The Main Event (video game)


The Main Event, known in Japan as Ringu no Ōja, is a professional wrestling arcade game released by Konami in 1988.
A player selects two different wrestlers as their tag team, and they wrestle another tag team. If the player wins, his team moves on to another match. If he loses, he gets an immediate rematch, since the game isn't over until the player's energy falls to zero. Some of the game's most distinguishable features were an oversized "Action" button which would flash whenever an attack, grapple, submission or pin could be performed; and an enthusiastic announcer who introduced the wrestlers and called the action during matches.

Gameplay and moves

There are three weight classes: Cruiserweights, which specialize in fast and agile moves; Heavyweights with emphasis on slower but more powerful moves; and Balanced which could use selected moves from the other two classes. Moves are divided in five types: Attack, Grapple 1, Grapple 2, Aerial, and Signature. "Attack" is the performing of a punch, kick, chop or headbutt while in front of an opponent. "Grapple 1" moves can be performed when opponent is in a "stunned" state. "Grapple 1" moves include the basic headlock, body slam, snapmare and hiptoss for all three classes. When the player or their opponent receive enough damage, "Grapple 2" moves can be performed. These include a dropkick, brainbuster, and backbreaker for Cruiserweights, and atomic drop, bear hug, and pile driver for Heavyweights. All classes can perform "Aerial" moves such as the flying body attack, flying elbow drop and flying knee drop after climbing the turnbuckle. Each wrestler has a "Signature" move which can be performed at any time during the match if the player is correctly positioned. Which regular move the wrestler performed depended upon the remaining stamina of player's opponent, whether or not he's "stunned", right timing and the exact location of player's wrestler relative to the opponent. A metal folding chair lying outside the ring could also be used as a weapon. Some wrestlers could also do illegal maneuvers such as biting and choking.
Victories reward the players with extra energy, and matches were won with pins, submission holds, or out-of-ring timeouts. If a double count-out occurs, the referee leaves the ring and the wrestlers continue to fight until one side is pinned or submits. For pins and submission holds, the players had to press the "Action" button more quickly than their opponent, moving a status bar beyond a certain point. After each win, a newspaper article shows winning wrestlers' photo with a headline that they won, as well as their current ranking.

Adding coins to increase "health" did little to revive the player's wrestler after a lengthy beating or even increase his chances of kicking out of a pin. Also, as the game progressed, the computer opponents became more difficult to beat, the CPU's illegal partner constantly breaking the player's pins and submissions. However, pinfall victories in these harder levels can still be achieved after performing a certain number of pin attempts. If the players move all the way up the ranks and win the Championship Title they defend it against the computer who becomes even more difficult.

Wrestlers

Every wrestler a player could choose from was a lookalike of a contemporary wrestler. Characters included El Condor, Conan the Great, The Maui Mauler, Kamikaze Ken, San Antonio Smasher, Saturn Six, Bigfoot Joe, and Alan The Empire.

Differences between the US and Japanese versions

The Japanese version of the game is notably different from its American counterpart in several ways: players could only use Conan the Great and Kamikaze Ken as their wrestlers, there were three buttons instead of two, the game only lasted five matches, and if completed, the remaining energy would add as points to the final score.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed The Main Event on their August 1, 1988 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the month.

Legacy

Track #Track nameTime
12The Main Event 00:19
13Who Is The Strongest 01:35
14Exciter! 00:45
15You Shall Smart For This! ~ The Main Event00:27
The Final Round, a boxing arcade game released by Konami that same year, shares many sound samples with The Main Event, most notably the referee's screams and count.The Main Event's game developmental engine was used for several of Konami's hit beat-em-up arcade titles such as Crime Fighters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.