toukon retsuden - new japan pro wrestling (3, 4)

i want to stop polluting the fire pro wrestling thread with my enthusiasm for this game (never released in the states as far as i'm aware, but of course you could play it on a chipped machine).

here's why this game was so great (c&p'd from a comparison between toukon retsuden and smackdown, which was apparently based on the same engine: http://gamingring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176 )

The submission system for the game had its roots deeply rooted in realism since moves couldn’t be broken unless the player chose to release them. If you went for a submission early on in the match, the move wouldn’t be on for too long since your opponent would escape the move since he was fresh. As time went on in a match, submissions could be applied for longer lengths of time since you’ve worn your foe down, and he’s more prone to attack. The series’ submission system is also notable for its’ enforcing of the rules in pro wrestling. If you don’t break a submission hold when your opponent is in the ropes, the referee (Tiger Hattori) will begin his five count, if the submission hold is not broken by the end of the five count, you will be disqualified, although you can still hold he move on the opponent after the match to really rub salt in the wounds. The use of rules in pro wrestling doesn’t stop there though. The five count rule for top turnbuckle moves is also enforced in this game. In the Toukon Retsuden games, the competitors have five seconds from the time they climb to the top turnbuckle to attack their opponent. If they fail to execute their move within that five seconds, they will be disqualified.

The enforcement of the rules is one of the small things that makes the Toukon Retsuden series unique, after all, no wrestling game since this series has actually enforced the rules to this level. The gameplay of the Toukon Retsuden games tends to be a bit more methodical, to better enable the recreation of classic New Japan Pro Wrestling heavyweight matches. Although the engine is versatile enough to enable you to have some great NJPW junior matches as well.

The Toukon Retsuden system’s submission system wouldn’t be nearly as great as it is if it wasn’t for the body damage system that Yukes implemented in the series to help compliment the submission system. The body damage system worked like this, you do damage to one part of the body, like the legs, and that part of the body that you have attacked has become weaker and the attacks using it will do less damage as more damage is done to it. Once the leg gets damaged enough, the wrestler who has had their legs damaged will have their movements slowed down immensely. This visual damage system is fantastic since it works much the same way as in-ring psychology does in pro wrestling. The player has to believe that there is damage done to a limb, and what better what to showcase that damage than to have it reflected in the actions of the damaged character? You can opt to focus on one part of the body, and immobilize it, or work on multiple parts of the body and wear your foe down limb-by-limb until he’s just waiting for you to slap a submission hold on him and have him submit. By the way, the Toukon Retsuden games enabled you to keep attacking your foes after the match, which enabled you to inflict even more damage on them, and rub salt in their wounds, so to speak.

Another hallmark of the Toukon Retsuden games was their bloodletting system. The bleeding system in the Toukon Retsuden games is the best one yet, and here’s why. Say you spend time doing strikes to the right side of a wrestler’s forehead, as time goes on, a cut will open up, and as more and more damage is done to the wound, more blood will come pouring out of it. If you open up another cut on the other side of the face, or in the middle of the forehead, the trend continues and more and more blood will pour out of the wound until the amount of blood your in-game wrestler can bleed has been maxed out and his face is covered in blood. As the series progressed, so did the bleeding system. The amount of blood that could be shed got just a little bit more excessive, and towards the end of the series, the blood looked even more realistic, and less like a grouping of dots put together to make a blood effect. Despite the high amount of blood loss that could be achieved in the game, it never got to an unrealistic level since the bloodshed was done in a realistic, and logical fashion.

The Toukon Retsuden games also featured a noteworthy adrenaline rush system in which whoever is getting beaten up on for an extended period of time would get a sudden burst of power and energy as the fans chanted their name wildly. The moves done by the person who is having their name chanted will do double damage with all attacks, and only feel half the damage from attacks done to them. This system helped ensure that bouts were usually exciting, back-and-forth encounters. This system also helped add another level of drama to the match, since anyone could get the upper-hand at any time, and yet lose that upper-hand in a moment’s notice due to the crowd’s support of the opponent.