Retro Arcade Flyers and Advertisements Part 2, WRESTLEMANIA EDITION!

It’s officially Wrestlemania weekend so why not take a look at some wrestling themed arcade flyers?

   

WWF Superstars (Technos 1989)

We are starting off with the first WWF licensed arcade game. You might notice that the flyer looks similar to some promotional art for the WWF’s flagship show at the time, Superstars of Wrestling. Some of the biggest names in wrestling are shown on the flyer, each in their own star. The back of the flyer includes an image of the cabinet, details and specifics for the game, and a whole bunch of screen shots. The show stealer here is the included screen shot of the infamous ring cart from Wrestlemania III and IV! I still remember the first time playing Superstars and how much I popped when I saw the ring cart!

  

WWF WrestleFest (Technos 1991)

Technos was not quite done yet with the WWF. A few years later they followed up Superstars with the far superior WWF WrestleFest! Now, I am not saying Superstars was a bad game. There is nothing wrong with Superstars. Technos just took there wrestling formula and expanded on it in every single way. More wrestlers! More game modes! More players! Looking at the back of the flyer you will see how all of these features are listed as new which can be confusing because WrestleFest is not an upgrade of Superstars, but a completely new gaming experience.

WrestleFest was one of the few arcade games that blew my mind as a kid. I remember seeing it at the Patchogue 13 movie theater and losing my mind. The sprites were big and detailed, the music was near panic inducing, and the teenagers playing the game seemed scary enough to run off the ushers. I still mustered up some guts and slid in to play as The Big Boss Man. After that, I was hooked.

WWF Wrestlemania (Midway 1995)

With the WWF license changing hands from Technos to Midway, our next wrestling game feels quite different…well maybe not THAT different. Midway essentially used their tech to create a Mortal Kombat style WWF game. They used digitized images for the wrestlers and added some funky gags for the special moves. What you end up with is essentially a stiff, awkward game… almost as awkward as the flyer. Who would have thought an image of the Hitman making his best constipation face while hugging an arcade cabinet would be the main promotional image for Midway’s Wrestlemania? The back of the flyer includes some screenshots, info, and even an image of some green screen action.

Thank you for reading about some old wrestling arcade flyers! Keep checking back every week for more arcade goodness, including a return of the Arcade Hunters Podcast!

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