There is something to be said about discovering a game you missed. It can either turn out great, or you can see why this game passed you by. Power Move Pro Wrestling is one of the games that I wish I had played back in 1995 or 1996. It is one of the best wrestling games I’ve played in a while.
Power Move Pro Wrestling reminds me of other games that didn’t have licenses, like HammerLock Wrestling, Tecmo World Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling. It is an exceptional game that I don’t hear much about.
This was originally a New Japan Pro Wrestling game but was changed when brought outside of Japan. The reason that I’ve seen is a lack of name recognition of New Japan Pro Wrestling outside of Japan and wrestling fans who were into international wrestling. At least, that is my reading of things. Please let me know if I got that wrong.
TLDR:
Narrative
This game has no story, but each character is given a short bio in the manual. It is nice to have these as it gives the player some idea of who these people are and what they want, as long as you have and read the manual. It isn’t necessary for the game, but it is cool to have it.
A few of the game modes give you a chance to build a narrative for the game. This would have to be done by the players, and it would only come up if you wanted to do it. You can just play the game without doing this, but where is the fun in that?
For example, I was playing as Chaingang. The manual says he is in jail for a series of violent crimes, but I’m going to say he is in prison because he was selling bootleg Pokemon games. While being arrested, he accidentally knocked a police officer into a cement mixer, which killed him. Now, he is in jail for software piracy and killing a police officer. See how fun this is?
Gameplay
This is an easy game to learn. The controls are simple, and the moves are easy to perform. After playing a few arcade wrestling games, playing a simulation of pro wrestling was refreshing. As much as I liked In Your House and WrestleMania: The Arcade Game, I was ready to play something else.
Power Move Pro Wrestling has a good number of game modes. It is more than just a series of gauntlet matches. You can play a tournament, a round-robin tournament, or a gauntlet match. Here is a list of the game modes:
- One-on-one
- Tag team match
- 12-man gauntlet
- Championship
- PPW League
- PPW Tournament
It would be nice if there were some stipulation matches in the game. Something like a battle royal or a cage match. As it currently stands, there is a lot to do in the game, but it would’ve been nice if there were some variety in the types of matches instead of just a standard pro wrestling match.
Because of the license change, we have a group of made-up wrestlers. This is where the character descriptions in the manual do some heavy lifting. It does make the game feel a little like a cartoon or the WWF in the New Generation of the early 90s. Here is a list of the wrestlers:
- Agent Orange
- Area 51
- Chaingang
- The Commandant
- Da’ Judge
- Danny McGee
- The Egyptian Conniption
- El Temblor
- King Og
- Malibu Mike Swanson
- Zombie
The controls are very good. This game was made by Yuke’s, who would make several New Japan Pro Wrestling games and eventually would work on the WWE 2K series. They would also make some of my favorite wrestling games on the PS1, the SmackDown games.
Overall, the gameplay is excellent. It is easy to control your wrestler, and the game is fun. The only knock against it is a lack of a story mode.
Visuals
Power Move Pro Wrestling doesn’t look good. It is pretty good if you compare the game to other 3-D games from the mid-90s. However, it isn’t good-looking when you compare it to the other wrestling games on the PS1/PSX.
This was the awkward phase when companies were still transitioning from 2-D games to 3-D. The biggest problem with this game is how the wrestlers look. The models don’t have much detail, and they look dated.
The crowd is a little odd. When I first looked at it, I thought it looked pretty good for the time. It reminds me of some of the 8 and 16-bit games. They would respond to the moves; there is a little motion to them, and they looked okay for 1995. However, it got a little repetitive watching the pixelated people flail around. After a few hours of watching this, I got sick of it.
When I look at other 3-D games, I think this looks like Virtua Fighter. Both are blocky, with decent animations. However, Power Move Wrestling doesn’t have the same detail and facial expressions.
Overall, Power Move Pro Wrestling looks good for 1995 but doesn’t hold up as well. I like the look of In Your House a bit more than this game.
8/10. I was pleasantly surprised by this game. For me, Power Move Pro Wrestling is a hidden gem. It has great controls, looks decent enough, and is fun to play.
Pros
- Great Controls
- Decent Graphics
- Pick-up and Play Gameplay
Cons
- Small Roster
- No Story
- Repetitive
Conclusion
I love discovering a game that I didn’t know about. It is even better when the game ends up being good! For me, Power Move Pro Wrestling is a hidden gem. I’m sure other people knew about the game, and other writers have put it on a list for something, but it was something new for me.
I guess it depends on how you define a hidden gem. The term is probably overused, and at this point, the internet has made information about every game more accessible if you look for it. This was a fantastic game to play.
Power Move Pro Wrestling is a wonderful wrestling game. It reminds me of other games that didn’t have a license from one of the pro wrestling companies. It is a lot of fun, and I’m glad I got the chance to play it.