WWF Wrestling Games I’ve Played Ranked From Worst to Best

A while ago, I ranked the WCW wrestling games that I’ve played, and I decided to do the same thing for the WWF games. This will cover the games on the Game Boy, NES, SNES, Genesis, Dreamcast, N64, and PS1.

This is based on the games I’ve played, so there is a chance that I missed something while going through all of these. A game’s position on this list is mostly based on whether I enjoyed the game or not. It isn’t a reflection of how good or bad the game is, so please don’t take it as a personal attack. It is a little sad that I have to say this.

I had fun with most of these games. You can find enjoyment in a game that isn’t necessarily good or is considered to be bad. I don’t put much stock in the popular opinions of these games, which is part of why I started going through retro games. I wanted to form my own mind and put my thoughts out there.

Bottom Line up Front: I ranked the WWF games from the Game Boy, NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, N64, and Dreamcast

WWF Warzone (Game Boy)

This was a very bad port of WWF Warzone. The base game isn’t amazing, but I like it for what it is. The Game Boy version of Warzone looked decent, but everything else was terrible. It might’ve benefited from being compatible with the Game Boy Color, but I doubt it.

A lot had to change when the game was brought to the Game Boy. The controls really sink this game. I can forgive the graphics due to the hardware limitations, but the controls are awful. There was an opportunity to create something entirely new, but perhaps the developers lacked the time to refine their work.

It is a shame, really, because I’m one of the few people who enjoyed the PS1 and N64 versions of the game. The Game Boy port is very bad. There is enough in this version of the game from the original, but the gameplay and controls should’ve been better.

WWF WrestleMania (NES)

I have fond memories of playing this game with my friends. Going back to play this game was rather disappointing. Many of the game’s flaws were hard to ignore, and I didn’t have that much fun with it. This wasn’t the worst wrestling game on the NES, but it wasn’t all that good either.

It isn’t all that bad. The roster of characters is fairly small, but it was fine for the time, and they have a limited set of moves. The graphics aren’t great; there are no finishers and only a few modes. There are no stipulation matches, and pinfall is the only way to win. There just isn’t much here, which is held against a game on a list like this one.

Because this is an early wrestling game, it can be considered a classic. Not every classic game is a good game. In this case, WWF WrestleMania isn’t that good of a game, but it is better than some of the other wrestling games on the NES.

WWF Raw (Game Boy)

This version of WWF Raw is a bad port of a game I already didn’t like. It has everything I disliked about the two console versions, but with even worse graphics, controls, and roster. It was a miserable experience to play this game.

The LJN published games on the SNES and Genesis have a tug-of-war grapple system that devolves into button mashing. That same system was used for this port, and they managed to make it worse. The controls occasionally do what you want them to do, and the hit detection is miserable.

This was one of the last Game Boy games I played, and I was glad to be done with it. I can tolerate the controls in the other versions of this game, but this was awful. It was one of the worst Game Boy wrestling games that I played.

WWF Super Stars 2 (Game Boy)

This was a strange one. WWF Superstars 2 is a port of WWF Steelcage Challenge, at least that was the way it felt while I was struggling through this one. It isn’t the worst wrestling game, but it has all the same problems as the other LJN wrestling games on the NES, and by proxy, the Game Boy.

This version of the game has fewer wrestlers than the NES version, the controls are a little worse, and the graphics are understandably not as good. Some of this can be overlooked because it is on the Game Boy. The big draw for this game is the steel cage, and it isn’t all that great; the NES version of the cage looks much better.

This is a weird one. I’m guessing they wanted to attach this game to WWF Superstars and distance it from Steelcage Challenge, at least that was my initial thought. This isn’t a bad idea, but it’s a little strange that they opted to remove the name recognition from the NES game. There isn’t too much separation between this game and the Game Boy port of WWF Raw.   

WWF Steel Cage Challenge (NES)

This was a disappointing game. It had a few things going for it, but this game got boring quickly by recycling character sprites and making each character play the same. It has the Steel Cage, but it isn’t executed well. Steel Cage Challenge was a game that I wanted to like, but each time I try to give it another shot, I’m left disappointed.

Every wrestler is the exact same. The developers made one character, cloned it eight times, and then made minor graphical changes to give the player the illusion of choice. On top of that, they have the same moves, have the same attack power, and movement. Things get very repetitive and also very dull.

The Steel Cage is the big draw for this game. It isn’t very good and is forced into the single-player mode because there isn’t a story in this game. All you have to do is climb to the top of the cage, and if your opponent stands up, you fall off the cage. This game barely beats out some of the other games in this list, but not by much.

WWF WrestleMania Challenge (NES)

This was an interesting game, not because of what is in the game, but because its big gimmick is a Survivor Series match. This makes me wonder why the game wasn’t called Survivor Series Challenge, like how Steel Cage Challenge revolved around the cage match. It probably has to do with name recognition, or what the WWF wanted them to name the game.

The graphics are good, and the game controls well. The wrestlers feel unique when compared to the other games published by LJN. The six-man tag matches are also much more fun to play than the cage matches in Steel Cage Challenge. While it isn’t great, it is better than several games on this list.

What holds this game back is the camera angle. It comes close to ruining the game. It is hard to line up attacks, and the game feels sluggish overall. It is better than Steel Cage Challenge, but only by a little. There isn’t too much that separates the WWF games on the NES, and it would’ve been nice if a developer had been given more than one game.  

WWF King of the Ring (Game Boy)

I seem to be one of the few people who liked the NES game. It was fine when I compared it to the other NES games, and I liked it more than several of the Game Boy games. The biggest problem I had with this one was that it made me want to go back and play the console version, which isn’t what you would want from a Game Boy Game.

The controls and graphics are alright for the Game Boy. It isn’t anything special, but that’s okay. It is a faithful port of the NES game. Although it doesn’t look as good as the NES game, the controls are surprisingly close. If you liked the NES game, then this would’ve been a nice alternative.

WWF King of the Ring is a decent game for the Game Boy. It works quite well for the handheld, and I would’ve been happy if I had this back in the early 1990s. This game was right in the middle for me. It isn’t a bad game; it is more of an average wrestling game.

WWF King of the Ring (NES)

I had more fun with this game than with the other games on the NES, and it managed to beat out most of the games on the Game Boy. It has better graphics than most games on this list, but it has similar issues to Steel Cage Challenge. I like the more cartoonish look of this game, which is something I also liked about WrestleMania Challenge.

Each wrestler has the same set of moves. There are also no finishers or special moves in this game. The game is overall better than Steel Cage Challenge and WrestleMania Challenge. I also had much more fun with this game because the game controls and looks better. This is one of the cases where my experience with the game was better than what is actually in it.

The King of the Ring tournament is the big draw for this game, which is just a fancy name for the tournament mode that has appeared in a few other games. It is a nice addition that can be fun to play with a friend. I think this game looks and plays better than WCW Wrestling, and it is more fun to play.

WWF Attitude (Game Boy)

This isn’t a terrible version of WWF Attitude. It is fairly unremarkable to the point that I had forgotten all about it, even though I had played it in the last few months. What I remember most is that I liked the graphics more than the gameplay.

This one is a little better than average. I was amazed by how much of the console versions of the game made it into this port. It is a Game Boy Color exclusive, which means it won’t work on the original Game Boy or Game Boy Pocket. The developer made a lot of necessary changes that helped make this a fairly good game.

The graphics are better than some of the other Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. There are a few instances where it is hard to tell who the characters are, but they’re few and far between. I do like this game more than many of the other wrestling games on the Game Boy and Game Boy Color.

WWF Super Stars (Game Boy)

I had a lot of fun with WWF Superstars. This was the first wrestling game I played for the Game Boy, and it was a pretty good experience for a handheld game. It wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t terrible either. I enjoyed it more than most of the other wrestling games on the Game Boy, and I liked the simplicity of it more than the NES games.

The game has decent graphics and good controls. The roster is fairly small, and there are a limited number of game modes. While there isn’t much to this game, what is there is done very well. It is a short experience that is perfect for car and bus rides.

WWF Superstars delivers on what you should expect from an early Game Boy game. It is a fun game, even if there isn’t too much to it. I like the game for what it is. This is one of the games I could come back to from time to time, but it won’t make it onto a list of my favorite games for the Game Boy.

WWF WrestleMania 2000 (Game Boy)

This is one of the better games on the Game Boy. What amazed me was that this is one of the Game Boy Color games that is compatible with the original Game Boy and the Game Boy Pocket. The developers did an excellent job with this game, but it does make me want to play the N64 version.

I was very surprised by how much of the console game made it into the Game Boy game. It has good controls and some very good graphics. It isn’t all good, but the graphics are very good when compared to other Game Boy Games. It is also great that this is compatible with the original Game Boy.

I wish the other ports of PS1 and N64 games had been as good as this one. The game offers a lot of content to keep you entertained for a while. This is the best of the WWF Game Boy games, but it isn’t as good as the console games.

WWF Super WrestleMania (SNES)

This game is a bare-bones experience. It plays like a graphical upgrade of an NES game. All of the LJN games on the SNES and Genesis play the same, and I didn’t enjoy any of them. They ranked higher on this list because they are better overall than the Game Boy and NES games, but I would rather play the PS1 and N64 games.

This game is easier than the other two WWF games on the SNES, but you’re still doing the same thing. It has fewer game modes, which would’ve been acceptable on the NES, but isn’t good on the SNES. The controls are okay, and the graphics are good, but there isn’t much here, and that kept it from being higher on this list.

Playing this game made me wish I was playing a better game. The WWF games on the SNES are mostly disappointing; this one was no exception. The more that I think about these games, the less I enjoy them.

WWF Super WrestleMania (Genesis)

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 because it isn’t all that different from the SNES version. It gave me an idea for a short research project.

This isn’t a great 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, just like Royal Rumble and RAW. The wrestlers are based on the same model and look bad. I understand why the developer did this, but I really wish they hadn’t.

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. Super WrestleMania is an average game that feels like it could’ve been an NES game.

WWF Royal Rumble (SNES)

Royal Rumble doesn’t have as many game modes as WWF Raw, but the controls and roster are better. This game can be fun, but it plays similarly to the other two WWF games LJN published on the SNES and Genesis. While I like this one a little more than WWF Raw, I don’t think it is as good of a game.

The Royal Rumble is the big draw with this game. I’m not a fan of this gimmick match in wrestling games because it is a pain in the butt to eliminate wrestlers, and the whole tug-of-war control scheme doesn’t help things out. It looks cool, but it doesn’t always translate to something I’d want to play. The rest of the game is okay, but it isn’t anything special.

While I think this is the best of the three LJN games, I don’t like it that much. The wrestlers are based on the same model; they play the same, and the control scheme is awful. The thing is, it is the best of a series of underwhelming games. None of them are bad, and they’re better than the NES and Game Boy Games.

WWF Royal Rumble (Genesis)

This is better than Super WrestleMania and on par with the SNES version of the game. 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 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 compared to the SNES version.

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 at times.

WWF Raw (Genesis)

This game isn’t as good as the SNES version, but there isn’t a big gap between the two. I had more fun with this version of the game, but it was still too close to call. 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 LJN’s wrestling 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 only have to bring this up one more time after this.

I wouldn’t say I like this developer’s three games. They’re decent games with mostly good graphics. I just really hate the controls for the grapple system. 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 Raw (SNES)

I’m not a fan of this game or the other LJN games from this developer. The wrestlers play the same, and it made me want to play a better game. It does have a good roster and decent graphics.

Like the other LJN wrestling games on the SNES, this one used a tug-of-war control scheme during the lockups. It is an awful control scheme that devolves into mashing one of the buttons, and after playing five of these games, I was so sick of it. If you win this tug-of-war, you’re rewarded with a wrestling move, but each wrestler has the same moves.

Raw offers a bunch of game modes. That is probably the best thing about it. You have many ways to experience the awful controls and second guess your decision to rent this game. I shouldn’t be surprised that LJN published graphical upgrades of the same game, but here I am. I know this game has a lot of fans, but I simply didn’t like it.

WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game (SNES)

This is one of the best-looking wrestling games on the SNES. It is a port of Midway’s arcade game, using the same digitization technology used for Mortal Kombat. This makes the game look great, but the gameplay isn’t as good. I still enjoyed it more than the LJN games.

My biggest issue with this game is the lack of things to do. There are two modes. You can play a one-on-one gauntlet match for the Intercontinental title or a two-on-one gauntlet match for the Heavy Weight Championship. I wish it had a bigger roster than it did.

This game had a lot going for it. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much in the game. Having only two game modes was disappointing, as was the roster of only six wrestlers. If you wanted to play a wrestling arcade game, I would choose Saturday Night Slam Masters or Wrestle War.

WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game (Genesis)

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 these small things make it a little better. It still lacks in the gameplay department, much like the other versions, which is going to be a problem for all the arcade ports of wrestling games.

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.

I like the arcade games more than the simulations. While they don’t have as many game modes, I think they’re more fun on the home console. A lot of that has to do with the control schemes that were used in the other WWF games, and how the arcade ports were easier to get into.

WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game (PS1)

This was a little disappointing. When I played this game, I was hoping for something to be done with it to add more value to the game. That wasn’t done, and you have to have the same experience as the SNES and Genesis versions. What really separated them is the graphics.

Like the arcade, SNES, and Genesis games, the PS1 game has a tiny roster and only two game modes. The graphics look very good, which is what you should expect from the PS1. Unfortunately, nothing was added to the game, which made this a relatively shallow experience. Once you’ve gone through those game modes, then there isn’t anything else to do.

WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game isn’t a bad game, and this isn’t a bad port of it. The controls and graphics are good, but the game isn’t anything special. That is the biggest thing I can say about it: good, but nothing special.

WWF In Your House

WWF In Your House is the sequel to WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game, but it wasn’t released in the arcades and wasn’t made by Midway. This meant the new developers didn’t benefit from using the digitization techniques that Midway had perfected, which made the visuals worse.

In Your House feels like it is trying to be more of a fighting game than a wrestling game. There is no crowd, and the ring is in themed stages, similar to Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter II. The controls are okay, and the roster is fine. The game was released in the mid-90s, so the roster is limited by who worked for the WWF. Sadly, Savio Vega isn’t in the game.

This game doesn’t look as good as WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game. The gameplay is similar, but In Your House has more gameplay options. This is what made the game quite a bit of fun. It’s great that this game had more to offer, and having a roster of wrestlers you won’t find in other games was awesome!

WWF Attitude (Dreamcast)

The story of this game’s release and development is way more interesting than the game itself. Just about everything in this version of the game is worse or the same as the N64 and PS1 versions of the game. It had a rushed development because Acclaim was going to lose the WWF license.

This was a cash grab by Acclaim. I’m sure the developers wanted to make a better game, but they didn’t have the time to take advantage of more powerful hardware. What Dreamcast players got was an inferior port of an average wrestling game.

I’m not as harsh as some people are when it comes to Warzone, Attitude, and the two ECW games. In this case, there is no getting around the fact that this isn’t a good version of the game. By the time I played this game, I was tired of playing the Acclaim games, but that didn’t change the fact that the controls and hit detection are worse than the other console versions of this game.

WWF Attitude (N64)

This was one of my favorite games on the PS1 when it was released. The first time I played the N64 version was for a review a year ago. By the time I played it, I was getting a little sick of the engine that Acclaim’s developers were using.

This was better than the other N64 games from Acclaim, but it is still a tedious game to play through. It has a decent career mode, but it lacks a storyline, and the gameplay takes a long time to get through. I gave the nod to WWF Warzone over this game because of how tedious it is.

WWF Attitude made significant strides toward what wrestling games would be. At the time, this game looked great, and the career mode was awesome! As wrestling games advanced, this game became obsolete.

WWF Warzone (N64)

This game is great. I like the PS1 version more than this one, but it is still a great game. This is one of the many games I feel like I’m the only person who likes. I’m sure that everyone has a game like this.

This is a bridge between arcade and simulation games. In some ways, it resembles a fighting game. The biggest criticism I see of this game, and the other games that use this engine, is the menu system. Once you learn the moves, you can ignore the menus in the game.

While the game has its issues, I like it for its weird little quirks. This isn’t as good as the PS1 version because of the graphics and the lack of FMV in it. Replacing those with text just isn’t the same. I do have a soft spot for WWF Warzone, as I played the game a lot when it was released.

WWF Attitude (PS1)

While I don’t like this game as much now as I did in the 1990s, it is a step towards what wrestling games would be. WWF Attitude introduced a career mode that was cool at the time, but very tedious now. It was a great start, but a slog to get through. I still like the game, and it was fun to go back and play it.

The graphics and gameplay are okay, even though you have to open a menu to see what moves you can and cannot do. Once you learn how to do them, you’ll use the menu less and less. The career mode is very tedious, but it was fun at the time. It isn’t a bad game, but its wonky control scheme makes it less enjoyable than it might’ve been in the 1990s.

This game, along with Warzone, was a constant when I was renting games in the 1990s. I don’t remember if my friends and I made it far into the career mode, but I know that we played it a lot. This was one of the many games I thought was great, and when I went back to play it, I was disappointed.

WWF Royal Rumble (Dreamcast)

I went back and forth on where to put this game. WWF Royal Rumble has a lot of similarities with WrestleMania: The Arcade and In Your House. It is a port of an arcade game that excels in one area, but doesn’t offer much beyond that experience.

WWF Royal Rumble is a very good arcade game. It has great controls, excellent graphics, and it is more fun than most of the versions of Attitude and Warzone. If I had played it when the game was released, I might have a higher opinion of it.

A lack of content really held this game back. If it had one or more game modes, then I would’ve liked it more. This was closer to the arcade games released in the mid-1990s. It was a little odd that Sega went with this style of gameplay when the rest of the industry was moving towards a simulation instead of an arcade experience.

WWF Warzone (PS1)

WWF Warzone feels like a bridge between an arcade game and a simulation. The graphics are okay, and the roster is pretty good. The control scheme is a little annoying, but it works well for a game like this. I also think this is a fairly straightforward game to play. This is a game I played a lot, and I have a soft spot for it.

I got this game confused with WWF Attitude. It lacks the career mode found in Attitude, instead offering a more arcade-like experience, and it has some minor storytelling cut scenes in it. These come in the form of live promos, which still look great today. The footage is fantastic, and it adds a lot to the game.

I remember renting this game when I was a kid. It was a ton of fun to play with my friend Drew. Going back to this game recently, I realized that I still like the game, but I would rather play one of the Smackdown games.

WWF WrestleMania 2000 (N64)

There is quite a gap between the average games and the four best games on this list. I could’ve switched WWF WrestleMania 2000 with SmackDown!, but I have more memories of the PS1 than the N64. This wasn’t a game I played growing up, but I had a great time playing it. This was an awesome game to go back and play.

The game that this compares to is the first Smackdown game. Both games have great rosters, controls, and graphics. WrestleMania 2000 is held back by being on the N64, but it is a spectacular wrestling game. If the graphics and gameplay were a little better, then it might jump ahead of SmackDown.

WWF WrestleMania 2000 was a huge upgrade over the other WWF games on the N64. I like it more than WWF Attitude and Warzone. It is one of the many games I missed out on, and I was glad that I could go back and play it.

SmackDown!

This is a fantastic game. I played it with my friend Drew quite a bit. He bought the game first, and after I beat him a bunch of times in a row, he sold his copy. I don’t think I’m particularly good at it, but I was better than Drew that night.

Smackdown has excellent graphics and superb gameplay, making it an easy game to play. The career mode is a huge upgrade over WWF Attitude and the ECW games. It was a wonderful game to go back and play.

Playing this brought back some wonderful memories. It is the same feeling I get when watching retrospectives on 1990s wrestling. I’ll never forget playing this game with my friends before pay-per-views and WWF RAW. This is one of the games that I always find fun. Much of it has to do with the memories I have of the game.

WWF No Mercy

This is the best wrestling game on the N64. It is also very fun to play, and I found it hard to put the game down, so I could write a review. This is right up there with the Smackdown games on the PS1. I like the second SmackDown game a little more than this one.

I had never played this game before starting this little project of going through the wrestling games on the various consoles. WWF: No Mercy is one of the best games I’ve played for the N64. Its graphics, gameplay, and story mode are spectacular. It is a huge improvement on WrestleMania 2000. The career mode in this game is as good as Smackdown 2.

If WWF: No Mercy was on the PS1, it would’ve been one of my favorite games on the console. I like it as much as Smackdown 2, and if the graphics were better, this game would’ve been better than that game. This is an awesome game that I loved playing.

 

SmackDown! 2

This is my favorite wrestling game on the PS1 and one of my favorite games on the system. It greatly improves everything in the first game. While I don’t have as many memories of this game as I do of the first, it was still fun to play. There were several changes to this game, which improved it.

The graphics and gameplay are similar to the first Smackdown, but Smackdown 2 has a better roster. The career mode is awesome! It is a little better than the first game and considerably better than WWF Attitude.

While this game came late to the PS1’s life, it is an important step in the evolution of wrestling games. In some ways, it mirrored how the pro wrestling industry was going to evolve. As the other companies went out of business, it would become WWF/WWE-centric. Wrestling games would largely abandon the arcade style and become more of a simulation, similar to the directions that other sports games went.

Conclusion

Going through all of these games has been a lot of fun. I missed out on most of these games when I was younger, and when I started collecting retro games, I initially bypassed these as my interest in wrestling started to wane. As I started to get back into wrestling history and watching retrospectives on YouTube, I got back into wrestling.

There are a few games that are terrible, but most of them are average. As I was going through this, I found a huge gap between the games that were okay and those that were great. As I went through the average games, I kept thinking about which ones I had fun with.

Much of this was based on how much I enjoyed the games until I got to the final four. Those were very close, and if I had more memories of playing the N64 games as a kid, then I might’ve put them in a different order.

If you liked this post, please check out some of my other wrestling video game posts, such as WCW Games ranked from worst to best.