10 Best Wrestling Video Games Ever
With 2K17 hitting shelves, we take a look back at the genres history.
For almost as long as professional wrestling has been a stable part of pop culture, its relationship with gaming has enjoyed a rather, shall we say, bumpy ride. From the very earliest days of wallet-emptying arcade hijinks to today's super hi-tech, bajillion-pixel smackdowns, wrestling games have endured countless highs and lows over the years.
With the hype and debate surrounding WWE 2K17 coming fresh into view, what better time to look back over wrestling gaming's illustrious history and pick out the ten greatest titles of all time? After all, for every Here Comes The Pain, there's a Backstage Assault, so let's get to it and count down our list of the best wrestling games ever.
10. WWF Attitude (N64/Playstation, 1999)
Released in summer 1999 at the height of the generation-defining era of the same name, Attitude picked up where the fun but absurdly difficult Warzone left off. Adding in proper entrances alongside a host of new match types, including now-standards like Triple Threat, Fatal Four-Way, Handicap and Battle Royale, along with edgier offerings like First Blood and Last Man Standing, the game was a gigantic leap from its predecessor.
An easier gameplay system allowing finishers to be possible without having to do a bazillion button combinations made the overall experience a far more enjoyable one, while the solid roster and fun career modes offered more than just pick-up-and-fool-your-mates value. Sure, it would soon get put in its place (see later in this list), but for its time it was a solid piece of work.
Obviously, we're talking about the N64 and Playstation versions here. The Gameboy Colour one sucked ass. Sorry Gameboy.