Wrestler appearances in other video games

In the early '90's, there were no shortages of Hulk Hogan clones in the fighting game genre.

 

Muscle Power from the World Heroes series.




Vortz from Tuff E Nuff/Dead Dance.

You might even think of Alex from the Street Fighter series.

But, did you know there exists yet another Hulk Hogan knockoff in fighting game form?


Best of Best (Arcade)



Best of Best is an 1 on 1 fighting game released in Arcades back in 1994. The game was developed by SunA in Korea and is considered
a parody fighter that doesn't take itself too seriously.

SunA are also known for their Arcade fighter Dragon Master.



The intro even sports a familiar looking portrait of a Joe Lewis knockoff performing his famous flying kick.



The high score screen goes a step further with a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the background!



Tom is clearly inspired by Street Fighter's Guile; even down to the same hair comb win animation.

Besides shooting a sonic boom from the ground, Tom also possesses Blanka's rolling attack.



Judging by the next character's portrait and name, I was expecting a Scott Steiner cameo.

Though, Scott is based on Rambo.



Scott reminds me of two more fighting game Rambo knockoffs: Stalong and Ranboo from Fighting Hero III on the NES.



What do you get if you cross Street Fighter's Birdie with Double Dragon's Jimmy Lee? You get Best of Best's Tango.



Bringing to mind Chun-Li, Shalin is the token female fighter from China. Shalin's stage features a portrait of General Mao Zedong.

Though, Shalin does have a cool illusion technique where Shalin temporarily splits into three clones of herself.

And now for the main attraction.....



The obligatory Hulk Hogan clone.

Along with a sliding kick (not shown), Hawk can perform Blanka's rolling attack and fire a hadouken!



Hawk fights in New York City with the statue of Liberty getting a front row seat!

If you want to see the game in action:

Next to the 1986 arcade game Dump Matsumoto Gokuaku Domei, I think I may have discovered the first batch of officially-licensed Japanese Wrestling games.

On page 15, we took a look at the LCD handheld board game Big Wrestler from 1983. This morning, I made a few new handheld discoveries with even more Wrestler likenesses:


Watchman Pro-Wrestling
(Known in Japan as ウォッチマン プロレス)


Released by TOMY in 1983, Watchman Pro-Wrestling pits Antonio Inoki against Abdullah The Butcher.




It's worth noting that TOMY would go on to make officially-endorsed video games for New Japan Pro-Wrestling in the decades to come.



A handheld version of the exact same game that resembles Nintendo's Game and Watch series.



The front cover of the instruction manual contains an illustration of the in-game graphics. Pictured are both Wrestlers performing their finishers.
Antonio Inoki's Enzuigiri and Abdullah The Butcher's Diving Elbow Drop (Sudanese Meat Clever).



A close up of the LCD graphics. Inoki got a missile dropkick and an Enzuigiri; while we get a clear view of Abdullah climbing the ropes for his finisher.

I think the most interesting aspect of this console is the "KING OF SPORTS" slogan in the top right corner of the handheld. King of Sports is the slogan
of NJPW; making me question whether this handheld was the first officially-licensed NJPW game or not.

The bottom of the handheld features the NWF Heavyweight Championship. A belt both Antonio Inoki and Abdullah The Butcher were synonymous with
holding as early as 1972.

While we're on the subject of handheld Wrestling games, we might as well take a look at Tiger Electronics' non-WWF/WCW games.


Electronic Wrestling

Released in 1988 by Tiger Electronics, Electronic Wrestling was an ambitious handheld for it's time that featured four playable Wrestlers and
respectively, four opponents to face.





The first opponent (upper right of the handheld) reminds me of The Missing Link. Additionally, player number #2 (on the left) makes me think
of The Iron Sheik or Killer Khan.


Wrestling

Not ones to rest on their laurels, Tiger Electronics followed up with a similar handheld in 1991. This time, dropping the word "electronic" entirely.



Judging by the art around the handheld, the four generic Wrestlers are dressed in the primary R/B/G/Y colours.

The Wrestler in the green tank top with the long hair reminds me of Bret Hart or Scott Steiner. Is that Hulk Hogan or Kevin Sullivan
(the guy in the bottom left corner in the yellow trunks) locked into the green tank top's head crank? We may never know....

While not cheap by any means (second hand watch games still sell for about $140 a piece on Yahoo auctions in Japan), the bar for playability was certainly lower as handheld
gaming was still a novel concept in Japan.

Apparently, Mattel released the first handheld game (Auto Race) in 1976. Though, I think the above examples were inspired by Nintendo's Game & Watch series.

Nintendo video game designer Gunpei Yokei came up with the Game & Watch concept while riding a train in Japan. During his trip, Gunpei noticed a bored Japanese businessman
fidgeting with his LCD calculator. The rest is pretty much history.


For those of you wondering why AJPW or NJPW didn't have more officially-licensed games in the 1980's. Well, they kind of did:


All Japan Pro-Wrestling Game
(Known in Japan as 全日本プロレスゲーム)

Released in 1984 by TAKARA, the All Japan Pro-Wrestling game was the first licensed gaming product for the promotion.





The back of the box provided instructions on how to assemble the three-dimension game board.



There are four characters to choose from: The Great Kabuki, Genichiro Tenryu, Jumbo Tsuruta and Giant Baba.


The Giant Baba game piece next to a standard Abdullah The Butcher keshi figure.

Each character had their own corresponding keshigomu figure (M.U.S.C.L.E. style eraser figures). The bulky figures were larger than your standard keshi.




Jumbo Tsuruta and The Great Kabuki. I have yet to see a picture of the fourth character: Genichiro Tenryu.



Four players and four different championships.



When fully-assembled, the AJPW Wrestling Game was a thing of beauty. The cardboard layout even had sliding cabinet drawers that could store pieces
and hold each player's score card; making the game both practical and convenient.




 

In the style of an actual Wrestling match, game cards were divided into two types. Red "fight cards" for basic attacks and blue cards "Killing Blow" for signature moves
exclusive to each of the four Wrestlers.



One of the "Killing Blow" cards features an illustration of Kabuki's "Thrust Kick" finisher.
 


Each player's score card contained a checklist of the four championship belts. Five years before Jumbo Tsuruta became the first Triple Crown Champion,
players could try to collect all four of the following belts in the AJPW board game:

NWA International Heavyweight Championship
PWF World Heavyweight Championship
NWA United National Championship
NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship


All Japan Pro-Wrestling weren't the only promotion cashing in on the board game craze of the 1980's.

Before NJPW entered the world of video games, there existed:


Burning Spirit Pro-Wrestling Game:
(Known in Japan as 燃える闘魂 プロレス ゲーム)




Don't mind the scribbles on the front of the box.

Like the All Japan board game we already discussed, NJPW's version was also made by Takara.

I don't think this game is any older than 1983; as Satoru Sayama (the first Tiger Mask) left NJPW that same year. Possibly
making this board game even older than the AJPW version.



Like the AJPW version, the Burning Fighting Spirit Game included a board, playing cards and Character pieces.



Andre The Giant, Tiger Mask, Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami.

It would take NJPW about 8 more years before the promotion began lending their namesake to actual video games.

In the world of video games, there are a ton of Hulk Hogan knockoffs.

But, did you know, the man himself promoted 30 knockoff games in real life?



Released in 1994, the Maxivision was marketed as a 30 games in 1 cartridge that was compatible with your Nintendo Entertainment System.





The infomercial also featured guest appearances by Honky Tonk Man, Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff and The Birdman Koko B. Ware!



By the time the Maxivision was released, the number of available games was cut in half. Charging $149 USD (or $283 USD in today's money)
for 15 unlicensed games - most of which were already available as separate cartridges.



Could you see the Hulkster promoting Action 52?

If you want the full story with lots of pictures, background info and an overall funny read, check out this link from our friends at Wrestlecrap:
wrestlecrap.com/inductions/induction-maxivision/

The Street Fighter series is synonymous with fighters based on real-life Wrestlers, athletes and pop culture icons.

Early in this thread, we analyzed characters like Fei Long (Bruce Lee), Balrog (Mike Tyson), Ryu (Mas Oyama), Rufus (Vader),
Abel (Fedor) among several others.

While glossing over the bonus costumes in Street Fighter V, I noticed a few nods that I felt were worth bringing up:



For starters, Zangief's "Battle Outfit 1" brings to mind 80's Pro-Wrestling.

Colour 1 makes me think of Macho Man Randy Savage while Capcom's official website states

"Zangief has these clothes as well. It's a survival costume. For color 12...looks like he's ready to rip his T-shirt off."
Obviously referencing Hulk Hogan.



Zangief's "Sporty" attire makes me want to check my watch. For me, I see a Big Van Vader influence here.
The black and red V styled singlet is another hint towards the Vader reference, in my opinion.



The mech suit Zangief brings to mind Iron Man or Japan's Ultraman.



Capcom's website says Rainbow Mika's Lucha outfit carries a phoenix motif. The gold and white pattern of this variant recalls
Mistico/Sin Cara.

The red and gold variant ushered in thoughts of the red and yellow boa Hulk Hogan used to wear to the ring in his recent years.

Character customization in fighting games is a concept that dates back to the early 1990's. The idea of being able to add a personal touch to a fighter
creates a stronger bond between player and their in-game avatar.

In past pages, we examined Tekken's customization modes. With so many familiar edit pieces, King really was the king of Pro-Wrestling references.

Though, today, I may have a contender...


Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown (2012):

One of Virtua Fighter's original grapplers Wolf Hawkfield is not stranger to Pro-Wrestling references. The man himself looks like a cross between
Mike Awesome and The Ultimate Warrior. However, the Wrasslin' influences are taken to a whole new level with Final Showdown's customization
mode.

Using Wolf's various edit pieces, players can recreate the following Wrestlers:



The Ultimate Warrior                                                                           Road Warrior Hawk                                                  Hulk Hogan

 

Kurt Angle                                                                                                       Rick Rude                                                                                        Bret Hart



Ric Flair                                                                                                                Sting                                                                          Triple H



Goldberg                                                                                  And Alberto Del Rio.
                                                                                               Though, if the towel can be recoloured, players could also make Antonio Inoki.

Credit to HLRisma for the video.