In the late 1980’s the World Wrestling Federation was enjoying a golden age. Everyone was obsessed with muscle bound, spandex clad weirdos throwing each other round the ring. Wrestlemania started in 1985 and for the next few years the sport of wrestling would remain in the limelight with Hulk Hogan as the biggest star. In 1989 Technos Japan Corporation saw the potential for a videogame conversion of the license and so WWF Superstars hit the arcades.

For fans of the WWF it was an awesome game with a big roster of real life wrestlers to choose from. The game featured tag team matches and so you could play through co-operatively with a friend. The cabinet had a joystick and two buttons for each player. You could end up in the ring at the same time and you could even do special two man attacks. The basic attacks were grapples and punches although running or picking up weapons would modify them. You could also pull off body slams, head butts and kicks depending on who you were playing as. The fight could spill outside the ring as with real wrestling and the only really forbidden action was striking the referee.

The object was to win the title and to get your shot you had to win three matches. If you managed to beat three tag teams then you’d be up against the reigning champions, Andre the Giant and The Million Dollar Man. If you win a victory against them you’d be rewarded with a newspaper headline hailing you as the new champions. The game would then give you another three fights before pitching you against the same combo again.

The graphics were 2D with an angled view on the ring and the characters all looked like the real stars. There was a great range of animations and the characters could pull off all sorts of famous wrestling moves. They could also run to build up speed and pull off different attacks. Even the ropes would sway as players bounced off them and catapulted at their opponents. There were also small cut scenes between some of the rounds complete with daft voiceovers. Best of all the AI wrestlers do taunts after knocking you down. The sound was pretty basic with cheering crowd noises and a 1, 2, 3 count from the referee.

All the biggest wrestlers of the day were in the game including Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Big Boss Man, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Honky Tonk Man and of course The Ultimate Warrior. The characters all moved at different speeds and the two big baddies, Andre the Giant and The Million Dollar Man had special moves which were devastating. If you got caught in one of the submission holds you’d need your partner to storm in and save you.

The WWF Superstars arcade game proved to be extremely popular and it started off a long series of WWF games in arcades and on home consoles which continues today. It was a fairly simple game but the mechanics were solid and the co-operative angle was a welcome inclusion. It definitely captured the fun of the WWF during the late 1980’s.