Stepping Back into the Ring

I could make all kinds of cracks about the title of this post. After all, I've been a bit out of the gaming scene for a while, so you could say I've been out of the ring. Or you could say I haven't posted much lately, so I've been out of the ring on this blog too. Yeah, I could attach all kinds of meanings to this, but there's really only one I intend on - a fighting ring.

It sometimes surprises me when I look over the games I've played so far for this contest. Looking for the next game to try to add, I've dusted off a few games that have gathered mothballs, and added quite a few new ones to my growing collection. I've revisited games I've put away in frustration and games I never even tried. I've even looked for new games that I never considered previously. One of which was a fighting game.

Now, I'm no stranger to the fighting genre. If you've checked my contest page, you'll see a few fighting games among my wins. Oh, they don't make up a bulk of my wins, but I've added quite a few of them. For instance there's:

1. Punch-Out!! for the Wii
2. Super Punch Out for the Virtual Console
3. Punch-Out!! for the Virtual Console - Still haven't beaten it
4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
5. Super Smash Bros. Melee
6. Super Smash Bros. just got it on the Virtual Console
7. Sonic the Fighters
8. Ballz

I guess I picked these kinds of games because they're (supposed to be) short and easy. Now, a lot of them weren't. The Punch-Out games, Sonic the Fighters, and Ballz were prime examples of tough brawls. So, clearly these games aren't as short and easy as I'd hoped. But for some reason, I decided to download Natsume Championship Wrestler on the Virtual Console, and step back into the ring to make it number 86.

Now, I don't really watch wrestling. I mean, come on, we all know the fights are just an act. They just try to make it look good. So, kind of like NBA Jam, it's a bit ironic that I decided to try a game based on a sport I don't even get into. All the other fighting games really put their own unique (i.e. comic) twist on the sport, but from the looks of things, this game was pretty much the real deal, just in 16-bit graphics. So, why did I buy it? Well, considering I know Natsume best for Harvest Moon, I was curious about what they would do with a wrestling game. Plus, I also thought it'd be more like Punch-Out!!.

Annnnd, I was hoping for a quick win with this, although you'd think I'd know better by now.

Like a lot of games in this genre, there's not much for story, although they do offer some different modes to make it more interesting. Only Championship mode interested me though. I picked my fighter, one Asteroid by name, and I set out to become the NCW champion. Let me tell you something, true to my wrestler's name, I crashed...just in the wrong way. The first few tries, I had no idea what I was doing. The only things I knew how to do was deliver punches and kicks that didn't land, run away from my opponent, and get tossed out of the ring. Yeah, I had a real big future as a professional fighter. I finally did manage to hit my stride though. After probably the 5th go in the ring, Asteroid was finally living up to his name. I was sending opponents crashing to the mat, and following up with a crash of my own. I still took a few beatings, but I managed to pin the rest of the roster.

Now, where's my belt?

As far as the experience was, this game isn't as goofy as Punch-Out!! or Brawl. Oh, the blows in Punch-Out!! managed to make me cringe, mostly because I typically lost the match soon after, but I actually found myself thinking, 'wow, that's gotta hurt' while playing NCW. For instance, I (or my opponent during my losing streak) put opponents (or me) in choke-holds, stomped on knees or chests, or even literally pulled someone's leg. Still, in its own way, this game is still pretty fun. I think the fact that it's 16-bit graphics help you take it a little less seriously, since that would probably be really wince-inducing in more recent wrestling games.

The controls are pretty easy to grasp, although you might be like me and have to go through a few grasps and grapples before you figure it out. I once read that there are over 50 moves to master, but frankly, I got by with only a few. Besides, I found I took more hits trying to figure it out than I did sticking to what I knew.

I wouldn't call this game a hidden gem. It's not on the list of 1001 games you must play before you die. I wouldn't even call it a Punch-Out!! knock-off. But I wouldn't say you need to be a wrestling fan to enjoy this game. I'd say it's worth a shot.

Oh and one more thing I learned while playing this game. Don't start it too late. It was 2:30 AM when I finally finished it.