I have a feeling I'll be the only person to bring up this obscure Super Famicom game in 2022, but Technos' Hybrid Wrestler is the first game I think of that
certainly deserves a reboot.
More than just your typical 90's Pro-Wrestling game with knockoff likenesses, Hybrid Wrestler has:
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A career mode:Released two months before Super Fire Pro-Wrestling Special, Hybrid Wrestler's career mode was the most realistic in a Pro-Wrestling game at the time.
Players aged in real time, could adjust stats and attires after matches, choose opponents and promotions they wished to have title matches with, start a
romantic relationship, retire and even have children who can go on to have their own playable careers!
The longer players circled through career mode, the slower and more fragile their players would get; imitating the process of growing old in the real
Wrestling world.
- Arena hazards:
There are five arenas in Hybrid Wrestler. Each with their own distinct hazards and, like WWF In Your House, each stage
is modelled after a specific Wrestler's likeness.
Vader's Rocky Mountain-styled scaffold stage features a breakaway floor where holes continue to become more visible each time a player is thrown to the mat.
Drop an opponent enough times over the same spot and...
They'll fall through the floor!
Taking a cue from 2D fighters at the time, the Street Fight stage (made for Dick Vrij) is as exactly as it sounds.
The goal with Street Fights is to win via knockout or submission.
Besides the adjusted match stipulations, the hazard for the Street Fight stage comes in the form of disgruntled onlookers who will interrupt a match
and proceed to break a bottle over either player's head!
For even more hilarity, either play can attack the onlooker and send them away crying!
Playing off of The Sheik's royal gimmick, the Mansion stage features pits at all four sides of the ring. The goal
is to knock or throw the opponent off of one of them.
The Desert stage reminds me of Guile's Street Fighter 2 backdrop.
Most likely inspired by Abdullah The Butcher, the Desert stage provides added damage for players each time they are thrown
on the rough ground here. Leading to easier knockouts in this rough terrain.
The default ring. There are variations to the mat design when playing through career mode in one of the three promotions.
There's also the well-endowed audience members. But, that's a story for another time...
Every Wrestler has a special "hidden" technique:
Besides standard grapples, submissions and strike attacks, each Wrestler has a special move at their disposal.
Dick Vrij has a shoot combo, Mil Mascaras can bounce off the ropes, The Sheik can pull a weapon out of his tights and my absolute favourite:
Abdullah The Butcher can summon bursts of hellfire!
Years before Kane started blasting pyro, Mugapepe's special would make the screen go red as bursts of flame
would randomly shoot up from the ground for about 5 seconds.
Character creation:
Through the game's Career mode, players are given the opportunity to save their created Wrestlers for play
in Hybrid Wrestler's other modes.
While nowhere near as robust as later Pro-Wrestling CAW modes, Hybrid Wrestler was still a good contender for 1994.
Here's the Wrestlers I made: Akira Maeda, Dynamite Kid, Tiger Mask, Rick Steiner, Bas Rutten,
Mitsuharu Misawa, Hulk Hogan, Willie Williams, Sting and Masahiro Chono.
The music is very catchy:
The phrase underappreciated SNES OST gets thrown around a lot. While not as iconic as Street Fighter II, Donkey Kong Country or Super Castlevania,
Hybrid Wrestler has a unique soundtrack that is catchy, memorable and underrated in it's own right.
If you're a fan of the PANCRASE promotion, you'll be pleased to find the instantly-recognizable Hybrid Conscious theme in all of it's 16-bit glory. Other
stand out tracks include the power chord-driven Scaffold theme, the upbeat ring theme and the fan favourite Street Fight theme.
Unlike other Wrestling soundtracks that have a larger emphasis on trying to recreate rhythm and lead guitar sounds, the Hybrid Wrestler score is light
hearted, atmospheric and a unique experience all the same. There's no other soundtrack like it on the SNES or SFC.
There is an English patch:Just like Queens Special and X Premium, there exists an English rom hack out there which translates most of the game - including the ringside commentary
during matches; making Hybrid Wrestler all the more approachable for players outside of Japan.