| Developer | Telenet Japan |
|---|---|
| Publisher | JP: Riot; NA: Renovation Products |
| Composer | Shinobu Ogawa Takaharu Umezu[1] |
| Platforms | Mega Drive |
| Released | JP: November 29, 1991[2]; NA: March 1992[3] |
| Genre | Fighting |
| Modes | Single-player, multiplayer[4] |
Beast Wrestler (ビースト・ウォリアーズ, "Beast Warriors") is a 1991 fighting game published for the Mega Drive in Japan and North America. The game's cover art was created by Yasushi Nirasawa, in his position as a model-builder for Hobby Japan magazine.[5]
Gameplay
Beast Wrestler is a wrestling beat 'em up video game containing two modes: Match and Tournament. Match is a single-round that can be played with two human players or one player and a computer opponent, whereas Tournament has multiple rounds and requires the player to showdown with every beast in the game.[6]
Reception
The presentation, although generally the most-well received aspect of Beast Wrestler, garnered a mixed response. Joystick called it the best part.[7]
Paul Rand of Computer and Video Games found the premise of monsters in a wrestling game interesting, but strongly dismissed its gameplay as "dull, simplistic and annoying in equal parts", heavily attributed to unresponsive controls.[8] He also criticized the unsuitable music and visuals.[8] Although appreciating the monsters' design, he was critical of the sprites' animation, shadows, their identical sizes, and flickering.[8] Mega also found it a "tedious" experience with very few attacks to experiment with.[9] He disliked the graphics, such as the "boring empty ring-type arena thingy" and choppy animation.[9]
Entertainment Weekly's Bob Strauss also called the gameplay tedious, despite its "thumb-busting array of holds and throws".[10] He praised the presentation, such as the "electrified, three-dimensional playing field" and "appropriately gruesome creatures (which look like something out of a David Cronenberg movie)", although also joked, "When the monsters tangle it up in the ring, you're reminded of those intricate mating rituals Marlin Perkins used to narrate on Wild Kingdom."[10]
References
- ^ Beast Wrestler at Project 2612
- ^ "Software List (Software Licensee Release)" (in Japanese). Sega Hardware Encyclopedia. Sega Corporation. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
- ^ "CES Special Report: Genesis and SNES Games for 1992". GamePro. No. 33. IDG. April 1992. p. 20.
- ^ Beast Wrestler at RF Generation
- ^ Nirasawa, Yasushi (Dec 28, 1992). Creature Core. Hobby Japan. p. 56. ISBN 4-938461-76-5.
- ^ "Game: Beast Warriors". Games-X. No. 34. December 1991. p. 22. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ Trazom (January 1992). "Beast Warriors" (in French). Joystick. No. 23. p. 141. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ Rand, Paul (February 1992). "Beast Warriors". Computer and Video Games. No. 123. p. 87. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ "One-on-One Beat-'em-Ups". Mega. No. 15. December 1993. pp. 76–77. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ Strauss, Bob (June 12, 1992). "Beast Wrestler". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 18, 2021.