WrestleMania 30 is right around the corner, and with the self-proclaimed YES! Movement looking to cheer Daniel Bryan on as he hopes to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (after hopefully fending off Triple H, that is), The Undertaker attempting to go 22-0 as he takes on Brock Lesnar and John Cena putting his legacy on the line in a battle against Bray Wyatt, excitement is at a fever pitch for wrestling fans worldwide.
With that being said, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the greatest, and most terrible, pro wrestling games that we’ve ever had the joy/horror of experiencing.
Here are the 10 best and worst wrestling games ever.
Top 10 Best and Worst Wrestling Games Ever
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WORST #5: Celebrity Deathmatch
You know there's been a ton of bad wrestling games when Celebrity Deathmatch only ranks at number 5 on the list.
Celebrity Deathmatch was based upon the ludicrous, claymation MTV show of the same name, and like the show it sees a bunch of celebrities battling against one another in fights to the death.
Given its subject matter the game was curiously dull, and aside from the initial intrigue when pitting Marilyn Manson and Jerry Springer, or Ron Jeremy against one of the members of *N Sync, its mindless combat system meant that this one got old very fast. Also, neither the Loch Ness Monster nor Bigfoot were featured in the roster.
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BEST #5: WCW/nWo Revenge
During its tensure WCW didn't inspire as many quality games as rival Vince McMahon's company did, but WCW/nWo Revenge for the Nintendo 64 was one of the few great WCW games and is widely recognised as one of the best wrestling games ever.
Released in 1996, a point in time when the then-WWF had just started to overtake Ted Turner's WCW in the ratings war thanks to the popularity of Stone Cold Steve Austin and the 'Attitude Era', WCW/nWo Revenge still managed to sell like hotcakes, and upon its release it became the N64's best-selling third-party game. Featuring an expansive roster, upgraded gameplay from its predecessor WCW/nWo World Tour and hugely addictive multiplayer, WCW/nWo Revenge is the best WCW game ever made.
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WORST #4: The Simpsons Wrestling
The Simpsons spin-off games have never really been good. Even the ones that have been moderately entertaining, such as The Simpsons Hit & Run, were only really good when compared with the huge catalogue of other, more terrible games the show has inspired.
However, The Simpsons Wrestling was one of the very worst games that The Simpsons license was put to, and to this day it's still unfathomable that anyone involved thought this would be a good idea. Putting these beloved characters in a ring and getting them to beat the snot out of each other wasn't fun, it was just downright uncomfortable - no one wants to see Homer beat up Lisa!
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BEST #4: WWF No Mercy
WWF No Mercy remains the favourite wrestling game of many, and with good reason.
While it hasn't aged particularly well, when it was released back in 2000 it was the best wrestling game money could buy up until that point. Featuring a large selection of game modes, an intuitive create-a-wrestler feature and a smooth grappling system, WWF No Mercy is a bonafide Nintendo 64 classic.
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WORST #3: ECW Hardcore Revolution
Take the stunted animation of WWF War Zone and put in a slower, more pondering game with dull-as-dishwater graphics, and you get ECW Hardcore Revolution. ECW's low-budget nature was reflected in this game, though unfortunately none of the company's greatness managed to slip its way through.
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BEST #3: WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain
The SmackDown! games were the most popular series of wrestling games ever, and Here Comes the Pain was the best of the best. It made some major changes to the series, including weight-specific grappling that meant the likes of Rey Mysterio couldn't toss the Big Show over his head, and limb targeting which would see players breaking down their opponents piece-by-piece.
At the time, Here Comes the Pain was hailed as one of the best wrestling games of all time,
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WORST #2: WCW Backstage Assault
The backstage brawls in wrestling games have always been fun, but WCW Backstage Assault attempted to make an entire game out of it and failed... miserably.
Backstage Assault looked terrible even for its time, featured dull gameplay that largely consisted of whacking your opponent with weapons over and over again, and was thoroughly undeserving of its WCW license.
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BEST #2: Def Jam: Fight for NY
Yes, he second best wrestling game is one that didn't take its cues from an actual wrestling promotion.
Def Jam: Fight for NY may have been less of a traditional wrestling game than its predecessor Def Jam: Vendetta, which saw brawls solely taking place in the squared circle, but Fight for NY was undoubtedly the better game. Featuring insane moves, a huge roster of rap music's most famous faces and an excellent story mode that actually managed to feature an enjoyable plot (when can you ever say that about a fighting game?) Fight for NY is the second best wrestling game ever, even though it features neither The Rock nor Sting.
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WORST #1: WWF Betrayal
Few have played this Game Boy Color game, so I'm certainly one of the unlucky ones. While it wasn't a wrestling game in the traditional sense (it was a side-scrolling beat 'em up and didn't feature a pinfall in sight), it did feature WWF's most famous faces, and it did see them pull off their finishing moves, so I'm going to throw this one into the list anyway.
Next to WWE Crush Hour (which we shall never speak of) WWF Betrayal is one of the weirdest licensed wrestling games ever. Placing players in the shoes of either The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H or Stone Cold, the game saw Vince McMahon tasking the merry brand of brawlers with retrieving his kidnapped daughter Stephanie McMahon. The entirety of the game is then spent punching referees, backstage staff and basically no one who poses a physical threat to your character, before facing off against Stephanie's kidnapper... who is one of the other playable characters, for some reason.
WWF Betrayal often manages to sneak its way under the radar due to not many people actually playing it, but I have, and I'm here to tell you that it's the second worst wrestling game of all time.
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BEST #1: WWE '13
WWE '13 fine-tuned the gameplay of the excellent WWE '12, threw in an excellent Attitude Era mode and offered wrestling fans one of the best rosters of all time. What more could we possibly ask for?
Well, a better graphics engine would've been nice, and hopefully this is something that the WWE licenses' new owner 2K will eventually muster up, but as it stands THQ did a great job with WWE '13 and delivered the best wrestling game to date.
While we'd still like to see a wrestling game that incorporated an actually decent original story, being able to play out all of the key events of the Attitude Era was a joy for wrestling fans, and its position at the top of this list is well-deserved.
