Oh, April 1st. What a day you’re sure to be. One full of so many surprises, most of which people will skeptical over. Of course, I’m talking about the day of Wrestlemania 28.
On this day of days, what better way to celebrate one of the greatest games of its time? One that goes down as one of the single best representations of a licensed property since the creation of video games. Of course, I’m talking about WWF Betrayal.
This tiny cartridge was so jam packed with awesome, most gamers were intimidated to load it up into their Game Boy Color’s. But not this guy! No, back when it was released in 2001, I was up to the challenge that this game brought. And now, I’m here to right this wrong and make sure more gamers put boots to asses in this forgotten masterpiece.
Featuring a jam packed roster of four superstars, (now take that in for a moment… FOUR!) your favorite grappler was sure to be at your disposal. That is of course, assuming The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Undertaker or Triple H were your favorite grappler. After your chosen character is cheated out of the WWF title, Stephanie McMahon is kidnapped during your bout. Considering that security was too busy watching your match to do their job, Vince promises to give you a rematch. But only IF you rescue her. It’s really riveting stuff.
Traversing through the streets, sewers and rooftops as your pixelated fighter, the superstars are forced to hold their own in their toughest battles yet. Sure, they’ve faced off with masked demons like Kane, 7 foot tall monsters like The Big Show and even the temptation of necrophilia, but you know it’s about to go down when you’re face to face with the dreaded construction worker! Or the vicious security guard! Even what appears to be killer prostitutes!
This beat em up shows off each character’s extensive move-set, ranging from punching, kicking and a finishing move (kind of like Cena’s move-set today). It’s also very admirable that the developers went through so much trouble to realistically animate each attack, some even consisting of three frames of movement.
At the end of each of the three whole stages in this unforgettable gem, you’re confronted by a menacing boss. Each boss matches up with your guy in almost every way, especially since they’re automatically one of the three wrestlers you didn’t choose. There’s nothing more rewarding than trading the dreaded punch or the unstoppable kick against someone who’s exactly like you, especially when you have to do it three times. I mean, words can’t describe how exciting this was! And by the time you reach the end, it turns out that Vince was responsible for the kidnapping all along! Does it make sense? Hell no! But come on! It’s wrestling!
Most wrestling gamers will tell you that No Mercy is the greatest wrestling game of all time. Well, not only would they be wrong, they’d be stupid. I mean… I know WWF Betrayal didn’t actually have any wrestling in it. The short 45 minutes of play time is greatly extended by the multiple half hours it will take to finish the whole game three more times with the other wrestlers.
And please don’t whine about how the characters hardly looked like themselves. Four fighters that play exactly the same take up a TON of memory and you’re lucky you got any detail at all. The only thing that comes close to the greatness of this title is WWF Crush Hour, since there was nothing more innovative than putting wrestlers in a car combat game! Well, nothing except a ridiculous beat em up! So go ahead, try to find a copy of WWF Betrayal. It might be the greatest way to burn through an hour that you’ll ever find. And that’s the bottom line, because this geek behind his computer said so!
Game: WWF Betrayal
Platform: Game Boy Color
Where to Find: Garage sales, garbage dumps, in the posession of the “It’s still real to me, dammit!” guy (like our writer Joe Starr for example)