WrestleQuest (2023) [PC] critique

You must show no mercy nor have any belief whatsoever in how others judge you, for your greatness will silence them all.

-The Ultimate Warrior

I have a very early childhood memory that is securely fastened into the recesses of my mind. I think I was about six years old, and as an only child (at that time) during the late ’80s, I got to experience the best of that decade. Sure, the arcades and early home consoles were incredible, but for me, there was nothing better than watching professional wrestling with my father. We were huge Hulk Hogan fans during that time, so naturally my father did everything he could to experience the real deal with me. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when my father won three tickets from a local radio station to attend an actual WWF (WWE, whatever) event in Denver, Colorado in 1987!

From the Top Rope

This was during a high point in professional wrestling history, in my opinion. My father took me to the convention center where I witnessed a spectacle that I will never forget. I got to see the Ultimate Warrior fly off the top rope! Andre the Giant choke slammed some dude! And I got to witness Hulk Hogan whack Randy Savage in the back with a chair because of their legendary feud over wrestling’s original bombshell, Ms. Elizabeth! I’ll never forget that night, and over the years it has compelled me to attend more live events. Nothing, however, will ever come close to how incredible that one was on a cold Denver night.

These two legends defined my childhood!

Nostalgia Never Dies

Much like many boys who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, we were practicing backyard wrestling way before the pros told us not to. We loved to practice the moves that we saw the legends use against each other – whether on a bed mattress or trampoline, it didn’t matter. After that, we would play video games with each other and then go out and practice beating up on each other some more. That was life, and it was great…while it lasted.

Many of us wrestling fans grew up, got jobs, married, and had a few kids. We never really forgot the fun we had pretending to be wrestling legends. We just got old and couldn’t fly into a stack of mattresses as well as we used to. Sure, we passed it on to our kids and enjoyed watching them bring the smackdown, but it would be great to revisit it. Some of those guys grew up and learned coding and how to develop video games. I am pretty sure those are also the guys who made the game we will be looking at, WrestleQuest.

The Mega Cat Gimmick

WrestleQuest is a unique game that cannot be covered correctly until one understands the studio that produced the game. Mega Cat Studios is an independent game development studio based in Pittsburgh, PA. It is known for creating some of the most creative and unique indie titles on the market. Being a native yinzer from Pittsburgh myself, I can understand how a game developer from the “Three Rivers” can produce such odd and fun titles as Log Jammers and Coffee Crisis. After all, I’ve heard it said that Pittsburghers create in three ways: they make it loud, they make it proud, and they make it stand out!

This logo signifies an entirely different type of quality.

I visited their studio years ago after Coffee Crisis was released…on the Sega Genesis! That’s right, this game was released on a system that hadn’t had licensed games produced for it for almost two decades! I picked up my copy and asked the developers why they made it this way. Their response was simple: They loved coffee, heavy metal, Pittsburgh, and the Sega Genesis, so why not?

That simple question, “why not?”, appears to be the driving force behind the games the developer creates. This is a group that makes what they, the creators, desire to make. This is so rare in today’s game development landscape that Mega Cat’s success can be attributed not only to their skill in game creation but also their passion for expression. WrestleQuest is a product of that “Why Not Passion,” and it shows.

The 8-Bit Review

Narrative: 8/10

Far away in a magical land called the Toy Room, there is an entire populace of toys that want nothing more than to be the best. No, they don’t want to be the best at their respective tasks, rather they want to excel at the highest calling in all the land. All of the toys aspire to be professional wrestlers. No one wants this more than Randy Santos, a toy from south of the border who idolizes the Macho Man. Taking on the challenge of the Macho Man to become “the cream of the crop,” Randy takes on the moniker of Muchacho Man, and embarks on a journey to become the best wrestler in the toy room!

Just from its description, the narrative of WrestleQuest appears to be hokey and a little over the top. Well, if you’ve ever watched professional wrestling and followed the storylines woven between the matches, then you understand this all too well. Imagination meeting wrestling is nothing new for children growing up with action figures. Each new toy that becomes part of the party has its own unique story and style, which allows for a surprising amount of character development to occur.

What’s fascinating about this narrative is that though there are main characters like Muchacho Man and Brink Logan (another toy with ambitions of wrestling greatness), the focus is not on them alone. The focus is on the quest for greatness itself. This comes through the main storytelling device, which is a podcast being narrated by wrestling superstars and personalities. The stars speak about the journey of the characters as it happens. This leads the characters to meet some of these wrestling legends themselves. This “meta-narrative” form of storytelling is endearing and fun, and it is one of the more charming aspects of WrestleQuest.

Visuals: 7/10

Any Mega Cat game that you play will have a certain look to it. It is hard to describe, but I call it “ruddy pixel art.” It’s not bad at all, it just appears unrefined and a little raw, which may very well be the artist’s intention. WrestleQuest shares this aesthetic, but interestingly enough, the icons and statues of wrestling legends are polished to near-pixel perfection. These characters have color and depth, but the rest of the Toy Room appears to not have achieved that yet.

The setting of the action is vast and expansive, but it also feels a little flat. Walking in large open rooms with plenty of similar-colored tiles and Unity floor assets can cause large dungeons to become tedious treks. Even many of the hero sprites, though well animated, do not share the complexity of other sprites in the game. This inconsistency in art style doesn’t hinder the game in any way. It simply becomes a gamble of what is pleasing to the eye and what is not.

Aesthetics shift deliberately between refined and dingy.

Audio: 7/10

As someone who enjoys a good, rockin’ soundtrack for a video game, I can say that I genuinely enjoyed the OST for WrestleQuest. Much like most other aspects of Mega Cat games, the soundtracks are always unique and a little quirky. The themes of specific areas and characters range from hip-hop ballads to basically “The Chicken Dance.” The combat themes are absolute earworms and will get you humming them when you least expect it.

There is voice acting in this game, but it is not during the dialogue. Characters will verbally taunt their opponents and use a voice clip when they do one of their special techniques. The problem is that these sound bites are very repetitive, and they are occasionally a little drawn out. This is also true for the sound effects as well, which sound less organic and more canned.

Gameplay: 9/10

As much as I enjoy turned-based RPGs, the mechanics of most retro titles have gotten quite monotonous over time. I can say with complete honesty that this is not the case for WrestleQuest. If anything, this game takes the best parts of RPGs in the past and works them into its mechanics while keeping everything wrestling-themed.

Every part of the wrestling experience shines within the game’s mechanics. There are special encounters in which the main character can give his opponent pre-match insults to give him a boost during the fight. Also, a real-time “walk-on” event has your character showboating to the crowd for extra hype during the match. There are even choices that your heroes can make outside of combat that will steer their destiny toward a hero or a villain!

The combat itself is at the center of WrestleQuest’s fantastic gameplay. Every fight instantly transforms the area into a wrestling ring surrounded by a rowdy crowd. Attacks and “gimmicks” (this game’s version of magic or special techniques) used are directly affected by the audience “hype” they give to the player. Some attacks require real-time button action, like in the Mario and Luigi games, and how well they are performed determines how hyped the crowd gets. If your hype meter drops too low, your attacks will be weak and you will take tons of damage. But if you fill your hype meter to the max, then you will automatically recover MP and have a major damage boost!

It’s all about hyping up the crowd!

My favorite aspect of the combat is the summons! Just like most RPGs these days, WrestleQuest has its form of summons, but instead of calling upon legendary beasts for battle, you can call on wrestling legends! Throughout the Toy Room are shrines dedicated to these wrestling legends, and most have clues to where you can find the actual wrestlers themselves. Stars like The Road Warriors, Andre the Giant, and Jake the Snake Roberts are just a few of those stars who can be summoned to unleash their signature moves on your opponents!

Challenge: 8/10

Having played video games for well over 35 years, I can’t say that I am honestly good at them. With RPGs, one can circumvent skill and simply grind their way to success. They do this by winning so many fights that even the most difficult ones can become cakewalks. Unfortunately, that is a very boring way to play. It is often more frustrating than rewarding. WrestleQuest takes the grinding out of this game by allowing the player to raise his party’s level by undertaking side quests.

There is not much backtracking that you need to do to progress forward in the story. You can beat most opponents without much skill, but as the game progresses, the opponents get much more difficult. For me, the hardest part is mastering the quick time button presses. For some of the harder bosses, it is important to stay on your toes, regardless of this being a turn-based RPG.

New conditions and mechanics are throughout the game, adding to the challenge.

I easily put about 30 hours into this game because some of the fights are very long. This in itself can become a challenge because long battles can dishearten a player, though for myself, I enjoy the challenge of a long fight or dungeon. It makes the victory so much sweeter.

Replayability: 7/10

WrestleQuest is an epic quest that provides hours of nostalgic fun. One of the areas it struggles to excel in is its replayability. This particular game is great for one playthrough. Unless you plan on finding every hidden secret in the Toy Room, you will not play it over again immediately after finishing it. This is simply due to the rather linear nature of the narrative. I also attribute this to some of the painfully long fights near the end.

Uniqueness: 10/10

Those who are familiar with my reviews and critiques know that I rarely give out a perfect 10 for a category. I’ll make an exception for this one. There is no other game like WrestleQuest on this planet, period. Due to Mega Cat’s pursuit of strange and original gaming experiences, they have created a truly unique RPG experience. Dashes of the familiar and folded into the nostalgic world of legacy wrestling, creating something entirely new. The themed gameplay mechanics only serve to accentuate how special this game is.

Wrestling fans will feel at home with this title.

Personal: 8/10

I’m not going to sugarcoat it, this game is fun. Perhaps it is my bias for enjoying professional wrestling that has brought me to this conclusion, but I don’t care. When every ten minutes of gameplay has me pointing at the screen like that DiCaprio meme, then there is something special about the game.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect. Some fights last too long, and the action tends to slog along slowly from time to time. The visuals are also an acquired taste. Despite this, WrestleQuest may be the dark horse that we need to piledrive something truly new and unique into the RPG genre. The Macho Man said it best, it’s the cream of the crop!

Special thanks to Mega Cat Studios for sending us a copy of WrestleQuest for this critique.

Aggregated Score: 8.0

J.R. Sommerfeldt is a family man, licensed counselor, farmer, fiber artist, and indie game enthusiast living in the heartland of America. He has found solace living the simple life, and his preference for games centering around narratives, crafting, and exploration is a testament to this.