WWF Rage in the Cage
Reviewed by Jeremy Peeples
WWF Rage in the Cage was released in late 1993 for the Sega
CD. It was developed by Sculptured Software and distributed
by Arena. It runs on the WWF Royal Rumble game engine (note:
this is not the same game as the Arcade or DreamCast game of
the same name, this particular game was released in 1993 on
the Super Nintendo and Genesis) WWF Rage in the Cage
features 20 wrestlers (a huge number for domestically
released games back then) and numerous game modes.
Graphics-8/10- the in-game characters look great, quite a
few of them resemble their real-life counterparts, some of
the better ones are the Nasty Boys (Knobbs and Sags), Bam
Bam Bigelow, The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Samu), and Kamala.
Some of the worst are Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase. The
animation is a bit of a mixed bag, the westlers? Trademark
moves look great, but some of the standard moves look odd,
the chokehold comes to mind. The FMV, both in the intro and
the FMV showing you a clip of a wrestler's Trademark move
looks good, it's of a nice size and graininess is kept to a
minimum. The FMV is used perfectly, the Trademark move FMV
was really innovative, it's a shame it isn't used now.
Pros- For the most part, the characters look great. The FMV.
Cons- Some of the move animation is questionable.
Sound-10/10- the music is great, the wrestlers theme songs
are crystal clear and sound just like the real thing, the
only downside to them is that they lack lyrics. The sound
effects are another great feature, most of them sound just
like they should, some are a little off though, most notably
the punching sound effect.
Pros- Crystal clear themes. Most of the sound effects are perfect.
Cons- Some of the sound effects are a little off.
Gameplay-10/10- this game features many game modes to choose
from; among them:
1 on 1- it's you and your opponent going at it man to man,
you can choose from 1 fall or Brawl options for this match,
Brawl is the same as 1 on 1 except there's no referee,
anything goes, and the match ends when 1 of the wrestlers
has their life bars completely depleted.
Steel Cage- beat your opponent senseless and climb out of
the steel cage, pins don't count. The only way to win is to
climb out of the steel cage.
Tournament- you try to win the WWF Championship as one of
the 20 wrestlers in the game.
Those 20 wrestlers (with brief title histories) are:
Randy Savage (former WWF World and I-C champion, former WCW
World champion, former USWA Champion.)
Shawn Michaels (former AWA Tag Team champion, WWF World,
I-C, and Tag Team champion.)
Kamala (never won a major title.)
Ted DiBiase (former WWF Tag Team champion.)
Tatanka (never won a major title.)
Mr. Perfect (former WWF I-C champion, former WCW U. S. and
Tag Team champion, former AWA World champion.)
'The Model' Rick Martel (former WWF Tag Team champion, as
well as a WCW T. V. champion.)
Crush (former WWF Tag Team champion, former WCW Tag Team champion.)
Bam Bam Bigelow (former WCW Hardcore and Tag Team champion,
former ECW World, and T. V. champion.)
Bret Hart (former WWF Tag Team, WWF World, WWF I-C champion,
also a former WCW World, U. S. and Tag Team champion.)
I. R. S (Irwin R. Schyster) (former WWF Tag Team and WCW T. V. champion)
Yokozuna (former WWF Tag Team champion (with the late Owen
Hart), and a former WWF World champion.
Big Boss Man (former WWF Hardcore and Tag Team champion.)
Undertaker (currently out due to injury, Former WWF Tag Team
champion (with Steve Austin and 'Big Show' Paul Wight) and
WWF World champion.)
Razor Ramon (currently inactive, was last seen in WCW, is a
former AWA Tag Team champion, WWF InterContinental champion,
WCW TV champion, and WCW U. S. champion.)
Fatu (currently Rikishi in the WWF, in now a main-event
wrestler, has won the WWF Tag Team and InterContinental
Titles since this game was releaed.)
Samu (retired)
Brian Knobbs (currently inactive, was last seen in WCW, was
WCW Hardcore and multiple-time Tag Team Title champion, was
a WWF Tag Team champion)
Jerry Sags (currently retired as a result of an injury,
former WCW and WWF Tag Team Champion)
Lex Luger (currently in WCW, has held the WCW World, TV,
U. S., and Tag Team Titles.)
Pros- Tons of modes, lots of wrestlers.
Cons- None
Control- for 6-Button Pad-9/10- For 3-Button Pad-2/10- The
game control varies so much depending on what controller you
use, so I've decided to divided it into 2 sections.
6-Button Pad- perfect, the controls aren't clunky, the
button mashing is still a pain, but it's
no big deal with this kind of controller.
3-Button Pad- far too clunky, the button combos required for
the moves are ridiculous seeing as how you have to mash the
buttons to do a move. The controls are very responsive no
matter what controller you use.
Pros- the 5-button pad makes the control a breeze.
Cons- using the 3-button pad is far too difficult. The fact
that the 6-button pad is all but required in order to
control the game easily..
Replay Value-10/10- this game gives you tons of stuff to do,
I doubt you'll get bored quickly.
Pros- Lots of modes and options.
Cons- None
Presentation-10/10- it captured the WWF's spirit perfectly.
Pros- It captured the WWF's spirit perfectly.
Cons- None
Overall-9/10- This game combines great graphics, sound, and
control (with the 6-button pad) to make a game that few
wrestling fans will ever forget.
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