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I was familiar with the wrestling stars of the early 80’s but was never really into it. The wrestling bug bit me in college of all places. One of my roommates was into it and I slowly became fan. What made that transition so rapid was the games. WCW World Tour(pics) for the N64 to be specific and then WCW/NWO Revenge (pics). One could assume that I was a WCW fan first, indeed I was. AKI was the developer behind these games and they went onto create two more classics WWF Wrestlemania 2000(pics) and WWF No Mercy(pics). These games took what I loved about the WCW and perfected them and added an admittedly(at the time) better crop of wrestlers (performers). Sadly that was AKI’s last wrestling game with THQ. Wrestlemania X8 for the gamecube was developed by Yukes and was garbage. My interest in wrestling slowly went away, until I picked up Fire Pro Wrestling 2 for the GBA. However my initial impressions for this game was almost as high as as my fleeting interest in wrestling at all. It is a very tough series to get into but stuck with it and have zoned out on more train rides to and from work that I care to recount. AKI did show up again and developed the first Def Jam game, Def Jam Vendetta, which was not quite as deep as their wrestling games but great nonetheless. The latest FPW release, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns, did not dissappoint either. Although I had to get used the dual shock controls. I can’t write enough good things about the FPW series, BAM! has always done a good job with it. Here’s some gratuitous gameplay footage of the FPW2 for the GBA:
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