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Alright. We're breaking a weird one out of its cage today. Cage match that is. The basis of this one is a big what if. What if the folks who made this classic, tag teamed up with the folks who made this... classic?, then play into a tie-in with a tournament format and you get this classic. Now to frame this as a retro review, We'll have to start with the obvious. Returning to the developer role after 1989's WWF Superstars and 1991's WWF WrestleFest arcade games, Technōs Japan Corp and their subsidiary American Technōs were looking for a win and hoped that returning to the only well that had been commercially successful for them, outside of their Kunio-kun and Double Dragon franchises, would help the failing company. Apparently also taking a page out of the Kunio-kun book where Technōs combined fighting characters with contact sports, Vince McMahon decided that it would be a good idea to license his WWF brand to a non-arcade-wrestling game this time around. It is probably just a coincidence, but it is too bad that Technōs filed for bankruptcy protection less than a year after completing this game. Not that I'm saying that this game did them in, but the timing leads one to believe otherwise. Not getting off on the right foot here... Never mind all that. Now that the stage, or ring, is set up, it's time to look at the game. I'm not sure if the "winners" campaign was still in swing by this time, but that splash screen brings back some memories. Being a North American release, the game is localized with the American Technos distribution label. Titan Sports is of course the parent company of the WWF at the time. Getting right into it, while listening to the chuggy music, the branding is right out of the Superstars era, with many references to previous games, tv shows and events. The text is flavoured with references as well and a player can mark out in different types of events from a Single Match, an Ironman Single Elimination Tournament or a full Best-of-7 Survivor Series and matches varying in length of nine, 15, 24 or take on Ric Flair in a full 60 minute match. Tagging between lines can be turned off if you just want to play with your top five favourites, or set to Player or Manager [computer] controlled. The goalie can be controlled by the player as well, or locked out of player control. Macho Man approves of penalties. Getting into a game, one is treated to a pre-match introduction by the legendary Mean Gene Okerlund as he runs down the teams and who is hot or cold. I should probably note here that the RNG variance on the Hot and Cold streaking is quite high. This makes things a bit interesting as you will never really know who is popping versus who is probably hiding a bad injury. On to the game menu screen, it starts to become obvious that the arena is not your typical hockey rink. The boards are replaced with ropes, the plexiglass with steel cage bars and the Zamboni with a runaway cart from Wrestlemania 2 and 3. The banners and jumbotron also callback to previous WWF games. Evidently, the Ultimate Warrior and Bret are feeling really good today. And a familiar pair is seated ring rink side providing commentary. Once in a game, more features are visible. The referee is sporting a gold WWF logo on his shirt and the game clock advertises the Technōs America Sports Network, which unfortunately didn't become a thing. While The Rock wasn't a thing either, yet, his dad was, lending his tag team's name to one of the teams. There are only sixteen teams featured in the game. Enough to hold a Survivor Series bracket, but given the limited number of Superstars in the featured era, that is plenty. It should also be mentioned at some point that each team only comprises of twelve players, enough for two full lines and two goalies, plus two managers that are only going to get involved when the goalie is pulled and they can run some interference. Or not at all, in the case of some managers who prefer to let others get their hands dirty. Despite the slight anachronism, the Mega Bucks are united as the brute squad blocks the net. While by today's standard, about half of the wrestlers featured in this game are dead now, it could be noted that a small handful in the game had already passed by the 1995 release date. But the game draws from notable wrestlers who were prominent between 1980 and 1995 just to fill every team so it works in universe. Also, why would anyone want to not play as Andre? The game features colour photos for at least 224 wrestles and managers. While not available to be put on a line by the player, the managers can be viewed in the profiles screen like every other player. Getting into the game finally, it soon becomes clear that there have been some tweaks to the rules from your typical hockey video game. Aggressive play is promoted, even if sometimes it is penalized and your entire top line has to take a seat on some folding chairs. Due to the small teams, minor penalties are only a minute long and a major, usually for injuring another player, is two minutes. But it should also be noted that since you are effectively only swapping between two lines, the player fatigue rate is slow, while a player on the bench recharges very quickly as they stomp the side ready to jump back in. Vince didn't even have time to react to the chaos in front of him. Another thing to keep in mind is that the opposing manger will try to push in the dying minutes while behind. If your computer controlled opponent is down by one, two or three goals with less than a minute to play, they will pull their goalie for an all out attack. But you can attack them first, such as throwing them into the concrete wall that is meant to separate the teams so they keep their transgressions to the ice. [it was probably too hard to animate the players getting up to yell at each other back in the 16-bit era anyway] Another notable difference is that the Match Superstars is rated based on who gets over with the crowd the most. And since hitting gets the crowd to their feet, Certain players will get the fans' vote, even if their team gets outscored. Note that the same RNG that causes the wild swings in Hot and Cold also boosts a players boost, so big hits can be plentiful if you're not afraid to dish them out. Winning the tournament will give you the prestige of raising a championship belt, but the losing team did get to take out their frustrations on the hapless jobronis. I think I featured all of the graphics in this one, but to recap the game play and highlight a few other bits I may not have mentioned yet: RNG is jacked up for cheap pops, dozy painkiller induced slumps and bit hits that your opponent will sell like a champ. With only two complete lines [plus a third "best of" hybrid] fatigue is programmed to facilitate long shifts and quick recoveries. Team names adopt a four letter format. Match length refers to total game length. 9 minutes [3x3], 15 minutes [5x3], 24 minutes [8x3] and 60 minute man. Three-Star calculator favours rough play. Penalties of one or two minutes in length. Players can be moved around to play any position but goal. Two non-player assigned managers are on each team. Of which one will usually jump in if the goalie is pulled. X-Button selects the goalie. Goalies don't wear masks as they fearlessly roam the entire rink. To save the player from themselves however, if the goalie crosses over center ice, the play is whistled dead. Because nothing is worse than goalie rushing the other end of the rink and then losing the puck or getting knocked down by the opposing goalie. But player controlled goalie can roam with the puck indefinitely, while the CPU cannot. Please use responsibly. Off-sides are optional, Icing is not. As in there are none. Use however you want. I lied, there is a 17th playable team, but that one is more of a "Be a Player" mode edition featuring You! and a few ringers to help you out. Number of teams has been increased to 21. Sixteen "main" teams, plus "Your" team, plus three additional "Enhancement teams", plus an unlocked bonus team. Rather than end on a fake rating, I may as well note that this one has been in and out of development for quite a while but if anyone comes across something I missed, or hopefully if you just like it, let me know eh. Now updated with four more teams. WWF-SSShoot-Out v2.1.bin

nhlpa80olympics.bin --Rosters, ratings, and lines from the 1980 Olympics by Coach Mac. --Ratings are exactly aligned to the original NHL Hockey ratings template. --Awesome EASN Splash screen. --Awesome new Center Ice logo. Olympic Rings. --Banners updated. --Ron Barr Team introductions are updated to reflect the 1980 Olympics. --Sim Data updated to match 1980 Olympics. --Starting goalie sim accurately reflects the 1980 Olympics. --Playoff Match-ups accurately reflect the 1980 Olympic Pools, or a second option featuring the Medal and Consolation round match-ups. Only 12 teams were in the tournament, so I added the 4 teams that played in the 1976 but not in the 1980 tournament. --Uniforms right out of 1980. --Eliminated NHLPA symbol on the playoff brackets. --Eliminated second splash screen with the goalie. --Eliminated numbers from Ron Barr intro screen. (Replaced with rom info) --Weight Bug Fixed. --C/B check fixed.