WWF WrestleFest (Japan) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 33 years ago:

WWF WrestleFest © 1991 Technos Japan Corporation.

10 selectable wrestlers fight in a tag team tournament or take part in the Royal Rumble.

TECHNICAL
Game ID: TA-0031

Main CPU: Motorola 68000 (@ 12 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Zilog Z80 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)
Sound Chips: Yamaha YM2151 (@ 3.579545 Mhz), OKI6295 (@ 7.759 Khz)

Players: 4
Control: 8-Way Joystick
Buttons: 2
→ Punch, Kick

TRIVIA
WWF Wrestlefest was released in July 1991.

Also licensed to Tecmo.

The only WWF Technos game to not feature theme music for any of the individual wrestlers.

The announcer is Michelle 'Mike' McGuirk, who would sometimes substitute for Howard Finkel, the WWF's longtime ring announcer. McGuirk worked as a ring announcer for the WWF between 1988 and 1993 before she left because, according to her, she refused sexual advances made upon her by WWF owner Vince McMahon.

The game's announcer incorrectly announces Sergeant Slaughter's finishing move. Slaughter's finishing move (digging a knuckle into the opponent's temple) is announced as a 'Cobra Clutch', whereas that move is called 'The Torture Bar'. A Cobra Clutch looks totally different: DiBiase's Million Dollar Dream is a Cobra Clutch.

You can beat the Legion of Doom and get their titles via a count-out in the Tag Team portion of the game (Saturday Night's Main Event). This is incorrect: in pro wrestling, a championship only changes hands via a pinfall or a submission. If the champion/champions are counted-out or are disqualified, they lose the match, but they hold on to their titles.

The rules for the Royal Rumble are not quite correct. In WrestleFest, you can be eliminated by being thrown from the ring, or the traditional means (pin, submission, etc.). This is not correct. Ever since the WWF Royal Rumble started, the rules for elimination have never changed. The ONLY way to be eliminated is to be thrown over the top rope. No pinfalls, no submissions. In fact, the referee should not be in the ring during a Royal Rumble as he remains on the outside of the ring to confirm elimination has occurred.

Although the rules for the steel cage match has changed over the years, the Steel Cage Matches in WrestleFest are not done correctly, by pro wrestling rules at the time of release. Again, there should not be a referee in the ring and pinfalls or submissions do not count. To win a steel cage match, you must be the first to escape the steel cage... either by breaking the door open and crawling out, or by climbing over the top (in both cases you win when your feet touch the ground first outside the ring). In the present day however, pinfalls do count and a referee is present although you still can win by escaping the cage.

Crush and Smash are not the original members of Demolition. Crush joined the team in 1990 when Ax (Bill Eadie) suffered from ill health caused by an allergic reaction to shellfish and the WWF wanted to 'hide' his illness on television by adding a third member to the team to make them look stronger. This game was made just as Crush replaced him, but at the time of actual release, Demolition had already broken up. Smash was repackaged as The Repo Man while Crush turned face (good guy) and the 2 feuded for a while.

Crush and Smash may not be played separately in the tag-team (Saturday Night's Main Event) game. You must pick them both for your tag team, to get either. Of course, you may play either of them in The Royal Rumble.

You may not play either member of Legion of Doom under any circumstances: they are unavailable to pick for both games (Saturday Night's Main Event and The Royal Rumble). Much like the game's precursor, "WWF Superstars," the champions are reserved for the AI only.

The real names of the wrestlers:
Hulk Hogan: Terry Bollea (1953)
The Ultimate Warrior: James Hellwig (1959-2014)
The Big Boss Man: Ray Traylor (1962-2004)
Earthquake: John Tenta (1963-2006)
Sergeant Slaughter: Robert Remus (1948)
The Million Dollar Man: Ted DiBiase (1954)
Jake The Snake: Aurelian Smith (1955)
Mr. Perfect: Curt Hennig (1958-2003)
Smash of Demolition: Barry Darsow (1959)
Crush of Demolition: Brian Adams (1964-2007)
Hawk of LOD: Michael Hegstrand (1957-2003)
Animal of LOD: Joe Laurinaitis (1960-2020)

Each superstar has a trademark hold that can be done when your opponent's energy is low.
Hulk Hogan: Legdrop Off The Ropes
Ultimate Warrior: Gorilla Press
Big Boss Man: The Boss Man Slam
Earthquake: Earthquake Vertical Splash
Sergeant Slaughter: Cobra Clutch
Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Dream
Jake The Snake Roberts: The DDT
Mr. Perfect: Perfect-Plex
Smash of Demolition: Suplex
Crush of Demolition: Back Breaker
Hawk of LOD: Clothesline Off The Rope Turnbuckle
Animal of LOD: Clothesline Off The Rope Turnbuckle

At the time of the game's release, the actual WWF Tag Team Champions were The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) who are absent from the game, although the Legion of Doom would defeat the Nasties to claim their first WWF Tag Team Titles one month later at Summerslam 1991.

UPDATES
The US version is slightly different, it has the "Winners Don't Use Drugs" screen.

SERIES

• WWF Superstars [Model TA-0024] (1989)
• WWF WrestleFest [Model TA-0031] (1991)
• WWF Superstars 2 (1992, Nintendo Game Boy)

STAFF
Character Designers: Hiroshi Shibata, Koji Sakuma, Michiaki Ishida, Makoto Shirai, Toru Tsuboya, Koji Minagawa
Character Design Assist: Koji Ogata
B.G. Designers: Takehisa Izumiyama, Toshiyuki Osumi
Programmers: Tatsumi Saito, Isamu Kanakubo, Genei Fukuhara, Teruhiro Maeda, Naritaka Nishimura
Hardware: Kenji Nishikawa
Editors: Hiroshi Sato, Ai Onoe, Yasuhiro Ohi
Sound Programmer: Yoshihiro Kameoka
Director: Shinichi Saito
Producer: Kunio Taki

CONTRIBUTE
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