My Played Video Games Review: Saturday Night Slam Masters for the Sega Genesis

Saturday Night Slam Masters is a pro wrestling arcade game released for arcades by Capcom in 1993. It was ported to the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive the following year. The game's character designs were done by manga artist, Tetsuo Hara, who was famous for his Fist of the North Star manga series. The game was known in Japan as Muscle Bomber: The Body Explosion.

Wrestling games during the late 1980s to the early 1990s were hard to like because of poor controls and boring gameplay. But this one was among the first to break that curse.

The Story

It is a Saturday night and the Slam Masters are here! 10 of the most titanic wrestlers ever to jump into the ring have gathered for one bone-smashing, back-breaking fight where there are no rules! Step into the ring and get ready for wild wrestling as you throw your opponents off the ropes and clothesline them to the floor! Or fight outside the ring doing brawls with tables, chairs, and bottles as part of the action.

And just when you have got enough guts, grab a friend and try out the deadly Death Match, where only the best Slam Master can survive the barbed wire ropes and the floor with booby-traps!

The Graphics and Sound

The game's graphics have got large characters with pretty good animation, the only ugly downside is the slowdown that happens when you are on the floor when weapons are used. Sometimes it is almost unplayable. Overall, the graphics are pretty good, the sprites are big and they are animated fluidly.

The music tracks are good. But they are repetitive, so they get old fast. However, the sound effects of hitting and voices are well done. Overall, the sound is great for a Genesis/Mega Drive game. The music is not tiny and the voices are mostly, quite clear.

The Gameplay

This is just your standard wrestling game fare. Beat opponents to win the title or defend the title, so nothing new or innovative. This is to be expected though seeing as it came from an arcade game. The bad story can easily be ignored.

Controls are very good. The game uses Street Fighter II control motions for most of its special moves. The responsive control helps when doing some of the complex special moves in the game. Overall, the control is great, the only minor problem area is the special moves.

The replay value is pretty good. Finishing the game with each of your favorite wrestler characters, or playing the deathmatches with a 2 player friend, is a blast.

My Verdict

Even if you are not a fan of wrestling games, you will probably find some retro gaming enjoyment out of it. This is is one of the first great enjoyable, wrestling games. Saturday Night Slam Masters is a good game, period.

Play it on the unkillable Sega Genesis/Mega Drive console or play with your preferred emulator.

Let's keep on gaming in the free world!