Platform: Sega CD

Developer: Sculptured Software

Publisher: Arena Entertainment

Release Date: Late 1993

Genre: Fighting, wrestling, sports

Nerd Rating: 5.5/10

WWF Rage in the Cage kicks off with some rockin’ tunes and some grainy Sega CD-quality full motion video (all the rage in the mid-90s… or at least Sega thought it was) of some of WWF’s biggest superheroes!  You’ll see Mr. Perfect pulling someone’s hair, Yokozuna slamming someone against the turnbuckle, and the late great Macho Man Randy Savage hugging his fans as he enters the arena.  It’s pretty fun to check out this video footage as it is at least 20 years old and I STILL remember these wrestlers like they’re old friends!

There are 4 modes to WWF Rage: One Fall, Brawl, Cage Match, and Tournament.  One Fall is a 1 or 2 player fight, and it offers difficulty settings on a range of 1 to 9 (hopefully 1 is the easiest because that’s what I picked).  I get to choose my opponent right before the match, and you gotta love the typo “Opponent choosen by CPU or 1^st Player?” Haha classic. But I’m being strangely optimistic about this because me and Giant Metal Zorio used to destroy WWF Royal Rumble on the Genesis.

In my first one fall match I played with Rick Martel the Model.  The first thing I noticed was some pretty damn decent animation and some decent quality music and sound.  The music and sound without a doubt exceeds the quality of most cartridge music and sound. Even though the music is synthesized and resembles some cartridge quality, it is still rich, clear, full, and detailed.  The graphics are pretty decent, with real pictures and real video footage of each wrestler’s special move, something any Genesis cartridge game would have considerable trouble emulating.

Each mode involves fighting and is pretty much identical, the only difference between each mode are the rules.  It has been SO long since I watched a cage match (except for Wrestlemania, which I order every single time and dress up in spandex underwear and boots and invite over the NC State girls soccer team so I can hit on them because women love men who love wrestling) that I kept beating the piss out of the Undertaker as he just continued to lay on the ground motionless.  I was stomping his face and body-slamming his torso for about 3 minutes until he eventually got up, climbed out of the cage, and was declared the winner.  Son of a bitch bastard!  Okay.  So the rules are different. Got it.

WWF Rage in the Cage is not a deep game by any means, but I’ll be damned if it ain’t just good fun.  Thank God I have the original manual with the buttons (see below for button guide).  As I learned by reading the book, this game actually offers a good variety of moves, special moves, attacks, grappling, ground fighting, and more.  Each wrestler has his own move, and there are 20 characters altogether.  There is no variety in fighting venues, but the fun and challenge in the game lies in knowing the buttons and pressing them very fast.  The computer likes to grapple… A LOT. Way too much, in my opinion.  But I avoid grappling by running back and forth bouncing off the ropes and drop kicking huge dudes in the face!

If you’ve never played a Wrestling game on a 16-bit system, then you’re missing out on a lot.  They’re not meant to be incredibly deep action games or to offer a huge variety in any sense.  But WWF Rage in the Cage is an exception to almost all 16-bit wrestling games I’ve ever played.  It’s simply a fun game.  I really enjoyed learning the buttons and actually understanding what I was doing.  I wish that I had used the 6-button controller, as the additional 3 buttons offer an easier alternative to your button mashing instead of having to press 2 or 3 buttons at the same time.  No wrestler seems to be any different, better, stronger, faster, than any of the other wrestlers.  But each wrestler does have their own special move.

My favorite part of this game is the laughs one gets when they play this game in multiplayer with a friend.  You’re hootin’ and hollerin’, talkin’ trash and beatin’ each other up.  You get to grapple with your friends, roll out of the ring, and fight on the ground outside of the ring until the ref calls you back in.  One of my personal favorite things to do is punch/kick the ref.  Brawl is probably my favorite option for multiplayer.  A friend and you can just beat the crap out of each other without a referee and perform illegal eye-gouges and chokeholds, walk outside the ring, and smash each others’ faces in until one of you is too exhausted to continue.

Mindless fun is what WWF Rage in the Cage is all about, but the variety of wrestlers, great sound, simple and easy controls, aerial attacks, and grainy FMV will keep you and a friend coming back for more laughs and good times!  Not a large amount of replayability if you’re playing the game solo.  What this game is missing is the fun of WWF Royal Rumble where you can tag other fighters in, but it doesn’t detract from the quality of this game much. Would have been a nice addition.  This game is solid and easy but lacks just a little something. I can guarantee that in 1993 though, this game was superb and top quality.

Pick up a 6-button controller, snap into a slim jim, and lay down the Razor’s Edge with Razor Ramon or the flying elbow smash with Randy Savage.  Ooohh yeeeaah!

Nerd Rating: 5.5/10

Submitted by NerdBerry

Button controls