4. "WWF Wrestlemania Challenge" (NES/Commodore 64) 1990
Roster: Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Big Bossman, Rick Rude, Brutus Beefcake Wrestlemania Challenge is the first ever WWF game to feature Brutus Beefcake. What a treat. Besides that, it is also the first WWF game in which the user could take control of someone other than a member of the wrestling roster. In the game's Championship Mode you played as a generic character known as "Yourself" and tried to beat every wrestler in the game to become the WWF Champion. What's strange about this game is that rather than the usual side on view that wrestling games usually come in, Wrestlemania Challenge viewed the ring from a high angle isometric view, presenting the ring as more of a diamond, which made everything more awkward and didn't really work. As always, the aim was to reduce your opponents stamina bar to zero. The moves at your disposable were slightly different when controlling different people, but only for a few moves. Putting aside the bad controls, the game was frustratingly easy once you got used to it, with the opponents 8 energy bars being ridiculously easy to deplete in no time at all. On the positive side of things, it did feature some authentic finishing moves, which is always a nice touch, adding a bit of variety to the gameplay. It was also the first WWF game to feature a 3v3 Survivor Series match alongside the traditional 1v1 and 2v2 modes. Wrestler models did look better than last time, but not by a lot. At least Hogan's skin was nearly the right tone of creepy orangey brown. Again, entrance music played while fighting instead of when entering and oddly, rather than climbing the turnbuckles, wrestlers instead opted to climb the whole ring post. Overall, a slight improvement on the NES game that came before it, but generally another poor entry in the WWF's NES catalogue.