The original WrestleFest is renown as an old school wrestling and arcade classic. I used to remember seeing this game at arcades everywhere. A lot of people have fond memories of the original (including yours truly), which immediately flooded back when I found out that WrestleFest was out on iOS.
Turns out, this is not the WrestleFest of yesteryear, though it tries really hard to replicate the original experience with some modern touches. Are you ready to take it to the mat with a new version of WrestleFest?
The new Wrestlefest comes with 8 characters out of the box, which includes a mix of current and classic WWE Superstars. You can see 5 other characters locked, which are available as DLC for $1. For this type of arcade experience, the roster size is fine.
I was surprised to see the amount of variety in terms of modes with Wrestlefest. The game supports one-on-one, tag team, Royal Rumble, cage matches and even a basic career mode. Having the match variety available to you does extend the life of the experience.
At its core, this iteration of Wrestlefest is a lot like the last one, for better or worse. The new hand drawn art is nice, while still including a number of nods to the original. As a gaming experience, this as Wrestlefest as it gets. You mash those red and blue buttons furiously until you’re able to pin your opponent or make them tap out.
If you simply want that button-mashing experience or a trip down memory lane, then by all means go grab this. However, if you’re looking for an experience that’s a bit more involved, it doesn’t get much deeper than that. To be fair, the original Wrestlefest was a button-masher too, but if your tastes have evolved since then, this might be too shallow of an experience for you. If you have any doubts, try the demo.
In Third Person 
You’re right on: The original Wresltefest was a button masher through and through, and there really wasn’t much to the game. I am, however, a bit disappointed that the game isn’t a direct port of the original. I have fond memories playing that arcade game and would have loved to been able to play it on my phone (my brother would have loved it more), but this version doesn’t appeal to me now. Probably because I stopped watching wrestling a long time ago 😦