WWF Wrestlemania Steel Cage Challenge
System: Game Gear
Publisher & Developer: Flying Edge
Released: 1992
Genre: Wrestling
Capabilities: None

The Game

This game is actually called WWF Wrestlemania Steel Cage Challenge, the same name as the crappy NES version of the game. If you don’t remember that game, I’ll some it up for you with one word: Crap! It had horrible control, horrible game mechanics, horrible everything. I don’t own a Game Gear, but I saw this game for sale used for $1.95, and since I’m a big wrestling fan I couldn’t pass up the deal, so I got to borrow my the Game Gear from my friend, Roadkill(Who also happens to review here). Will this game manage to be as good as the NES version? Let’s get onto the review and find out.

Graphics

The graphics for the game is somewhat pretty good, all the wrestlers are nicely detailed to where you can see their muscles and their costumes are colored exactly the way they do off tv, but aren’t detailed exactly, like IRS, for example, all you see is a white shirt, and black pants, you don’t see his tie he usually wears, nor do you see the $ sign on Ted Dibiase’s tights. But this is all forgivable because of the Game Gear’s capabilities. The crowd looks Ok, but not one of the best I’ve seen on a portable game, and the ring is ok. The only bad thing about the game is the text looks all blurry, but the text isn’t a major part of this game, but overall t he graphics are just a tad above mediocrity.

Sound

You get some weird opening tune for the game. All the sound effects for punching and all are horribly done as little beeps. The only use of voice from the NES version of the game was the ref counting the pin, which is replaced here with a different kind of beep. The only good thing about the sound here is that you got all the wrestler’s theme’s in here, but they all sound really bad any ways, and you only here about the first 5-10 seconds of each theme in horrible midi format, heck even the NES midis were better than this. So overall, sound’s really bad in the game.

Game play

First of all, the game controls horrible, the game’s controls are exactly like its NES bad brother where the only moves you can do or a body slam, and a hurl across the ring, besides the various elbow drops, and turnbuckle drops. And worst of all the computer can score a pin fall on you no matter how much life you got, like once I’m Ric Flair and I’m going against Hulk Hogan and Hogan gives me a body slam, and covers me and I lose, and I still had about 90% of my health left! So the game had just as worst controls and game mechanics than the NES version! The game did have some nice modes of play, their was a regular singles match, or cage match, or championship mode where you can go for the world title. And the last mode is tag mode, so there are some nice ways to play here, but the 20-30 second matches won’t make it matter. Probably the best thing about this game is the roster which features 10 of the following WWF Superstars: Shawn Michaels, Bret “Hitman” Hart, Papa Shango, “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Tatanka, Undertaker, Ted Dibiase, Irwin R. Schyster(IRS). That’s another reason I bought the game, one of my all time favorites, Ric Flair, was in this game, this was one of only 2 wrestling games he was in(the other being the SNES version of Royal Rumble). So the only good part about the game play is the roster.

Replay Value

Umm, this game had so many exciting features and game play modes that I only ended up clocking in about 32 minutes of game play before I threw this game in the trash, trust me that’s the average life cycle of an early portable wrestling game.

In Brief

+: Ric Flair’s in the game!

-: Horrible Controls, Horrible game engine, and just about everything else in the game!

The Final Ratings Rundown

Graphics: 5.6
Sound: 0.9
Game play: 1.4
Replay Value: 0.5

Overall: 2.1

Rounded to fit GameFAQs score: 2

Final Analysis

This game is just as crappy as the NES version of the game, the game’s own engine is just as crappy, and this whole game just seems rushed overall. Crappy game overall, the only thing this thing this game has going for it is that the graphics are somewhat good, and a nice roster, so let me sum up my review with this synopsis, which is that this game is...

Fore Hardcore Ric Flair fans Only!

Whooooo!