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Post by Shadow Master on May 8, 2024 11:27:58 GMT
Thanks to our friend Ligerbusa, this photo has been making it's rounds on the internet:  For a series that was known for adding knockoffs of famous Wrestlers to it's franchise, now a bootleg toy exists that's knocking off Fire Pro itself. It even uses Fire Pro's Gameboy Advance logo. The hunter has become the hunted. We have come full circle. |
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Post by BakFu on May 8, 2024 12:46:58 GMT
Wow, and they’re such marketing geniuses that they’re using Jeff Hardy’s face to bring the collectors running to add these totally licensed figures to their collections! 🤣
Maybe this is a marketing tool for a new FP game, FPW violence race?! 😳
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Post by Shadow Master on May 8, 2024 15:20:31 GMT
As long as that race game doesn't involve actual WWE superstars and racing ....oh, wait. To go off topic for one extra post: if you think Jeff Hardy was an issue. Wait until you see what happened to knockoff Goldberg:  I used to own these figures as a kid. They were knockoffs of the old AWA Mini Mashers made by Remco. Maybe I'll create some of these knockoffs in Fire Pro World one day. |
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Post by Shadow Master on May 11, 2024 16:27:59 GMT
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Post by Shadow Master on May 12, 2024 17:08:04 GMT
All 51 pages of the Bible to the Champion Special version have now been scanned and posted by yours truly: |
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Post by Shadow Master on May 14, 2024 16:57:10 GMT
Unless you lived in Japan, or are a diehard PC Engine game collector, this next game probably flew under your radar 34 years ago. ULTRABOX (Known in Japan as CD-ROMマガジン ウルトラボックス創刊号)Year: 1990 Platform: PC Engine CD-ROM Released by: Victor Music  Nightmare-inducing cover aside, Ultrabox is a compilation disc released for the PC Engine's CD-ROM add-on. The disc included minigames, fanart, stories, and other miscellaneous items. But what does any of this have to do with Pro-Wrestlers making appearances in other video games you may ask? Ultrabox features a special minigame with famous Japanese Wrestling legend Rusher Kimura. Rusher's minigame in the 1990 title Ultrabox. While Rusher Kimura was the first Japanese Wrestler to wrestle in a cage, he was best known in his later years for his comic mic skills; going from being known as 'the demon of the steel cage' to 'the demon of the mic'. Rusher's off-the-wall mic skills were so famous that his remarks and voice clips were included in Ultrabrox's first release. |
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Post by Shadow Master on May 14, 2024 21:11:33 GMT
Did you know that even the artwork of the Fire Pro series pays tribute to the mat world as well? While scanning the All Japan Pro-Wrestling Strategical Fan Book from 1993, I came across several Wrestler photos that looked exactly like the artwork featured in some of the Fire Pro guides released at the time. All of the portraits on the right are from the Super Fire Pro-Wrestling Final Bout and Special Fight Books, which were released in 1994 and 1995:  Kenta Kobashi and his Fire Pro counterpart Keiji Togashi.
 Starting to feel spooked yet? Akira Taue's Fire Pro portrait as Akira Sagami is also spot-on.  Jumbo Tsuruta and Tommy Bomber; sans elbow pad.  Toshiaki Kawada and Toshiie Kazama. Same pose, just with a flipped portrait.  Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and his Fire Pro counterpart Kiyoshi Akechi.
 The stoic-faced Mitsuharu Misawa and his alien-looking Fire Pro counterpart Mitsuhide Hikawa.  Terry Gordy's portrait was the first one that caught my eye. Of course, Terry's Fire Pro counterpart Kerry Bogey.  No complaints here for Steve Williams and his Fire Pro companion Steel James. |
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Post by Shadow Master on May 15, 2024 23:04:32 GMT
This 33 year Fire Pro artifact just arrived in the mail today. Being an obsessive Pro-Wrestling archivist, I rushed to my scanner:  Fire Pro-Wrestling 2nd Bout never had an actual strategy guide of it's own; but that didn't stop the PC Engine magazine in Japan from releasing a two-page movelist for the 16 standard characters (minus the four hidden bosses). The top caption reads "All 16 players fighting spirit preparation". Of course, all of the characters featured on this insert are based on real-life Wrestlers. I also find it weird that each Wrestler's size and make are listed ...since there was no CAW mode invented in a Fire Pro game ....yet.  Although you can't see it from my scans, this two page insert was printed on thick, cardboard stock. It's sturdy as heck with rounded edges. At about the size of two mouse pads ...I'm tempted to use this artifact as a coaster of some sort! |
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Post by Shadow Master on May 17, 2024 3:48:02 GMT
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Post by Shadow Master on May 18, 2024 4:41:33 GMT
Pages ago, I theorized that Baraki from obscure 2D fighter Power Moves/Deadly Moves/Power Athlete may have been based on Kamala the Ugandan Giant. After reading the manual of the Japanese port Power Athlete, it turns out my theory was correct:  Baraki's full name is Baraki Kimera (バラキ . キメラ). While the pronunciation is closer to the mythological beast Chimera, Baraki's appearance looks visually similar to Kamala. Speaking of fighting games, in the Killer Instinct remake, Tusk has special costume pieces resembling that of a Wrestler.  Tusk's weapon can be switched for a turnbuckle!  Hard to say who the mask may have been based off of; but it's always cool to find Pro-Wrestling references in fighting games. |
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Post by Shadow Master on May 18, 2024 16:58:56 GMT
Have you ever wanted to mix trading cards and arcade games? Well, Konami created this very concept in the mid 2000's with the long-forgotten BATTLECLIMAXX series.   Originally released in 2004, Battleclimax is an Arcade Wrestling game that implemented actual trading cards that players could purchase in the real world.  The cards would be used as techniques against local players or CPU opponents. There was also online play between 2004 - 2008.   Among the cast of officially-licensed NJPW Wrestlers, players could also play as the generic maskman Maxx Kurai. Player cards included: Tatsumi Fujinami Shinya Hashimoto Yuji Nagata Kensuke Sasaki Seiji Sakaguchi Koji Kanemoto Manabu Nakanishi Takashi Sugiura KENTA Hiroyoshi Tenzan Jushin Thunder Liger Tengukaiser Tomoaki Honma Osamu Nishimura Scott Norton Michael Modest Donovan Morgan Masato Tanaka On July 12th, 2005, the Battleclimaxx server posted a memorial message for Shinya Hashimoto (one of the playable characters in the game) a day after his passing. Footage of Battleclimaxx 2 can be seen below: www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm1588811 |
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Post by kokushishin on May 19, 2024 8:38:58 GMT
IIRC Mushiking was earlier although it didn't take off until the anime (thus Kotaro and Ricky Marvin in Mushiking guises)
EDIT: It appears SEGA's first was World Cup Champion Football, although again it took a while for the concept to really hit.
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Post by Shadow Master on May 20, 2024 1:25:40 GMT
Speaking of Wrestling video games involving cards, Mattel's Hyperscan console included it's own Wrestling game. Interstellar Wrestling League (2006) In an age of 3D Wrestling titles flooding the market, Interstellar Wrestling League takes a backseat by offering a 2D Wrestling experience. Matches are conducted in a strictly 1-on-1 affair, with a roster of goofy combatants that seem to be based on real-life Wrestlers.  Galacto The Magnificent is a nod to Gorgeous George. I wouldn't be surprised if Galacto also had some inspiration derived from that of Ric Flair.  Uber Tuber is no "common tater" (get it? Commentator). With the apparent tater pun and crown in the illustration, Uber Tuber may be based on Jerry 'The King' Lawler.  Lobstar is your typical Elvis impersonator; which could also be inspired by WWF's Honky Tonk Man.  "Canned heat" is another insider Wrestling term used to pipe in the sounds of fans cheering or jeering to amplify crowd noise. Canned Heat's finisher 'The Asimov', is a nod to Russian Sciencist Isaac Asimov. Canned attire may be a mixture of Iron Man and Russian heels of Wrestling's yesterday.  Do I sense a classic The Rock pie trope?  It wouldn't be a fictional card game without a few monsters. Gibbonator reminds me of King Kong mixed with Krang from TMNT.  This was another tough one that required use of my vivid imagination. WWF's Hillbillies tag team (Hillbilly Jim & Uncle Elmer)?   Every card game also needs a few baddies. Protoplasm reminds me of the Aliens from 1996 cult sci-fi movie Mars Attack. |
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Post by Shadow Master on May 20, 2024 6:45:51 GMT
Discovering forgotten Wrestling titles from the 1980's is always a treat for me. Though, this next discovery just might beat Pro-Wrestling (Sega Master System) as the worst cover art for a Wrasslin' game:
Wrestle ManiacYear: 1986 Platform: RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer Released by: Diecom Products Wrestle Maniac is a play on WrestleMania and Hulkamaniac.  The heavy-set Wrestler on the right is going for a Bionic Elbow, yet looks like King Kong Bundy. The caveman Wrestler on the left looks like Jimmy 'Super Fly' Snuka. As WrestleMania 2 pitted Hogan against Bundy that same year, it would be interesting to see if Bundy was indeed the inspiration for Wrestle Maniac's cover art.  The sprites themselves are identical; save for player 2 wearing a singlet. Just a simple graphical trick to offer some difference between both sprites. Wrestle Maniac would be released one year before Andre The Giant started wearing his iconic black singlet as a heel. |
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Post by Staubhold on May 21, 2024 0:31:27 GMT
It wouldn't be a fictional card game without a few monsters. Gibbonator reminds me of King Kong mixed with Krang from TMNT. Reminds me of the Brain Slugs in Futurama... Makes even more sense since Brain Slugs appeared in the episode "Raging Bender", where Bender (First as "Bender the Offender", later as "Gender Bender") fights in the Ultimate Robot Fighting League. |
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