Wrestler appearances in other video games

The one on the left is taken  from the Andre the giant sprite IN WWF superstars which in turn was used in double Dragon 2

On the subject of Wrestler likenesses, here's an obscure Wrestling title from the late 1980's.

Take Down
Platform: Commodore 64
Year: 1988
Publisher: Gamestar



Attached below is footage of Take Down in action (gameplay starts at 2:25):



Now that we've taken a glimpse at the gameplay, I'll take a stab at the knockoffs:




Ninja - Every game needs a generic Ninja character!

The Sultan - Another generic character. The middle eastern motif may have been loosely based on The Sheik or Iron Sheik.

Sea Dawg - A generic pirate character. At first I thought his name was a reference to famous tag team The Moon Dogs.
                  Though, from the game's cover art, Sea Dawg looks closer to The Bushwhackers.

Iron Head - When selecting this character, he grunts "I ...AM...IRON...HEAD". Obviously, a reference to the famous Black Sabbath song Iron Man
                  - a song The Road Warriors used early in their career as an entrance theme. Visually, though, Iron Head looks closer to Macho Man Randy Savage to me.


Viking - Vikin's in-game sprite looks just like Hulk Hogan. But, John Nord first adopted the "Nord The Barbian" (later, the Berserker gimmick) in WCCW
             a year earlier.

Tomahawk - The Native American character. Since Tatanka was a fear years away from making his debut in the WWF, I'm sensing some Jimmy Snuka
                     vibes here.

Mr. Cool - Portrait and voice clip-wise, I think this is supposed to be Ric Flair. Though, with the shades, jive talk and music, there may be a hint of Handsome
               Jimmy Valiant (in his Boogey Man persona).

Sgt. Slam - Sgt. Slaughter. Though, I find it weird that Slam's portrait looks similar to The Iron Sheik. A few years later, Sheik and Slaughter would become
                 Gulf War sympathizers after Sheik was renamed Colonel Mustafa in 1991.

If you owned an Amiga back in the late 80's and were into Pro-Wrestling, you may have come across the following title:


International Championship Wrestling
Platform: Amiga
Publisher: Avatar Consulting
Year: 1989




Eagle/Lance DoGood versus Russian Heel Ivan.

Eagle's red and yellow ring gear may be a nod to Hulk Hogan.

The characters are as followed:






Ivan Trotsky: The Russian heel. I think Ivan is a dead ringer for Ivan Drago from Rocky IV (which came out two years prior).

Eagle: The American version also lists this character as "Lance DoGood". On the game's cover art, I think the developers were
           going for Hulk Hogan, but his green ring tights and blonde hair bring to mind Superstar Billy Graham. Gameplay wise,
           I noticed Eagle/Lance uses a Figure Four Leglock akin to Ric Flair;  so, Eagle is probably just Flair.


Kai-Leung Kahn: Killer Khan.

The Bruiser: The unplayable final boss. I can't seem to get a portrait of this character, but he looks like a re-drawn Ivan Trotsky.
                     With the Gorilla Press Slam, tan, facepaint and long hair, he may be based off of The Ultimate Warrior (who was
                     being pushed as the WWF World Heavyweight Champion during this period).

                     The Bruiser certainly doesn't look like Bruiser Brody or Dick The Bruiser.


For those that want to see ICW in action:


Credit: petsasjim1


Reviews from gaming mags at the time universally panned International Championship Wrestling. Some critics going as far as writing ICW off as a
Championship Wrestling clone.


Credit: Moby Games

An ultra-obscure 3D Wrestling game from Japan with Pro-Wrestler knockoffs? How about an ultra-obscure game with next to no information available online
outside of Japan?

Today, I'll be providing probably the first-ever Wrestler name translations and coverage of the following Wrestling title:


Pro-Wrestling Sengokuden: Hyper Tag Match
Known in Japan as: プロレス戦国伝 ハイパータッグマッチ
Year: 1997
Publisher: KSS
Platform: PS1



Hyper Tag Match is the second game in the Pro-Wrestling Sengokuden series. A 3D Wrestling series on the Playstation that was only
available in Japan.

Hyper Tag Match did away with the previous entry's Wrestling Sim story mode. In the story mode's place are standard match types such
as world championship, challenge match (exhibition mode) and a league mode.



The roster is split into two promotions: JWF (the Japanese federations) and WWN (American).

As usual, the roster features many recognizable faces under different names. Seeing as there's no gameFAQ guide for any of the Sengokuden games,
I felt I would uncover the entire roster here.

Just like Fire Pro-Wrestling 6 Man Scramble, each Wrestler's 1st player costume has been strategically recoloured. That is, until you select the Wrestler's
2nd player attires, which makes them look more recognizable.




First up is:

ウルフ・光司
Wolf Koji 

Koji has long hair, black trunks and white boots. Koji is based off of Riki Choshu.



ドラゴン・関
Dragon Seki

The yellow and black ring attire mixed with his dragon namesake is a nod to Genichiro Tenryu.



スペース・剛
Space Tsuyoshi

Space's 2P costume and Moonsault is a dead ringer for Keiji Mutoh. "Space" was most-likely chosen
for Keiji Mutoh's signature Rolling Space Elbow technique.



ホッパー・速水
Hopper Hayami

The green and white tights plus elbow strike. Hopper is based on Mitsuharu Misawa.



木元岩跌
Iwatsura Kimoto

The stiff kicks, long hair, sideburns and red & black pants. Kimoto is based on Shinya Hashimoto.



山田 鬼丸
Onimaru Yamada

The second member of All Japan's famed "Four Pillars". Yamada is based on Toshiaki Kawada.




バッファロー雷
Buffalo Lightning

The mullet and green/grey tights are good indicators. Then his usage of the Stranglehold submission hold sealed the deal.
Buffalo is based on Kensuke Sasaki.




ブレイブ・隆
Brave Takashi

Takashi's second attire is a clear indication that Takashi is based on Kenta Kobashi.



スペクト・切人
Spectre Setsujin

The black shoot gear, high kicks and big wheel kick all point to Akira Maeda.



荒井 未来
Mirai Arai

Sengokuden's second popular shoot fighter. The long hair, palm strikes and green ring gear are all a nod to Masakatsu Funaki.



シーザー・朝倉
Shiza Asakura

Since Maeda and Funaki are already here, UWFI's top star shouldn't be far behind. Asakura is base on Nobuhiko Takada.



原 光陰
Kouin Hara

The last of the major shoot fighting stars of the mid 1990's. His shaved head, Fujiwara Armbar and Headbutt attacks all point
toward Yoshiaki Fujiwara.

Now, let's take a look at the Wrestlers from Sengokuden's WWN promotion.




S・バロン
S. Baron

Using a Western Lariat, S. Baron is based on Stan Hansen.



B・グローリー
B. Glory

B. Glory is based on Bruiser Brody. Just without the beard.



H ・サンダー
H. Thunder

Uses an Axe Bomber as a special attack. H. Thunder is based on Hulk Hogan.



R・エース
R. Ace

This bleach blonde Wrestler uses a Figure Four Leg Lock. Ace is based on Ric Flair.



B・ボーンズ
B. Bones

This was the first Wrestler I recognized from the game's cover. B. Bones is based on Big Van Vader.



G・ライアン
G. Ryan

Since Big Van Vader was active in shoot fighting promotions around this time, it was only natural to include another
big name from the same promotions. G. Ryan is based on "The Suplex Monster" Gary Albright.



W・ロッキー
W. Rocky

Speaking of popular gaijin shooters, we can't forget about W. Rocky who is based on Ken Shamrock.
What's up with all of the initials being used for the foreign Wrestlers? I guess KSS were extra careful when it came to copyright infringement.




V・マックス
V. Max

A shoot fighter that uses a spinning backfist, green and white tights and submission holds. V. Max is based on
Volk Han.



スーパーマーザ
Super Mars

If Maza's pointed ring mask wasn't obvious enough, this Wrestler uses an Abise Kick. Mars is based on
Jushin Thunder Liger.



エア・フォース
Air Force

If his mask wasn't a clear giveaway, the incredibly acrobatic Air Force is based on famed masked Wrestler Hayabusa.



妖人修羅
Youjin Shura

What would you get if you crossed Ronald McDonald with Goldust? You'd get Youjin Shura!
All jokes aside, Shura is based on The Great Muta.



武藏坊一九
Boichikyu Musashi

The shaved head. Facial hair, white pants and strike attacks all lean towards Jinsei Shinzaki.

The game unforgiving with it's difficulty and the controls (especially during lockups) are extremely unresponsive. To make matters worse,
there doesn't seem to be an options menu ...and you can't even pause the game!

I've played a lot of shoddy 3D Wrestling games over the years, but I think Sengokuden is by far the worst. It's like the game just doesn't want to
be played. And, that's a shame really. What could have been a hidden gem in the Playstation library was marred by a general lack of playability.

I can totally see figures adaptations being released some time in the not-too-distant future. You can almost see the Fall Guys figures appearing on EB Games/Gamestop store shelves.
Maybe Fall Guys will be the next Funko Pops and include all kinds of different likenesses. Who knows?

Great finds as always, Staubhold!

Could you guys imagine Ultimate Warrior in the Soul Calibur series?

I think I would have him play like Heihachi. His fist as weapons (with lots of dash moves). You can almost picture Warrior Gorilla Pressing Astaroth into a RING OUT.

Excellent overview as always. By the time this game came out I had moved on from the Amiga but I did play this years later under emulation and it's awful. The presentation is fantastic though with large sprites and easily recognizable knockoffs. I was very unfortunate the purchased the other Amiga wrestling title you mentioned which was international wrestling which was one of the absolute worst games I have ever played. I also purchased wrestlemania for the Amiga thinking it was a conversion of WWF superstars but boy was I wrong. Talk about a wasted pile of money back in the day.