Video games and wrestling seem to go together quite well. RetroMania Wrestling is one of the latest such games. This is the sequel to the 1991 WrestleFest game that was only available in arcades. Well, unless you were a gamer outside the United States at the time. Launching later in 2020, this new old school take now has its roster finalized. Yep, the last two characters have been announced.
Inspiration from the past
In the late 80’s and early 90’s arcades ruled. If you wanted to see cutting edge games, you had to go to an arcade. It was that simple. Even Nintendo could not ignore arcades back then. The Big N had many “PlayChoice 10” cabinets available. Each was packed with a selection of Nintendo NES games, often with slightly better graphics and sound.
Arcades were awesome.
Wrestling games were rarer in the arcades though. Sure, we had WrestleFest and WWF Superstars and a few others. Outside that handful of games though, wrestling fans were out in the cold. This is where home consoles ruled.
WrestleFest featured two game modes, Royal Rumble and Saturday Night’s Main Event. Royal Rumble mode saw you control one character in the famous battle royal. Saturday Night’s Main Event was a series of tag team matches. Eventually you would face the Legion of Doom, Hawk and Animal, for the WWF Tag Team Championships. Retrosoft Studios are bringing them back to their more popular name, The Road Warriors.
RetroMania Wrestling builds off the past
There will be a lot of modes available here, including Ten Pounds of Gold. This mode focuses on the National Wrestling Alliance and their World Heavyweight title. There are many locations available as well (House of Hardcore owned by Tommy Dreamer for instance).
The roster for RetroMania Wrestling was already stacked. The launch roster is as follows:
Road Warrior Hawk
Road Warrior Animal
Austin Idol
Big Stevie Cool (of ECW fame)
Blue Meanie (of ECW fame)
Colt Cabana
Hollywood Nova
Jeff Cob (of Ring of Honor fame)
Johnny Retro (currently John Morrison in WWE)
Nikita Koloff (of NWA fame)
Nick Aldis (reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion)
Tommy Dreamer (of ECW fame)
Warhorse (of Zero1 fame)
Zack Saber Jr (of New Japan Pro Wrestling fame)
The final two athletes on the launch roster
I want to take a moment and thank Robert Morales for sending this tip in. He messaged us on Retro Gaming Magazine, sister site to Gravis Ludus Wrestling. Thank you, Robert.
Matt Cardona, aka Zack Ryder in WWE, and Brian Myers, aka Curt Hawkins are now in RetroMania Wrestling. This is great as both are obvious fans of gaming and toys and more.
It is awesome that Retrosoft Studios were able to secure these two so quickly. Some great news here.
Are you ready for RetroMania Wrestling? It launches in July 2020 and is available for pre-order on Steam and Nintendo Switch. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 owners, keep an eye out on your digital marketplaces in July.
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