For the better part of my life, I have been a big fan of WWF (now WWE) wrestling. But in these days, with all the Randy Orton- John Cena feuds, the same 6 WWE divas, and too many TV Shows and Champions, I miss the old days of wrestling. Every week Id watch the "heroes" of my generation (Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Sgt. Slaughter, Ultimate Warrior, and Jake Roberts.). So when I found out that there was a WWF NES game, myself and a few of my friends would attempt to have our own recreation of the epic Wrestlemania IV championship tournament. And boy was I thrilled when I got this game for Christmas one year. 20 years later well, I'm neutral, especially when the current WWE games are pretty much rehashes of the previous years. But anyway.. on to my review.
   GRAPHICS- The graphics are actually quite good for a game that came out on either 1988 or 1989. The wrestlers look pretty good for 8 bit renditions of themselves. The ring has the (at the time) blue apron and red, white, and blue ropes and the WWF Wrestlemania logo. The camera angle, is set up like having a ring-side seat, which is confusing at first. Mostly because the wrestlers can pull off moves on a 3D like plane, but its a 2d game. The wrestlers costumes also look very accurate for the time: Bam Bam Bigelow has the flame jumpsuit, and the Honky Tonk Man has his red Elvis Jumpsuit. Not bad for something that's almost 30 years old.
   But even though the graphics are a decent point, there are a lot of flaws. Mostly the wrestler selection, did the folks at akklaim have a problem with finding wrestlers, or did the WWE have a problem with licensing some superstars. There are 6, whereas the sequel, WWF Wrestlemania Challenge had 8 plus "yourself". And the 6 you get are debatable if they were popular in the late 1980s. You get: "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, Bam Bam Bigelow, The Honky Tonk Man, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Andre The Giant, and Hulk Hogan. Not a bad roster, even thou Bigelow and Dibiase never won a title, Andre held it for 45 seconds, and Honky Tonk set an Intercontinental record. But they could have put a few more of the popular faces and heels like: Roddy Piper, Tito Santana, Greg Valentine, and Rick Rude. Average attempt for a first try, but very sub-par by today's standards.
   SOUND- This is about the only strong point of the whole game. The opening theme is an accurate rendition of the Wrestlemania IV theme, while the menu and part of the game have I think the 1980s Superstars theme. The wrestlers themes are accurate as well. Hogan has the "Real American" Theme, and HTM has "Cool, Cocky, Bad". Not bad for a NES game. But again there are many shortcomings with this. Bam Bam and Andre never had ring music, but they do in the game. And the designers gave "Million Dollar Man" who had a theme song, the song "Girls In Cars", which was the theme for the Tag Team Strike-Force. Just like Hogan in red trunks, a major downfall if your a hardcore fan, but again almost 30 years ago so no complaints.
   STORY- N/A as its a wrestling game, Fight, pin repeat.
   DEPTH- Another weak point, s today you get about 30 different match modes and career modes. This has two. Exhibition which is a standard one on one match. And Tournament which is pick a wrestler and take on the remaining five. Its better with more people as the game supports a 6 person tournament this adds about an hour of game play, as all 6 fight and the 2 with the highest points fight for the championship.
   DIFFICULTY- While its a standard wrestling game, this is the biggest flaw altogether. The game can be downright unforgiving. In tournament after the 3rd fight the CPU gets hard. And like I said before the controls are like 3D in a 2D game. It can be frustrating to have the CPU pull off moves while its walking but again early NES. The controls are pretty easy to follow. A- Punches and B- Kicks, but when u push them together u can do special moves, which varies among wrestlers. The only down fall is that only 3 can body slam, and 3 can do turnbuckle moves. Again a major downside. But again early nes wasnt as complex as today.
  
   Overall, it was worth a play when it came out, but by toady's standards, it falls way short. If you have it play it, or check it out on here. But mostly id stay away from this one, and only pick it up if your a die hard collector of vintage wrestling memorabilia. Once again thanks for reading and take care...

                  Matt