WWF Attitude

WWF Attitude is a professional wrestling video game based on the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) released by Acclaim Entertainment in 1999 for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64. A slightly enhanced port of the game was later released for the Dreamcast, as well as a handheld version for the Game Boy Color. The game is named after the WWF's then-current "Attitude" marketing campaign, with the tagline "Get it" also being used on company programming during that period.

This article is about the video game. For the period of World Wrestling Federation history, see Attitude Era.
WWF Attitude
Cover art of WWF Attitude featuring (clockwise from top left) Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, The Rock, and Mankind
Developer(s)Acclaim Studios Salt Lake City
Publisher(s)Acclaim Sports
Platform(s)Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Dreamcast
ReleaseGame Boy Color
  • NA: June 1999
  • EU: 1999
Nintendo 64
  • NA: July 31, 1999
  • EU: August 9, 1999
PlayStation
Dreamcast
  • EU: November 5, 1999
  • NA: November 9, 1999[2]
Genre(s)Sports (Fighting)
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The game is the sequel to WWF War Zone and is the last WWF game to be published by Acclaim. The WWF signed a deal with THQ later in 1999, ending a ten-year relationship with Acclaim that began with WWF WrestleMania. Acclaim then signed a deal with Extreme Championship Wrestling, producing two games using the same game engine, ECW Hardcore Revolution and ECW Anarchy Rulz.[3]

The PlayStation version had been originally scheduled to be released on June 3, 1999,[4] but the release date was pushed back to August 5.[1]

The game is dedicated to Owen Hart, who died at a WWF event on May 23, 1999.

Gameplay
D'Lo Brown, Kane, and Mankind face off in a Triple Threat match.

Gameplay from WWF War Zone was for the most part retained. Players execute wrestling maneuvers by grappling with an opponent then entering a sequence of motions and buttons presses. On-screen life meters indicate how close a wrestler is to defeat, with the meter turning red when a small amount of health is left. The previous edition's "Challenge Mode" was replaced by a Career Mode which allowed a player to wrestle as a WWF superstar. The player first starts wrestling on house shows winning matches to work their way up to RAW, then Pay-Per-View events and eventually getting opportunities to challenge for the European, Intercontinental and WWF championship titles. New match types were also added, including the First Blood and the I Quit Match.[5]

Features added since WWF War Zone include a Create-A-Stable mode and a Pay-Per-View mode, which allows players to set up their own wrestling event - a series of matches, the name of the event, and an arena. The game includes a customizable arena option, including the ability to edit the color of lights, ring ropes, turnbuckles, and logo on the side of the ring.[6] WWF Attitude also features the audio commentary, provided by Shane McMahon and Jerry Lawler.

Create-A-Wrestler mode was expanded with original entrance music, as well as superstar nicknames with unique commentary and crowd chants for each name.[7] Vocals for the original entrance themes were provided by Road Dogg of The New Age Outlaws, a popular wrestler at the time of the game's release who would frequently show off his mic skills during events.

The Game Boy Color version of the game is slightly different from its home console counterparts, using passwords as a way to save a player's progress.[8]

Development

Acclaim added full superstar entrances to the game, improving over the short entrances from War Zone. Match commentary was recorded by Jerry "The King" Lawler and Shane McMahon. Instead of the commentators talking about each of the wrestlers before the match like on War Zone, each wrestler now has a set of pre-match taunts.[9]

Originally, the game was to include fictional jobbers that players would face early on in the Career Mode. For unknown reasons, the fictional jobbers were removed from the game; however, their voices, ring attires, and entrance theme songs remain accessible in the Create-A-Wrestler mode.[10]

Though not playable in the game, The Hardy Boyz provided the motion capture for the moves. The intro included a dedication to Owen Hart, who died shortly before the game's release and was featured in the game as a playable character. Although Owen was a "heel" prior to his death, his playable character is a "face" in honor of him. His death delayed the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 versions from its initial release of June 1999, likely to remove his Blue Blazer outfits as seen in early screenshots. The dedication is absent in the Dreamcast version.[5] As of 2021, Attitude is the last WWF game to feature Owen as a playable character (several games since have featured deceased characters).

The Dreamcast version was released several months after the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 games, around the same time as THQ's first WWF game WWF WrestleMania 2000[11] and features improved graphics compared to its PlayStation and Nintendo 64 counterparts, with higher-resolution texture maps and a better animated, less pixelated crowd.[12]

Reception

The PlayStation version received favorable reviews, while the rest of the console versions received mixed or average reviews according to review aggregator GameRankings.[13][14][15][16] Daniel Erickson of NextGen gave the Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 versions negative reviews in two separate issues, saying that the latter was "Worth a rental for WWF fans, but everyone else should just wait for THQ and EA to take their shots" (#59, November 1999);[39] and later calling the former "A pathetic port – the only reason this game gets one star is that the jewel case was reusable" (#62, February 2000).[38]

The PlayStation version was also a bestseller in the UK.[43]

See also

References
  1. IGN staff (July 28, 1999). "WWF Attitude Ships August 5". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  2. "Acclaim Sports Ships WWF Attitude for the Sega Dreamcast". Acclaim Entertainment. November 9, 1999. Archived from the original on August 26, 2004.
  3. McLaughlin, Rus (November 12, 2008). "IGN Presents the History of Wrestling Games (Page 4)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  4. "Acclaim Sports Announces June 3 Street Date for WWF Attitude for PlayStation®". Acclaim Entertainment. April 19, 1999. Archived from the original on August 26, 2004.
  5. Dunham, Jeremy (November 9, 1999). "WWF Attitude Review (DC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  6. Boulding, Aaron (September 1, 1999). "WWF Attitude (N64)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  7. IGN staff (August 6, 1999). "Personalized Attitude". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  8. Gerstmann, Jeff (January 28, 2000). "WWF Attitude Review (GBC)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  9. Gerstmann, Jeff (August 13, 1999). "WWF Attitude Review (N64)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  10. Gerstmann, Jeff (August 4, 1999). "WWF Attitude Review (PS)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  11. "WWF Wrestlemania 2000". IGN. Ziff Davis.
  12. Gerstmann, Jeff (November 2, 1999). "WWF Attitude Review (DC)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  13. "WWF Attitude for Dreamcast". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  14. "WWF Attitude for Game Boy Color". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 22, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  15. "WWF Attitude for Nintendo 64". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  16. "WWF Attitude for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 22, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  17. Licata, Jonathan. "WWF Attitude (DC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  18. Baize, Anthony. "WWF Attitude (N64) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  19. Williamson, Colin. "WWF Attitude (PS) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  20. "WWF Attitude (DC)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis. 2000.
  21. "WWF Attitude (N64)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis. 1999.
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  23. Fitzloff, Jay (January 2000). "WWF Attitude (DC)". Game Informer. No. 81. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on April 9, 2000. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  24. Fitzloff, Jay (July 1999). "WWF Attitude (GBC)". Game Informer. No. 75. FuncoLand. p. 64. Archived from the original on October 21, 2000. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  25. McNamara, Andy; Fitzloff, Jay; Reiner, Andrew (September 1999). "WWF Attitude (N64)". Game Informer. No. 77. Archived from the original on March 1, 2000. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  26. McNamara, Andy; Fitzloff, Jay; Reiner, Andrew (September 1999). "WWF Attitude (PS)". Game Informer. No. 77. Archived from the original on May 20, 2000. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  27. Mosquera, Fernando "Lagi" (November 9, 1999). "REVIEW for WWF Attitude (DC)". GameFan. Shinno Media. Archived from the original on March 4, 2000. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  28. Scary Larry (November 25, 1999). "WWF Attitude Review for Dreamcast on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 12, 2005. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  29. The Rookie (October 1999). "WWF Attitude (N64)". GamePro. No. 133. IDG Entertainment. p. 116. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  30. The Freshman (September 25, 1999). "WWF Attitude for N64 on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 6, 2004. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  31. The D-Pad Destroyer (1999). "WWF Attitude Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 18, 2005. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  32. G-Wok (February 2000). "WWF Attitude Review (DC)". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  33. Bodzilla (August 1999). "WWF Attitude - Playstation [sic] Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on April 8, 2004. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  34. Bowen, Kevin (November 17, 1999). "WWF Attitude". PlanetDreamcast. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
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  36. Perry, Douglass C. (August 5, 1999). "WWF Attitude (PS)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  37. Green, Mark (September 1999). "WWF Attitude". N64 Magazine. No. 32. Future Publishing. pp. 62–65.
  38. Erickson, Daniel (February 2000). "WWF Attitude (DC)". NextGen. No. 62. Imagine Media. p. 92. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  39. Erickson, Daniel (November 1999). "WWF Attitude (N64)". NextGen. No. 59. Imagine Media. p. 117. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  40. "WWF Attitude (GBC)". Nintendo Power. Vol. 121. Nintendo of America. June 1999. p. 113.
  41. "WWF Attitude (N64)". Nintendo Power. Vol. 124. Nintendo of America. September 1999. p. 144. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  42. Rybicki, Joe (September 1999). "WWF Attitude". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 2 no. 12. Ziff Davis. p. 117. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  43. "Game Charts". Official UK PlayStation Magazine. No. 51. Future Publishing. November 1999. p. 132. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
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