The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was an 8-bit, third-generation games console first released in 1985. Released two years after the infamous Video Game Crash Of 1983, the NES revitalized the US gaming industry and cemented Nintendo's reputation as both a household name and high-quality king of the market, with almost 62 million consoles sold worldwide before its discontinuation in 1995.

With a brilliant hardware design, and an almighty catalog of titles, the NES' popularity exploded in conjunction with the rise of Hulkamania and wrestling's acceptance into the mainstream. There were nine wrestling games released for the NES, with four of them being licensed WWE products.

1989's WWF WrestleMania Was The Beginning Of WWE's Decade-Long Partnership With Acclaim

The WWE/Acclaim Partnership Produced Fourteen Games Across Fourteen Different Formats

The first-ever WWE game released for the NES may not have been a critical success with such simplistic controls and lackluster content. However, it was the start of what would become a fruitful partnership between WWE and Acclaim.

As the years passed and video game technology improved with each generation, Acclaim would publish all manner of hit-games with the WWE license, across consoles and in the arcades. The eventual success of these WWE games would make WWF WrestleMania for the NES of historical importance.

Rare Only Ever Developed Three Wrestling Games, Two Of Which Were WWE Titles For The NES

Rare's Third Wrestling Game Was WWF Superstars For The Game Boy

• Rare is a British game developer that famously developed games for Nintendo, before being purchased by Microsoft in 2002.
• Some of Rare's greatest works consist of Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country, Banjo-Kazooie, Killer Instinct, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day and GoldenEye 007.
• After Rare finished their WWE games, Sculptured Software took over development of future WWE titles for Nintendo games machines.

After their first effort for the NES failed to live up to expectations, Rare's second WWE game was a decided improvement. WWF WrestleMania Challenge boasted more wrestlers & modes to choose from, more fluid & responsive gameplay, an isometric view of the ring and fans in the arena, and an innovative feature where the wrestlers' stamina bars were displayed along the ring apron.

Although WWF WrestleMania Challenge is long outdated, it remains the best WWE game produced for the NES. And a sign that the future was indeed bright for wrestling games, the WWE/Acclaim partnership, and Rare's future as a high-profile game developer.

Development Of WWF WrestleMania For The NES Began After WrestleMania 4

The Game Was Intended To Help Build Up Interest For WrestleMania 5

• WWF WrestleMania was the second WWE video game ever created, and the first one licensed for the NES.
• The first-ever WWE game was 1987's MicroLeague Wrestling, released for the Commodore 64 and Atari ST.
• A Game Boy version was being developed in 1990, but this release was ultimately canceled.

Given that 1988 was the year of Macho Man Randy Savage, that WWE were fully behind Savage as World Champion and the Mega Powers storyline was in full-swing, it made perfect sense to promote WrestleMania 5 as much as possible. And the Nintendo Entertainment System was another ideal platform to help with that.

WWF WrestleMania for the NES was released just a few months prior to WrestleMania 5 itself. Just in time for The Mega Powers to explode, and the world to watch Randy Savage defend the WWE Championship against Hulk Hogan. Although the game's title screen instead featured WrestleMania 3's tagline, "Bigger, Better, Badder".

A Scene From The Wrestler Was Inspired By WWF WrestleMania For The NES

Mickey Rourke's Character Played A Fictional NES Game In The Events Of The 2008 Movie

• Mickey Rourke won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for his performance as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, and also received an Oscar nomination.
• The success of The Wrestler led to WWE promoting the movie and Mickey Rourke appearing at WrestleMania 25.
• Although a match between Mickey Rourke and Chris Jericho had been planned, Rourke ended up showing at WreslteMania 25 strictly as a guest.

The story behind Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler is a deeply poignant & hard-hitting masterpiece. The character Randy Robinson lives in a trailer full of memories from the glory days of his career, and one of the film's scenes features Randy playing an old Nintendo game with one of the kids from the neighborhood.

Although a fictitious wrestling game, Wrestle Jam '88 was a fully functioning demo, commissioned by Aronofsky for the actors to play. Inspired by the NES' WWF WrestleMania, Wrestle Jam '88 was produced with 8-bit graphics & music and complete with Robinson and arch-rival The Ayatollah as playable characters.

WWF WrestleMania Challenge Allowed You To Play As 'Yourself'

The Game Featured A Total Of Nine Playable Wrestlers

One of the intriguing new features WWF WrestleMania Challenge offered over the previous WrestleMania game for the NES was the option to play as "Yourself" against the likes of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. Of course, the reality was just a generic-looking wrestler that looked completely unlike the player-in-question.

The idea was to try and make the experience of playing WrestleMania Challenge more interactive. Although a somewhat novel idea, it proved bizarre and impractical, and was surpassed years later by Create-A-Wrestler modes in wrestling games.

WWF WrestleMania Challenge Was Originally Going To Be Based On Survivor Series

A Screenshot Exists Of The Original TItle Featuring The Mega-Powers And Miss Elizabeth

• Development of a sequel to WWF WrestleMania began soon after the game's North American release in February 1989.
• WWF WrestleMania Challenge was first released in North America in October 1990.
• The next WWE game release would be WWF Superstars for the Game Boy in February 1991.

With the first WWF WrestleMania game for the NES being intended to help promote WrestleMania 5, the sequel had originally been intended to focus on the Survivor Series event. Midway through production, it was then decided to focus again on WrestleMania.

The decision was wise, given that WrestleMania was WWE's biggest extravaganza, and The Ultimate Warrior became WWE Champion at WrestleMania 6. Although the promotional tactics and presentation changed, WrestleMania Challenge still featured a Survivor Series elimination mode as a new feature.

WWF Steel Cage Challenge Was Re-Released As A TV Game In 2018

Xavier Woods Reviewed The Game On His UpUpDownDown YouTube Channel

Following the conclusion of Rare's partnership with Acclaim, development of future WWE games was taken over by Sculptured Software. Their first effort for the NES offered a variety of new modes, including the chance to fight in steel cage matches.

Steel Cage Challenge was also released on Sega's Game Gear and Master System in 1993, and then was re-released in 2018 as a handheld plug-in TV game. This release was virtually unchanged from the NES version, apart from Hulk Hogan and The Mountie being replaced by Razor Ramon and The Ultimate Warrior as playable characters.

WWF King Of The Ring For The NES Was Developed By Eastridge Technology, Who Also Worked On Paperboy

WWF King Of The Ring Was The Last Game Developed For The Nintendo Entertainment System

For the last WWE title on the NES, Acclaim worked with Eastridge Technology, as Sculptured Software were now developing WWE games for 16-Bit consoles like the SNES and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Eastridge's reputation preceded it as they had developed the NES port of the arcade-hit, Paperboy.

Released in November 1993, it was also a good idea to promote the King Of The Ring tournament (which had been broadcast on pay-per-view). The game featured a new tournament mode based on its namesake, as well as eleven playable wrestlers.

None Of The NES WWE Games Featured Any Signature Moves

Limitations Of The 8-Bit Console Impeded The Wrestling Experience For WWE Titles

• Various wrestlers were able to play differently, depending on size, speed and strength.
• Generic movesets consisting of punches, kicks and bodyslams were shared among the playable wrestlers.
• 8-bit renditions of the wrestlers' unique entrance themes were included in the games' music.

1991's WWF WrestleFest was a huge hit in the arcades, with one of the game's many qualities being the ability to perform all the signature moves of the ten playable wrestlers. Unfortunately, this feature was not included in any WWE games for the NES.

Although the various Acclaim games did showcase some progression on the 8-Bit NES, finishing moves couldn't be implemented. Nintendo fans who yearned for a more fulfilling WWE experience would have to wait until 1993's WWF Royal Rumble for the SNES before they could finally pull off a Sharpshooter.

Hulk Hogan And Randy Savage Were The Only Wrestlers To Appear In All Four NES Titles

From 1989 To 1993, The Mega Powers Were Ever-Present Playable Characters

• Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were fierce arch-rivals, battling each other over the WWE Championship from late 1985 to Summer 1987.
• Hogan and Savage joined forces in October 1987 to become the Mega Powers, with the alliance ending in February 1989.
• The Hulkster left WWE in June 1993, and The Macho Man followed suit in December 1994, with both wrestlers reuniting in WCW.

Throughout the different developers, character rosters and game modes across all four WWE games for the NES, the only constant was that both Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were playable wrestlers. And it all came down to perfect timing.

Throughout 1989 and 1990, both The Hulkster and the Macho Man were still at the height of their popularity. Even in 1992 and 1993 - when wrestling's popularity was starting to dwindle, and Hulk & Randy's WWE careers were winding down - these two intertwined legends were front & center.