First time, long time.

For years, wrestling video games had done the way of the NFL: exclusive. With all due love and respect to them, THQ has had the WWE license forever, and before that they had the WCW license. They’ve been it for video game wrestling.

Enter Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, a scrappy little league featuring Kurt Angle, Sting, Booker T and a bunch of other guys who are fun to watch but just didn’t see themselves fitting Vince McMahon’s mold.

Now we have Midway’s TNA Impact!, giving Total Nonstop Action its own home entertainment franchise. And it’s a very decent first attempt.

While the storyline and character portrayals don’t go nearly far enough in capturing the essence and attitudes of the veteran wrestling names and personalities, the actual arcade-style gameplay is easy to pick up and offers plenty of thrills, suplexes, bodyslams and high-flying maneuvers.

The game features 25 TNA fighters and several of the specificities that make TNA an interesting wrestling enterprise like the six-sized ring and the Ultimate X match, where wrestlers have to climb ropes to a goal at the top — much like a ladder match.

The graphics and character models are excellent. Even in-game animations and moves look fluid and well-detailed. Attacks land with lots of force and really sell themselves.

In a way, “Impact!” feels a lot like some of the older wrestling games like the old LJN console hits like WrestleMania Challenge and WWF Royal Rumble. Obviously it looks and sounds great, even by today’s standards, but the persona of the game is very much based in the fighting and the moves, combos and animations surrounding the actual fighting. This isn’t surprising to me, because Midway is the company of Mortal Kombat. Even their previous WWF title, WrestleMania: The Arcade Game was regarded as an almost pure fighting game.

That said, the game could use more drama and story injected into its core, but if you’re looking for simple, pick-up-and-go action, TNA Impact! is a good way to go.

This article originally appeared on Reviewcenter.com in 1998 when there was no real professional wrestling monopoly.

WCW/NWO is one of the best wrestling sims THQ has come out with. Featuring up to date rosters and an excellent array of moves, Revenge is a welcome addition to your N64 game library.

Control in Revenge is easy once you get the hang of it. The game is very similar to THQ’s last wrestling game, WCW vs. NWO: World Tour, with some updates. It’s the type of game that just doesn’t get boring — especially on multiplayer.

There are several modes of play including championship belt competitions, exhibition matches, handicap matches, battle royals and tag team contests. There are also six Pay-Per-View arenas including Bash at the Beach, WCW Starcade, Super Brawl and WCW Monday Nitro.

Another nice little feature in Revenge is that many wrestlers come out with their corresponding girls/managers. For example, Macho Man Randy Savage comes into the ring with Elizabeth, and DDP comes out with Kimberly. And of course, who could forget The Mouth of The South Jimmy Hart who comes out with Meng and Barbarian. The wrestlers come out with music and strut into the ring where they show off their stuff before the match.

The various organizations of the time are also included in WCW/NWO revenge including NWO Red and White, Raven’s Flock and the DAW and EWF wrestling organizations. All this adds to the nice amount of realism that is in this game.

There is also a very nice arsenal of available weapons that you might find if you exit the ring and walk up to one of the guardrails and press C-UP. These weapons include Sting’s Black bat, a metal bat, a trashcan, stop sign, briefcase and a large wooden plank. Get the opponent out of the ring and beat him senseless with a weapon. Try using the more popular wrestlers also, because less popular ones tend to not find weapons as easily.

Overall I seriously liked Revenge. It is enjoyable and addicting to play with a nice array of wrestlers, weapons, bells, whistles, and all kinds of other things. (Make sure you watch the intro video at the beginning, it is probably the best I’ve ever seen!)

Ups

• Lots of wrestlers
• Several addicting play modes to choose from
• Stunning moves, great graphics, and high caliber sound

Downs

• Computer AI wrestlers are way too easy to defeat

Quick hits:

Publisher: THQ
Developer: Asmik Ace Ent.
Platform: Nintendo 64
Genre: Wrestling/Sports
Players: 1-4
Launch Date: 1998

Playability: 5 out of 5 stars
Sound: 4 out of 5 stars
Graphics: 5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
Ratings were determined in 1998

Blast has learned that THQ will announce brand new details regarding this year’s edition of their perennial Smackdown VS  Raw series as part of this weekend’s Wrestlemania festivities in Orlando, Fla.

Like last year’s title, 2009 will be available on most platforms, including Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP and DS, each with more than its fair share of new features and content.

Heavily touted for this year’s PS3 and Xbox 360 edition is the new focus on tag teams.  Players will now be able to team up in the new “Road to Wrestlemania” career mode — a first for the series and wrestling games in general.  New tag-centric finishers, momentum systems and storylines have all been teased.

Also announced is the new create-a-finisher mode. Long on the “wanted” list for years, the new mode will allow players to choose between more than 500 animations to create their dream finishing move.

Expected to tie in to this mode is the newly announced downloadable content, another first for the series.

Smackdown VS Raw 2009 will be the series second go-round on the Wii, and this year THQ plans to learn from last year’s lowly rated game and take full advantage of the systems capabilities. Promising more match types and the debut of online play, the Wii will feature a slimmed-down version of the aforementioned “Road to Wrestlemania” mode along with exclusive features including interactive entrances and victory celebrations.

Gamers looking to take their grappling skills on the road will be proud to know that the series will be returning to the PSP and Nintendo DS. The same team behind last year’s Dragon Quest Heroes is developing the DS version: Rocket Slime and is said to feature a RPG like season mode, and feature a new create-a-wrestler mode.

“The ambitious cross-platform launch of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 last year yielded tremendous growth for the franchise, as we delivered multiple gameplay experiences across seven platforms and greatly expanded our audience of WWE videogame fans,” said Bob Aniello, senior vice president for worldwide marketing at THQ in a report by IGN. “With dynamic new features and the extension of our gameplay experience through downloadable content, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 will bring more console, handheld and wireless gamers together to enjoy the virtual world of WWE.”

WWE fans can expect all of their favorite grapplers, from HHH and John Cena to Chris Jericho and Batista to be included as well as the now standard WWE legends. Stay with Blast until the game’s release this fall for continued coverage!