Wrestling games have come a long way since the initial release of the first WWE wrestling game on console, WWF WrestleMania. Released in 1989, WWF WrestleMania marked the beginning of a widely successful wrestling franchise that has now lasted for at least four decades. Wrestling games have always been a late-night treat after a long week of school or work, and the gameplay and features have made the series immensely popular over the course of the last several years.
The earliest installments of WWE wrestling games included WWF Royal Rumble (1993), WWF King of the Ring (1993), WWF In Your House (1996), and WWF Attitude (1999). These games featured popular wrestling icons like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind, Kane, The Rock, The Undertaker, and many more. While the graphics were very basic and simplistic, the gameplay was fairly exciting at the time of the games’ initial release. Many of the games featured an exhibition mode in which players faced off against the CPU in one-on-one action. The games also implemented a career mode where players would have scheduled matches against other superstars on the roster.
As the PlayStation grew in popularity in the early 2000s, WWE released the WWF/WWE Smackdown! series that featured 5 different installments from 2000-2003. These games included a few visual advancements as the graphics looked far better than its preceding games. In fact, a lot of the graphics in the menu resembled the graphics from the actual WWE shows, featuring the logo and video packages throughout the gameplay. These games also featured bigger rosters and a royal rumble mode that included more characters.
The Smackdown vs. Raw era of wrestling games was when WWE games were at their absolute peak. The graphics became a lot more advanced as the wrestlers in the game began to resemble their real-life counterparts a lot more. The 2006 installment of the game, Smackdown vs. Raw 2007, is considered to be one of the best games of the entire series. The soundtracks became a lot more iconic featuring rock bands like Three Days Grace, Skillet, Puddle of Mudd, etc. An online versus mode was implemented during this era of WWE Game releases, and gameplay improved tremendously as players could partake in a more three-dimensional experience, exploring other areas within the game. Universe Mode and Road to WrestleMania were also some of the newest game modes to be introduced to the franchise.
WWE ‘12 and WWE ‘13 were the final wrestling games released by THQ. WWE ‘13 introduced the popular game mode Attitude Era, where players could watch cutscenes from the 1997-2002 era of wrestling and play out those scenes by participating in the iconic matches held during the Attitude Era.
2K picked up the WWE series in 2013 and created all of the WWE games from then to the current era. The graphics are absolutely stunning, and there are several different modes that players can choose from. However, the soundtracks are not as good as what they were during the ‘00s era of the series. While the games have gotten repetitive and lost some of the magic that made them fan favorites years prior, they have advanced significantly and marked a true evolution in wrestling gameplay over the last few decades.
