WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge

WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge
Master System cover art featuring (clockwise from left) Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Papa Shango, Ted Dibiase vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage, and The Undertaker
Developer(s)Sculptured Software (NES)
Teeny Weeny Games (Game Gear/SMS)
Publisher(s)Acclaim Entertainment[a]
MSI Entertainment (TV game)
Programmer(s)Ken Moore
Composer(s)Paul Webb (NES)
Matt Furniss (Game Gear/SMS)
Platform(s)
ReleaseNES:
Master System:
Game Gear:
TV game:
Genre(s)Wrestling
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge is a professional wrestling video game based on the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), released in 1992 by Acclaim Entertainment for the Nintendo Entertainment System[4] and in 1993 for the Master System and the Game Gear handheld console.[5] The NES version was subsequently released as a handheld TV game in 2018 under the name WWE WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge, with all references to the "WWF" name and logo replaced by "WWE" (and with two changes to the roster).

Gameplay

Papa Shango faces I.R.S. in the game's titular steel cage match.

Modes include One-on-One (regular match and steel cage match variations), Tag Team, WWF Championship (choose one wrestler and defeat all the others to become WWF Champion), and Tag Team Championship (choose two wrestlers and defeat combinations of the rest in a series of tag team matches to become WWF Tag Team Champions).

Roster

Ten wrestlers are playable. The NES and Sega versions of the game feature Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, I.R.S., Bret Hart, and The Undertaker. The NES version also has Jake Roberts, Sid Justice, Roddy Piper, and The Mountie. The Sega versions replace those characters with Ric Flair, Papa Shango, Shawn Michaels and Tatanka. The TV game version features the NES roster, but with Ultimate Warrior and Razor Ramon replacing Hulk Hogan and The Mountie respectively.[6]

Wrestler NES Sega
(Game Gear/SMS) 		TV game
Bret Hart Yes Yes Yes
Hulk Hogan Yes Yes No
Irwin R. Schyster Yes Yes Yes
Jake Roberts Yes No Yes
The Mountie Yes No No
Papa Shango No Yes No
Randy Savage Yes Yes Yes
Razor Ramon No No Yes
Ric Flair No Yes No
Roddy Piper Yes No Yes
Shawn Michaels No Yes No
Sid Justice Yes No Yes
Tatanka No Yes No
Ted DiBiase Yes Yes Yes
The Ultimate Warrior No No Yes
The Undertaker Yes Yes Yes

All wrestlers share the same moveset, consisting of standard punches and kicks, grapples (body slam, throw, headbutt), running attacks (flying clothesline, dropkick), a powerslam to a running opponent, ground attacks (stomp, elbow drop) and a move off the turnbuckle. There are no finishing moves. However, this was the first WWF console-based game to feature a steel cage match (cage matches had previously been seen in the arcade game WWF WrestleFest).

Reception

The Game Gear version of WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge received a score of 53% from Sega Master Force.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  2. ^ "Prodates" (PDF). Sega Pro. Paragon Publishing. July 1993. p. 18. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Prodates" (PDF). Sega Pro. Paragon Publishing. July 1993. p. 18. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  4. ^ Scullion, Chris (March 30, 2019). "THE NES ENCYCLOPEDIA: EVERY GAME RELEASED FOR THE NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM". Pen and Sword Books. United States. ISBN 9781526737809. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  5. ^ Hawken, Kieren (August 1, 2019). "The A-Z of Sega Master System Games". AG Books. United States. ISBN 9781789821468. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  6. ^ "WWE Plug N' Play TV Arcade". Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  7. ^ a b "GG review WWF Steel Cage Challenge". Sega Master Force. No. 1. August 1993. p. 36. Archived from the original on January 19, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  1. ^ Released under the LJN brand name on the NES, and the Flying Edge brand name on Sega consoles.