel the work-side of wrestling, then welcome to this game. Although after a while, the soreness on your thumb would remind you that after all, you are not an actual wrestler... good game, very good game.

Overall Rating: 85