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Ask your parents about wrestling and they'll tell you fondly (or otherwise) about Dickie Davis, World of Sport on Saturday afternoons and old women eating pork scratchings in the front row - yelling for blood to be split between each mouthful. Everyone had northern accents and beer bellies, and most wore executioner's face masks and nylon leotards (with piping).

Now it's so different. Wrestling has gone Hollywood in a big way, and suddenly the wrestlers are teen heroes again. You can see the similarities - the costumes, the complete nutters involved, and all the grunts. But now we are gripped by Wrestlemania, and it seems there's a new pzazz to the canvas ring.

Now's your chance to get a slice of knee-rending action with Acclaim's eight-man circus on the Megadrive. Play any of the bona fide trademarked wrestlers in individual, tag or tournament format. But watch that dicky elbow, ooyah!

WWF Wrestlemania is almost an exact copy of the Super NES version, also from Acclaim, but with different opponents.

Players choose one of eight wrestlers, and using throws, blows and pins hold your opponents on the canvas for a count of three. A head-to-head and tournament option are also included.

At first you might want to soften up your opponent with a few kicks to the head and stomach - to make him more amenable to your deadly embrace. The grapple is the wrestler's method of wiping the floor with his opponent. Once in a grapple, the opponents have to press their buttons quickly to gain control. It's a battle of strength, and the winner gets to wipe the floor with the loser. Once in a grapple, choose either to head-but your foe, toss him with a back-breaker - or throw him out the ring!

When you are both standing, three kicks or punches floor your opponent. Otherwise, you land on top of him with a standing dive. This is almost as effective as a flying kick, which you must time correctly, as he bounces off the ropes.

A floored opponent is easy prey. You can stamp on his head and body, or really waste him with a flying bodypress. If his energy is low, and you have time, get up on the top-end ropes and give him a full bodyslam - but aim it right!

The whole aim of the game is to so weaken your opponent that he can't get out of a pin position. You need to hold this for a count of three. Each player has an energy bar, which is reduced by blows and grapple moves. As this grows shorter, their chances of escaping a pin are reduced. Getting out of a pin is a matter of pumping all the buttons as fast as you can!

One of the best wrestling laughs is a tag event - when each player selects two characters each. It only takes one pin to end the match, but weakened players may have a breather by 'tagging' their ally who waits ringside. The move is activated by A and B pressed together. Although it's illegal for both members of the team to be in the ring at once, the rules occasionally are bent - especially when someone's about to get counted out!

Should play move outside the ring, be warned. A dead player out the ring is a good as one inside, but if any players stay beyond the ropes past a count of ten, they are immediately disqualified.

A survivor game is a wrestle-frenzy not to be missed. Players, or the computer, grab all eight characters between them and battle it out until one team has men left standing! Players can tag, but unlike tag games, each player is counted out before the game is won. The other option is a tournament, where one-player plays all the other characters in ascending level of skill, to take the WWF crown.

There is both a one and two-player option in Wrestlemania. All the game options are available on each, apart from the WWF Tournament, which is for one-player only.

There are eight wrestlemaniacs to get to grips with, none of which you would feel comfortable about inviting to Sunday lunch. Here's a brief mugshot of each.

1. Hulk Hogan
   303lbs. The Hulkster - the undisputed wrestling king from California.
2. Ultimate Warrior
   275lbs. A stranger from parts unknown, who has every Kiss album.
3. Ted Dibiase
   260lbs. Ted is the Million Dollar Man, with $5 trunks.
4. Shawn Michaels
   240lbs. The Texas charmer, is the cajun hope from the South.
5. Randy Savage
   245lbs. His motto is 'never judge a man from his leggings'.
6. British Bulldog
   270lbs. Cor blimey guv, blighty's own main challenger.
7. Papa Shango
   330lbs. Raised on Voodoo and Um Bongo, Papa has his own magic.
8. Irwin R Schytser
   248lbs. IRS: the yuppie from DC, a frenzy in braces.

I'm no wrestlemaniac, by a long-shot, but I can be reasonably enthusiastic about this. The only appreciable change from the Super NES version are the more popular choices for characters. These are all rendered pretty well as digi-pics and reasonably big sprites. The range of moves is fine, with more complex ones rightly taking a bit of time to master, but I would have liked some more spectacular throws and presses in addition to those offered here.

Playing tag and survivor games is fun - especially when your team-mate joins in the fray, so I wonder why Acclaim didn't boost the game's lasting interest with some more options, because they are pretty limited. Some skill levels, and a proper 'circuit' could easily have been added.

That is my overall impression, of a fun wrestle game (the best on the Megadrive so far) which could have been supported with a bit more front end. The choice for anyone not rabid for Hulk Hogan is definiely an open one.

I was a big fan of the Super NES version, but was a bit peturbed by the lack of championship mode. Luckily, this superior Megadrive version boasts that option, so even if you're a solo player, this is still a topper wrestlefest!

The graphics are excellent, with brilliant animation and, unlike the Super NES version, there's virtually no slowdown. Excellent! My only real gripe with the game is the fact that all of the wrestlers know all the same moves. I'd have liked to have seen speciality attacks from each player, like Papa Shango's voodoo magic (!) for instance.

Otherwise, WWF Super Wrestlemania is an excellent simulation of the "sport", better still in two-player mode. For all the little Warriors and Hulkamaniacs, this is a dream come true!

Presentation 76%
P. Nice selection screen, and the MC palaver is okay.
N. A serious lack of option support.

Graphics 77%
P. Animation and sprite definition is above average. Just.
N. The same, unchanging ring and backdrop makes the game appear duller than it is.

Sound 80%
P. A wee tune for each character, and nice in-game speech and effects.

Playability 81%
P. A not-too-massive range of moves has the benefit of making play quite simple to begin with.

Lastability 78%
P. The later opponents pose a wrestle challenge. And two players is a good laugh.
N. The lack of moves, and variation in backdrops make the game quite 'samey'.

Overall 80%
Highly recommended to those after a decent wrestling game and a definite must-buy for all fans of the World Wrestling Federation (tm).