''TNA Wrestling'' is a 2008 video game for
Verizon Wireless
Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...
devices by Canadian developer
Longtail Studios.
It is based on the
professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...
(TNA). Unlike most other professional wrestling games, the gameplay in ''TNA Wrestling'' is based on
turn-based strategy
Strategy video game is a major video game genre that focuses on analyzing and strategizing over direct quick reaction in order to secure success.
Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, the strategy genre is most commo ...
with
role-playing
Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...
elements. The game garnered largely positive reviews and was re-released in early 2009 for
iOS
Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
. It is no longer available for download on the
iTunes Store and has been superseded by an unrelated game released by
Namco Bandai
(commonly known as and formerly Namco Bandai until 2015, also known as Bandai Namco Group,) is a Japanese mass media and entertainment conglomerate founded in 2005 by the merger of Namco and Bandai. The company specializes in toys, video ...
called ''
TNA Wrestling Impact!''.
Gameplay
The core of the game is its story mode, which allowed players to create their own wrestler and take him through his professional wrestling career. Players started out
backyard wrestling and worked their way through the ranks of TNA, fighting and interacting with other wrestlers and crafting either a
heroic or
villainous personality. The player character was gradually leveled up to gain
experience point
An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...
s, which could be used to acquire new moves. In addition to the story mode, a quick match option was available offering several different
match types and the ability to play as actual members of the TNA roster.
During matches, wrestlers took turns attacking. Moves were selected via a menu and could be used in
combos. Powerful special moves were also available and could be executed through
quick time events.
Reception
The game received favorable reviews according to the
review aggregation website
GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
.
Chris Plante of ''
UGO Networks
UGO Entertainment, Inc. was a website that provided coverage of online media in entertainment, targeting males aged 18–34. The company was based in New York, New York, United States.
History
The company started in 1997 as Unified Gamers Online ...
'' gave it an A−, lauding the turn-based gameplay as a good fit for mobile devices and praising the game's story mode and customization features.
Levi Buchanan of ''
IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' was not as positive, saying that the match gameplay was not fun and that the game is a better RPG than a wrestling game, but praised the game's story mode.
Brad Nicholson of ''
Destructoid
''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017 and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
Histor ...
'' gave a favorable review of the game. While citing the match gameplay as a weak point of the title, he also praised the game's story mode.
See also
*
List of licensed wrestling video games
References
External links
*
{{Impact Wrestling
2008 video games
IOS games
IOS-only games
Single-player video games
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling video games
Video games developed in Canada