Final Bout Guide Book Scans

Weekly Famitsu (ファミコン通信) - No. 256 257 November 12th 19th 1993

Q: "Mr. Liger, what inspired you to become a wrestler?"
LIGER: "When I was young, I wasn't in great shape - I was thin, and on top of that, I was a quiet kid. So when I was in elementary school, I was actually in the gardening club and took care of flowers (laughs). But when I got into junior high, I just happened to see a magazine about pro wrestling at the bookstore, with Fujinami-san on the cover. Seeing Fujinami's physique inspired me to want to become a pro wrestler, so I began training."

Q: "So you didn't start playing video games until you had entered the dojo?"
LIGER: "Yeah, but not until I'd become one of the senpai there. At the time, the NJPW dojo dorm reception room had a little TV, so we hooked up a Famicom to it and started playing a baseball game. You know, the one where it makes a whistly noise when you hit the ball?"

Q: "Family Stadium? (RBI Baseball in the US)"
LIGER: "That's the one! That game really fired us up. Whenever someone was playing the game, everyone else would gather behind them and tell them to do this or that."

Q: "So you don't play many Super Famicom games?"
LIGER: "When I played 'Ultraman,' no matter how many times I tried I couldn't beat Gomora. And there's just so many buttons! (laughs) I'm kinda bad at it."

Q: "From your point of view, how do you feel when you're playing wrestling games?"
LIGER: "Speaking as a pro wrestler, the games don't have the same 'flow.' In pro wrestling, you start on the mat to establish an offense and defense. An important part of that is taking hold of the opponent's arm in order to sap away their stamina. And then, you move to offense and defense while standing, and in the end you use your signature move to finish the match... That's what I mean by the 'flow.' Nothing really does a great job of conveying that."

Q: "What do you mean by the offense and defense on the mat?"
LIGER: "It's the subtleties of the fight, like how you get on a wristlock, how you twist their arm, or where on the opponent's body you want to push your own weight. If I were a lower-ranked wrestler, you could force a submission just by twisting my wrist. But also, if you shift your weight and know your opponent's pressure points, that alone can drain a lot of their stamina. Though, it seems like younger wrestlers don't know about those little tricks of the trade."

Q: "You need experience to know where those pressure points are."
LIGER: "That's right. Those little intricacies just aren't represented well in games. But, in a world where we fight for the difference between 1cm and 5mm, it might be too miniscule a difference for someone to stare into the TV screen until it burns a hole in it, going 'I only need 5mm more to win!' (laughs)"

Q: "And how do you feel about any individual games in particular?"
LIGER: "First off, with 'Super Fire Pro Wrestling 2,' I feel like it's hard to see the tiny wrestlers, which is a real bottleneck for me. It could be fun for people who are willing to put in the work to get good, but that's just my personal feelings on it. 'Street Fighter II Turbo' is fun. Wouldn't it be more interesting if you could jump around like you can in a game like that? But still, 'New Japan Pro Wrestling' is the most fun game to me. I like that the opponents use their real names, and most importantly, the wrestlers are big, which makes me feel a lot more into it. I think the fun of the game comes from how fired up you get playing it. And even for the people just watching the game on the sidelines, the bigger the characters on the screen, the more exciting it is."

Q: "How do you come up with your signature moves?"
LIGER: "I get inspired from lots of things, but in some cases, I get them from manga. For example, the Shooting Star Press is a reference to the 'Waterfowl's Fist of the Southern Cross' (tl note: Rei's style of fighting) from 'Fist of the North Star.' I thought it'd be amazing if you could make its moves a reality.

Q: "Sometimes I wonder how you could actually get away with things like doing a diving headbutt from the top rope..."
LIGER: "We're not only competing to win, but also professionally showing our pro wrestling to the crowd. If Antonio Inoki was matched up against someone who only had a power of 5, he would fight to make them look like a 7 or 8. It's as much about learning to take the opponent's moves as it is about doing your own. But, I win by exerting my strength of 10. I think that's our role as professionals."

Q: "And last, what do games mean to you, Liger-san?"
LIGER: "It's all about blowing off stress and having something for us all to get excited about. It's not a thing for gambling (laughs). I hope there will be more games in the future to get excited over... and also that they'll maybe put less buttons on the Super Famicom (laughs). The easier something is to use, the better."

JUSHIN THUNDER LIGER'S TOP 5
1. New Japan Pro Wrestling: Super Fighters in the Tokyo Dome
"All the fighters have their real names, so for me, I can't help but get emotional. Or rather I get sentimental about it. (laughs) It's a nice way for fans to make their dream matches... I'll just keep mine secret so the other NJPW wrestlers don't find out.
Screenshot caption: Because New Japan Pro Wrestling acted as supervisors, everyone in this game appears using their real names. The large characters are a special attraction.

2. Street Fighter II Turbo
"Chun-Li's great! Anyway, I really like this game. The live-action commercial for it, too. You know Chun-Li's Explosive Legs... Oh, wait, I mean Lightning Legs -- those are my special move in this."
Screenshot caption: Liger-san is a big fan of Chun-Li. Against all odds and reason, it makes the ranking.

3. All Japan Pro Wrestling
"I like that this one also has everyone's real names. And since it's another company, it's nice that my personal feelings don't get in the way (laughs). I think it's got just the right amount of fun factor."
Screenshot caption: This was made with All Japan Pro Wrestling's supervision. You have to see the way Baba moves!

4. Super Fire Pro Wrestling 2
"I feel like it's hard to see what's on screen, but I think it can be fun for people who put in the effort to learn it."
Screenshot caption: This series has a rabid fanbase. But doesn't it still seem tough to play for first-time players?

5. Pro Wrestling (Famicom)
"It's hard to tell what's going on in this game, too. I guess that's just a problem older games have, huh?"
Screenshot caption: A game for the Disk System. At the time it came out, it was a remarkable accomplishment, but with the Super Famicom's release, nowadays, it's..."

Very very cool. Thanks for sharing. Yup Ultimate Warrior stated in his DVD he used to have like 12 cups of coffee with Macho-Man. Love the SFC FP titles.