is a professional wrestling video game developed and released by

Technōs Japan was a Japanese video game Video game developer, developer, best known for the ''Double Dragon'' and ''Kunio-kun (series), Kunio-kun'' Media franchise, franchises (the latter including ''Renegade (video game), Renegade'', ''Super Dodge Ball'' and ...

for arcades in 1991, featuring stars of the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWF). The game was distributed by Technōs in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, and by

Tecmo was a Japanese video game company founded in 1967. It had its headquarters in the Kudankita district of Tokyo. Its subsidiary, Tecmo Inc, was located in Torrance, California. Prior to 1986, Tecmo was formerly known as Tehkan. Tecmo is known for ...

in Japan,

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. It is the sequel to Technōs' previous WWF game, ''

WWF Superstars is a List of wrestling video games, wrestling video game manufactured by Technōs Japan and released for arcade game, arcades in 1989. It is the first WWE, WWF arcade game to be released. A series of unrelated games with the WWF Superstars (Gam ...

''. Compared to ''Superstars'', ''WrestleFest'' adds a variety of different wrestlers to the roster as well as enhanced graphics and sound. There are more voice samples, including commentary and pre-match introductions by WWF ring announcer

Mike McGuirk Michelle Kathleen McGuirk (born March 16, 1955) is an American professional wrestling personality, best known as a ring announcer for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1986 through 1994. She is the daughter of professional wrestler Leroy ...

. The voiced

cut scene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...

s featuring

Gene Okerlund Eugene Arthur Okerlund (December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019) was an American professional wrestling interviewer, announcer and television host. He was best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Champi ...

from ''Superstars'' returned as well. In February 2012, THQ released a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of the game 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 ...

featuring both current and former wrestlers, retitled ''WWE WrestleFest''.

Gameplay

Just like its predecessor, ''WrestleFest'' simulates

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

matches. The game adds support for up to four simultaneous players and the ability to insert more credits into the machine to buy

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

. Two modes of play are available. In the new

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...

mode, the player picks one superstar and takes him through a Royal Rumble match. In

Saturday Night's Main Event ''Saturday Night's Main Event'' is a series of American professional wrestling television specials produced by WWE (originally the World Wrestling Federation or WWF). It was originally broadcast by NBC from 1985 to 1991, replacing ''Saturday ...

mode, the player must pick two wrestlers to form a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

and take them through a series of matches, including a title match with the

Legion of Doom The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in '' Challenge of the Superfriends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Univers ...

. In this mode, players can perform numerous double team moves. Additionally, after a team member has been on the apron for a certain length of time, they will "power up", temporarily giving them the ability to win all grapples and inflict more damage than usual. The game features ten selectable wrestlers.

Hulk Hogan Terry Gene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a brand ambassador. Known for his flamboyance and massive physiq ...

The Ultimate Warrior Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig; June 16, 1959 – April 8, 2014) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Bodybuilding, bodybuilder and Motivational speaker, motivational speaker. Best known by his ring name The Ultima ...

Ted DiBiase Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (; born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, and color commentator. He is signed to WWE as of 2024, where he works in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship succ ...

and

Big Boss Man Ray Washington Traylor Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name (The) Big Boss Man, a ...

return from ''WWF Superstars''.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955) better known by the ring name Jake "the Snake" Roberts, is an American actor, podcaster and retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs as the on-screen man ...

Earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

, Mr. Perfect, Sgt. Slaughter, Demolition Smash, and Demolition Crush, are available as new superstars, with The Legion of Doom (

Hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This ...

and

Animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

) making an appearance as a non-selectable

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

tag team champions. Each wrestler has their own signature maneuvers.

Reception

In North America, ''RePlay'' reported ''WWF WrestleFest'' to be the second most-popular arcade game of the month in October 1991. It went on to be the highest-grossing arcade conversion kit of 1992 in the United States, according to the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA). In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''WWF WrestleFest'' on their December 1, 1991 issue as being the third most-popular arcade at the time. ''

Zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. Adding (or subtracting) 0 to any number leaves that number unchanged; in mathematical terminology, 0 is the additive identity of the integers, rational numbers, real numbers, and compl ...

'' gave the game a 3 out of 5. While critical to the graphics being cartoony, they praised its gameplay. ''

Sinclair User The ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was pub ...

'' rated the game with an 88% score, citing the game's variety of characters and high

replay value Replay value (or, colloquially, replayability) is the potential of a video game or other media products for continued play value after its first completion. Factors that can influence perceived replay value include the game's extra characters, se ...

. ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') is a British-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot web ...

'' also gave the game a positive review, describing the gameplay as enjoyable. ''

'' magazine awarded it "Best Beat'Em Up Game" in 1991, along with

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

's '' Vendetta''.

Follow-up titles

THQ released a

of the game for

under the title ''WWE WrestleFest'' in February 2012. The remake introduced a roster composed of more contemporary WWE stars such as

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway ...

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American actor and professional wrestler. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE , where he is the current WWE Championship, Undisputed WWE Champion in his record 14th reign, which is ...

Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He has been signed to WWE since 2000, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. Orton is widely regarded as one of t ...

and

Rey Mysterio Óscar Gutiérrez Rubio (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Widely regarded as both one of the greatest '' luch ...

, along with former performers including The Rock,

Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson and later Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, producer and retired Professional wrestling, profes ...

Jake Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955) better known by the ring name Jake "the Snake" Roberts, is an American actor, podcaster and retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs as the on-screen ma ...

and

Randy Savage Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler and professional baseball player, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation ( ...

. In addition to the return of the Saturday Night's Main Event and Royal Rumble game modes, the remake also featured standard one-on-one, tag team, steel cage and gauntlet match types, along with online multiplayer. The game also included "Road to WrestleMania" mode, where the players could go through a series of matches to try to win various WWE titles. A series of

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

packs were released for the game, featuring additional wrestlers and arenas. Versions for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

and Android were also announced, but never released. The 2021 title '' RetroMania Wrestling'' was heavily inspired by ''WrestleFest'' and was also promoted as a successor to the original arcade game.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wwf Wrestlefest 1991 video games Arcade video games IOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Professional wrestling games Technōs Japan games Tecmo games Video games developed in Japan WWE video games