WWE 2K18 is just round the corner and the hope is that it will be yet another huge step up from the current generation of wrestling games, improving on the already impressive 2K series.
When it comes to wrestling games, to be honest, we have been pretty spoiled in the recent years, especially after 2K’s overhaul, despite our nitpicking. But it has not always been plain sailing, has it?
For three decades, WWE has been making games, starting way back with Micro League Wrestling in 1987. Although they have done well at creating decent video games, every now and then there has been a game more disgusting than Bastion Booger.
Here, we will take a look at five of the worst games based on the WWE product.
#5 WWE All Stars (2011)
Released in 2011, this is the most recent game on this list. The premise was okay – pitting stars of the current roster with those of the past was probably a good idea. But the execution was horrific.
The game was more akin to ‘Beat them up’ rather than a wrestling game and this meant that nonsense combos and over the top moves were the order of the day. Basically, All Stars was just SmackDown on steroids, and with all the technicality gone.
The casual gamers might have been impressed with the fast gameplay and simplified controls, it actually worked against the game in being much TOO simple. Moreover, once you mastered the two-button control scheme there was barely anything else to enjoy.
For a while, it was fun – the pre-match montages were almost worth playing alone – but in retrospect, it just played on the nostalgia factor to lure players in.
#4 WWE Crush Hour (2003)
A completely different style of game from the normal wrestling fare, WWE Crush Hour was a vehicular combat game. Instead of the traditional in-ring wrestling simulator, in Crush Hour, you take control of WWE themed cars and destroy opponents.
In the game, Vince McMahon has, of course, taken control of all the TV networks and wants to fill up all the timeslots with WWE related content. Among his latest creations is “Crush Hour”, in which WWE Superstars are pitted against each other in an attempt to destroy each other.
The cars represent the Superstar driving it – from special moves to WWE style entrances to the combat arena, the car itself does everything. Even the arenas are structured like the WWE arenas, like Hell in a Cell, Gauntlet and Royal Rumble.
The game not only alienated WWE fans who just wanted a wrestling game but also the vehicle combat fans as it was never on par existing games of this genre.
#3 WWE Betrayal (2001)
Yet another game that was not a traditional wrestling simulator, WWE Betrayal makes this list at number three. Released two years before Crush Hour, Betrayal, which was for the Game Boy platform, was much like Double Dragon or Streets of Rage.
To be fair, wrestling games on portable devices have always been disappointing, mostly, due to the limitations of the consoles. Unfortunately, shifting from the normal wrestling fare did not work out as the developers had hoped.
The storyline itself was loose. With Stephanie McMahon being kidnapped, Vince decides to offer the reward of a WWE Title shot to whoever can save his daughter.
Given that it was a Game Boy Color game, the graphics were decent, but that’s where the positives end. The attacks were limited to the boring punches and kicks with one finishing move per character. The game was too monotonous and it never really managed to captivate the gamer.
#2 WWF Steel Cage Challenge (1992)
For home consoles, particularly the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), it took a while for the WWE games to find their footing. And WWE Steel Cage, which was released in 1992, was no exception.
As the title suggests, the fact that it was the first WWE game to feature a steel cage was the game's main selling point. However, even that was not enough to save it from being in the disappointment pile. Quite frankly, the game was a big bore.
There were only about five to six moves at your disposal (not for each wrestler, but for the entire game). It did not matter whom you chose from the 10-man roster, all of them wrestled in the exact same way, employing the same boring pattern of punches and kicks.
Somehow, it even managed to be worse than the preceding games, and the introduction of the cage being the only redeeming factor to point to.
#1 WWE Aftershock (2005)
WWE Aftershock was released in 2005 exclusively for N-Gage, which did not have many games at that time. So it never really had to be that great a game. Even a mediocre wrestling game would have sufficed based solely on the lack of company it shared on the console.
However, the one game WWE released for the console turned out to be an ugly release in every way possible. N-Gage was never known for its graphics but Aftershock took it to another level. The characters looked weird, more like pixelated figures that in no way moved or behaved like human beings.
One might even think that he or she was playing a wrestling based zombie game. Taking on different characters did not really matter, as each one was basically the same with their only real differentiation being their ring gear.
Along with all the atrocities, trying to control the wrestlers was worse than you could ever imagine. Thankfully the game died with the N-Gage.
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