Sega Genesis Wrestling Games Ranked From Worst to Best

This was an interesting trip through the Sega Genesis library. I was expecting a few more wrestling games, but only five were released in North America. A few other arcade fighting games exist, but I wouldn’t count them as wrestling games.

My original plan was to look at two additional games. I was going to include Wrestle War and Thunder Pro Wrestling, but I couldn’t get my copies to work, and I wasn’t going to spend more money to play them. I have Wrestle War on an Arcade 1up cabinet, but I didn’t play it for this list.

I feel a few of these games are better than their SNES counterparts. There are minor differences between them, and it isn’t like one is terrific or the other is terrible. Specifically, I liked the Genesis versions of WWF RAW and the WrestleMania: The Arcade Game more than the SNES game.

Like the SNES games, my favorite is one of the arcade ports. The simulation games didn’t play as well as the arcade games. They suffered from an annoying control scheme that relied on button mashing. Get into the list and talk about each game.

WWF Super WrestleMania

This is the game that sent me down a rabbit hole to find out what Flying Edge was and why Acclaim used it instead of LJN. That is the most notable thing from this game. It gave me an idea for a short research project.

This isn’t that great of a game. Super WrestleMania is an average wrestling game that doesn’t look as good as the SNES version. It does control well and has a few different wrestlers on its roster. However, it has the awful tug-of-war control scheme found in this game, Royal Rumble and RAW. The wrestlers are based on the same model and look bad.

This is the worst wrestling game on the Sega Genesis, but it isn’t terrible. I don’t think there is a bad wrestling game on the system. However, Super WrestleMania is an average game that feels like it could’ve been an NES game.

WWF Royal Rumble

This is better than Super WrestleMania. It has the same control scheme, which seems to have gotten worse in this game. The graphics are much better, and this game has more to do. The difficulty setting system was replaced with a 1-10 scale that confuses me.

The thing I first noticed was how the developers dramatically improved the graphics. The character sprites are very detailed, and everything looked much better. There were also more game modes besides the Royal Rumble. For whatever reason, the Royal Rumble was a little easier in this game.

Playing this game was fun. I liked the differences between this version and the SNES, mostly roster changes. Anytime I can play as Papa Shango, I’m happy. I have no idea why I like the character so much. Aside from that, it is an average game that can be fun, but it made me want to play one of the PS1 games that have more depth to them.

WWF RAW

This game was better than the SNES version of WWF RAW. There isn’t a big gap between the two versions, but I felt the Genesis version is better. I like the roster, the selection of game modes, and the graphics, which are good.

This game offers the most game modes out of all of these games. If you enjoy the game, then it is great. It is still saddled with a button-mashing tug-of-war control scheme, and I’m glad I don’t have to bring this up anymore.

I wouldn’t say I like this developer’s three games. However, they’re decent games with mostly good graphics. They tried to bring the WWF experience to the home console, and if I had played these games back in the 90s, I might have had a better opinion of them.

WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game

This version of the game is a little better than the SNES version. The roster is bigger, and I think the Genesis version looks better. It isn’t a big difference, but there are small things that make it better. However, it still lacks in the gameplay department, much like the SNES version.

There are only two game modes. You can play this with another player, but you’re still doing the same thing as in the single-player modes. It does have good controls and superb graphics.

Of the four WWF games on the Genesis, this is my favorite. I also think it is the best of them. I like the arcade games more than the simulations. A lot of that has to do with the control schemes that were used in the other WWF games.

Saturday Night Slam Masters

Like the SNES wrestling games, Saturday Night Slam Masters is my favorite game on this console. The Sega Genesis had a limited number of wrestling games, and there wasn’t much competition for it. There wasn’t a HammerLock Wrestling or an NCW wrestling game brought to North America.

This game is an excellent port of an arcade game. The controls are simple, and the graphics are much better than the other games on the list. While it doesn’t have as many game modes as the WWF games, it has much better gameplay.

Saturday Night Slam Masters is a simple arcade game with an over-the-top roster of wrestlers. It is closer to a fighting game in some ways. It is similar to how the WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game is set up, but it is better than that game. It is a spectacular wrestling game and my favorite on the Sega Genesis.

Final Thoughts

It was shocking to see how few wrestling games were on this console. That is why I wanted to bring in the Mega Drive exclusive games but couldn’t get them to work. I knew what I was getting into with the games on this list because I had already played the SNES versions.

What was weird to me was the lack of a WCW game on the Genesis. They were able to reskin a game for the NES and release SuperBrawl for the SNES. I can only guess that the Genesis port of SuperBrawl was canceled. Based on some of the old gaming magazines that were thankfully archived, a Genesis port of SuperBrawl Wrestling was planned but never released.

That is a story I would like to look into at some point. Looking into other games that weren’t brought to North America or canceled might lead to a dead end. It is still something I think would be at some point.

The next console I’ll look at is the PS1. More wrestling games were released on that console than on the 8 and 16-bit consoles. WCW had a much bigger presence on the PS1, and fewer wrestling games were without a license. I’m looking forward to getting into those games because I have more nostalgia for them. Reviews for those games will appear on my blog first and on YouTube a few months later.