Reviews

American Tag Team Wrestling is an ok-ish wrestling game. The controls are dead simple and the game itself is easy to get into. But this would have had a higher score if the wrestlers didn't look the same in either team. A different unique look for every wrestler would have been essential, then again it may have been a bridge too far for Zeppelin me thinks. Also although the moves are quite easy to learn, the moves are the same for everyone. A special moves for each wrestler may have done the trick, but again perhaps a bridge too far.

Still if you want a basic wrestling game that's fun for two players, give this a go, otherwise either go for WWF Wrestlemania or stick to being a fan because there weren't that many great wrestling games for the Speccy.

I finally step out of the football management trend and this time I look at something quite different. Wrestling. Tag team wrestling to be more clearer. American Tag Team Wrestling to be completely precise.

The rules of tag team wrestling sees two teams of two wrestlers battle it out. The match begins with one wrestler from each team in the ring and the other two on the outside of the ring by the corner. The wrestler can tag in their partner which means they trade places. In American Tag Team Wrestling, matches consist of three, two minute rounds with one fall deciding the contest, the team with the fall wins the match.

From the main menu we can select from one or two players. In one player we have a choice of either single match, which is just one match, or tournament which is a series of matches fought in an attempt to become Tag Team Champions. Two player matches are always single matches.

So now it's time to meet our wrestlers from eight different tag teams. We have Steve Smooth and The Hood, Crusher McGirk and Frrak n Steen, Hippy Harry and Baby Face, Einstein and Loud Larry, Groucho and Jurgen Meatball, Sammy Shy and Mr. Savage, Dirk Normal and Lord Henry and Wolfman and Missing Link, I chose this team because there was a wrestler years ago called The Missing Link, the late Dewey Robertson. Each wrestler has a portrait which describes their character, for instance Wolfman wears a wolf-like mask, Frrak n Steen looks like Frankenstein, Groucho looks like Groucho Marx, Baby Face is a baby and Sammy Shy is shy and likes to hide.

So it's the 1st Round of the tournament and we face Groucho and Jurgen Meatball. We then go to ring where the graphics are monochrome yellow while on the bottom displays each wrestler's health. We have the ring girl displaying the round number and our wrestlers, though nicely drawn are a bit of a problem. Team one, my team, are fresh faced with black trunks, while team two, the computer, wear masks. This is the same regardless of who you pick, which is a bit of a shame but what can you do with limitations, everyone looks the same most of the time so they distinguish a difference within the teams by having one team wear masks. As for the action itself, there's about five moves for everyone, apart from punching and kicking we have a chop, a body slam which is quite hard to do, an elbow drop, a running dropkick and a flying dropkick move from the top rope. The match ends by a pinfall, this is done by pinning your opponent's shoulders to the mat by applying your body weight on a downed opponent lying face up for a three count. You can only pin your opponent if he is out of health and he starts flashing. If there are no pinfalls within the match limit a rematch occurs immediately.

The game plays at a good speed but it's definitely easier for the computer to do slams compared to you doing them, so you're best bet is to spam on kicks and elbow drops, then try to be quick to reach the top of the ring, hit him with a running drop kick to prevent him making a tag and pin him. So there are some inconsistances and clumsyness in the controls, which ruins the fun for me. It also doesn't take much for the computer to take compete control of the match and not give you a chance to make the tag to your partner. Because of this, despite being billed for three, two minutes rounds, matches tend not to last very long.

American Tag Team Wrestling could have been a quality budget wrestling game, but it lacks variety and seems to favour the computer player more in that they can easily slam you but you will struggle to slam him. It looks nice, it just doesn't play the way you'd like it too, which is a shame.

As a wrestling game it's alright I suppose but you definitely get what you pay for here which is not a lot. Despite having different characters both teams are the same regarding, it has the same problem as Code Masters' Wrestling Superstars where you're mainly doing punches and kicks and there's one move in the entire game, and once you play one game you've seen it enough to put it away for good. Also, if this was AMERICAN Tag Team Wrestling, why would they be using the BRITISH round setup for the matches?