Wrestling video games

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I see Fire Pro R for PS2 floating around for dirt cheap. It was the first Fire Pro to get an official release outside of Japan so they over-produced the hell out of, expecting it to sell much better than it did. It also launched as a $20 "budget" title to start with.

Are there more Fire Pro games for the PS2?

Or maybe the game is just rarer in this part of the world. Might be one of those cases. In Europe a game can be rather common in one country but quite rare in the neighbouring one, for example.

[Leo656]

Nope. Well, there's the Japanese version of the exact same game, which did have a different name, but that's it. Either way, only one Fire Pro game was released on PS2; it was just tweaked slightly and given a different name - Fire Pro Wrestling R (or Returns) for all non-Japanese markets.

Ebay says it's $10-20 depending on what shape you prefer it be in.

[Prowler]

I got WWE 2k23 a month ago or so. First wrestling game I buy since SvR 2007.

I heard this is one of the best 2k WWE games in recent years, so I decided to give it a go. After 30 or so hours of gameplay, I can say it's fun. Great roster full of legends from the past as well, and you then have 100 CAW spots available. Which I filled by downloading guys who aren't in the game due to being in AEW or other companies at the time the game came out like Punk, Joe, Sting, Jericho, etc.

Universe mode is fun and hasn't frozen for me yet. The GM mode seems to be back for the first time in ages, but it's not too different from how it was in SVR 07, which makes me wonder what's the point of bringing it back when you already have a mode like Universe? But oh well.

[Prowler]

WWE 2k24 is better than 2k23. Honestly, looking back, 2k23 was kinda bare bones. Including the Universe mode.

2k24 brought back the Special Guest referee and the Casket match types and introduced the Ambulance match. A shame the Ambulance match is a slog to get done with though. That's a tad disappointing.

As for Showcase, I definitely prefer a WrestleMania Showcase mode over a John Cena one like in 2k23.

Plus, the Universe mode in 2k24 is better at keeping track of stuff. It actually tracks Royal Rumble participation and time spent in the RR. It also adds more actions and even an Undertaker chokeslam cutscene!

I don't have 2k25 and have read lots of mixed opinions about it. But apparently Switch 2's port of it is surprisingly good? Also apparently now you can have promos in Universe instead of forcing 2 wrestlers feuding each other into a match every single week?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Prowler

WWE 2k24 is better than 2k23.

I got 2K23 while it was still being supported to get Goldberg, Brock Lesner and all, who weren't in 2K24.

I remember playing RAW when I briefly owned an original X-Box. I remember how cool it was when you could put .MP3s on a thumb drive and you could customize the ring entrance music (and also in GTA San Andreas it let you have a special radio station that would play .MP3s from a thumb drive). Too bad that feature went away.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I got 2K23 while it was still being supported to get Goldberg, Brock Lesner and all, who weren't in 2K24.

I remember playing RAW when I briefly owned an original X-Box. I remember how cool it was when you could put .MP3s on a thumb drive and you could customize the ring entrance music (and also in GTA San Andreas it let you have a special radio station that would play .MP3s from a thumb drive). Too bad that feature went away.

Yes I'd say the main advantage 2k23 has over 2k24 is having Goldberg and Lesnar. Having said that, 2k24 has CM Punk, DDP and the Duddley Boyz. And also Ricky Steamboat and Sandman. And Jade Cargill *drools*

Naturally I downloaded Goldberg's and Lesnar's CAWs in 2k24 but it sucks they're not in it. I think they added Goldberg back in 2k25 recently?

Yeah I've heard of that feature about the Raw Xbox games. Must have been quite revolutionary back in the day.

San Andreas, really? On the PS2? Or did the game get an Xbox port as well? I thought the first mainline GTA game to become multiplatform was GTA 4?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Prowler

San Andreas, really? On the PS2? Or did the game get an Xbox port as well?

San Andreas was definitely on regular X-Box. That's how I first played it. I definitely had a PS2 at the time so I must have done some deep dive and determined that the best version of San Andreas was on X-Box.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

San Andreas was definitely on regular X-Box. That's how I first played it. I definitely had a PS2 at the time so I must have done some deep dive and determined that the best version of San Andreas was on X-Box.

I doubt there was any significant difference other than the one you mentioned. Perhaps that's why you did it?

Honestly, many times the reason I opt for a port of a game on system X instead os system Y is more down to the circumstances. As in, me finding it first on system X or it being cheaper on system Y. Or even something silly like "OK I have a Ninja Turtles game for the GameCube already. This one I'll buy for the PS2 since I have no TMNT games for it." lol

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Prowler

I doubt there was any significant difference other than the one you mentioned. Perhaps that's why you did it?

Honestly, many times the reason I opt for a port of a game on system X instead os system Y is more down to the circumstances. As in, me finding it first on system X or it being cheaper on system Y. Or even something silly like "OK I have a Ninja Turtles game for the GameCube already. This one I'll buy for the PS2 since I have no TMNT games for it." lol

There was a lot of oddities at the time. I remember specifically Scarface: The World is Yours, one version would show blood on your outfit the more damage you took but not at all in the other version (I can't remember which was X-Box or PS). And Ghostbusters: The Game the proton blasts looked way more real and the damage way better in I believe the X-Box 360 version over the PS version. So I'd always get the "best" version.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

There was a lot of oddities at the time. I remember specifically Scarface: The World is Yours, one version would show blood on your outfit the more damage you took but not at all in the other version (I can't remember which was X-Box or PS). And Ghostbusters: The Game the proton blasts looked way more real and the damage way better in I believe the X-Box 360 version over the PS version. So I'd always get the "best" version.

I think it was "worse" in the 16bit era days. That was a strange time where both the SNES and the Mega Drive would technically get the same game but only sharing the same title or with different levels and gameplay and such. Look at the Alladin games and Turtles in Time/Hyperstone Heist. Or TMNT Tournament Fighters.

[Andrew NDB]

It was a weird time when we could only dream of the day that the home systems would catch up with what we'd see in the arcades so we'd just settle for whatever.

Which kind of raises a good question, I think. Why WAS there such a big gulf between what was in the arcade and the home systems, at the time? And why did that chasm go on for so long?

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

It was a weird time when we could only dream of the day that the home systems would catch up with what we'd see in the arcades so we'd just settle for whatever.

Which kind of raises a good question, I think. Why WAS there such a big gulf between what was in the arcade and the home systems, at the time? And why did that chasm go on for so long?

The Neo Geo seemed to be very powerful compared to the SNES and the Mega Drive. But it was much more expensive and thus few people had one.

PS: For the record, I call it Mega Drive out of habit since that's how it's known here in Europe and also in Japan. I don't have a problem with the name Sega Genesis at all. The name "Mega Drive" just automatically comes out of my fingers.

I refuse to bend the knee on calling football "soccer", though.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Prowler

The Neo Geo seemed to be very powerful compared to the SNES and the Mega Drive. But it was much more expensive and thus few people had one.

Yeah, NOBODY I knew owned a Neo Geo, but we knew they were out there. We might as well be talking about a Jaguar car or a Ferrari or something.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Yeah, NOBODY I knew owned a Neo Geo, but we knew they were out there. We might as well be talking about a Jaguar car or a Ferrari or something.

A quick google search tells me it only sold 1M units worlwide and the Neo Geo CD around 600k, so no wonder.

I've never met anyone who owned a Neo Geo, a 3DO or an Atari Jaguar. Or a CD-i for that matter, but recently I saw a Flinstones game of all things for sale at this shop in my city that sells used games.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Prowler

A quick google search tells me it only sold 1M units worlwide and the Neo Geo CD around 600k, so no wonder.

I've never met anyone who owned a Neo Geo, a 3DO or an Atari Jaguar. Or a CD-i for that matter, but recently I saw a Flinstones game of all things for sale at this shop in my city that sells used games.

What about Turbo Grafx 16?

I remember in elementary school I was the only person in the whole school who owned a Sega Master System while everyone else owned a NES. I'd tell everyone how much cooller the Sega Master System was, how much more badass Alex Kidd was than Mario, and how the Phaser was much better than the NES gun. But eventually I stopped believing my own hype and just conformed to the norm... sold my SMS and bought a NES. I think that's why when the Genesis came around I wasn't biting. At that point it was like, "No, Sega... you already fooled me once. We're not doing that again." Definitely had at least a couple friends that had a Genesis.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

What about Turbo Grafx 16?

I remember in elementary school I was the only person in the whole school who owned a Sega Master System while everyone else owned a NES. I'd tell everyone how much cooller the Sega Master System was, how much more badass Alex Kidd was than Mario, and how the Phaser was much better than the NES gun. But eventually I stopped believing my own hype and just conformed to the norm... sold my SMS and bought a NES. I think that's why when the Genesis came around I wasn't biting. At that point it was like, "No, Sega... you already fooled me once. We're not doing that again." Definitely had at least a couple friends that had a Genesis.

That's known as the PC Engine here in Europe and Japan. I don't know anyone who had one either tbh. But I think that system reached 10M units sold worldwide.

The Master System actually outsold the NES here in Europe and in Brazil. Which seems kind of crazy to me. I never had one and don't know much about it myself.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Prowler

The Neo Geo seemed to be very powerful compared to the SNES and the Mega Drive. But it was much more expensive and thus few people had one.

PS: For the record, I call it Mega Drive out of habit since that's how it's known here in Europe and also in Japan. I don't have a problem with the name Sega Genesis at all. The name "Mega Drive" just automatically comes out of my fingers.

I refuse to bend the knee on calling football "soccer", though.

Yep, y'all beat me to it. It would cost more than any parent would be wiling to pay to bring actual arcade graphics to a home console.

[sdp]

Originally Posted by sdp

I got into wrestling in the late 90s so the first game I played was WWF Attitude or Warzone on the PS1 at a friends house a little, I also remember playing a WCW Thunder game at a demo kiosk for PS1. I almost bought Warzone on the N64 but I saw that Wrestlemania 2000 was coming out and decided to wait and little did I know that I ended up buying a game with one of the best wrestling engines and avoided the bullet of a mediocre wrestling game with Warzone.

I spent countless hours with that game and made so many wrestlers in the CAW little did I know it would become one of my favorite N64 games a definitely surprise. I bought the sequel No Mercy as soon as it came out and loved most of the improvements and only had a few problems with some of the stuff they removed but it was definitely the better game of the two and I also played it tons of times. I was hella jealous of the PS1 WWF games though with their FMV titantrons and better gimmick matches to choose from but apparently based on consensus I did get the better games.

I got a few wrestling games used after that like WCW Mayhem which was terrible and WCW/NWO revenge which I was surprised to see it was basically the WWF games I loved with WCW guys and later a Gamecube WWF game which I played once. I'd love to buy a fun wrestling games like the AKI games again, sadly part of what made the games great was also the roster which would be totally different now.

damn I made this post basically 10 years ago, still freshly in my 20s.
I still haven't played any wrestling game since and counting all my favorite wrestlers as a kid are basically dead and/or retired. I'll never really be interested in playing another wrestling game again.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by sdp

damn I made this post basically 10 years ago, still freshly in my 20s.
I still haven't played any wrestling game since and counting all my favorite wrestlers as a kid are basically dead and/or retired. I'll never really be interested in playing another wrestling game again.

I mean, modern day WWE games have tons of legends from the past. I personally don't even touch the majority of the modern day roster in WWE games with the exceptions of some women and the likes of CM Punk. I mostly play as legends, downloaded CAWs from legends and veterans that didn't make the game due to working for other companies or other circumstances. I'm not playing as Otis, Baron Corbin, Drew Gulak and other boring uncharismatic drones like those. I just use those guys as my jobbers in universe mode.