Retro Wrestling Gaming: A Look at WWF (WWE) RAW (1994, Acclaim Entertainment)
“Raw” became the WWF’s (WWE’s) flagship show in 1993, so just as WWE games have been published named after “Superstars”, WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and King of the Ring, it only makes sense that in 1994, WWF (WWE) RAW was published as well.
Published by Acclaim Entertainment for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, 32X, Game Boy, and Game Gear, “RAW” is more realistic than the previous Acclaim Entertainment-published games, as each wrestler has different attributes of speed, strength, weight, and stamina.
The match options are One-on-One, Tag Team, Royal Rumble, and the new Survivor Series, Bedlam, and Raw Endurance Match options. A Bedlam match is Tornado Tag Team-style match.
A Bedlam match is similar to a Tag Team match, except both team members are allowed in the ring at the same time (essentially a “Tornado” Tag Team match). A team must defeat both members of the other team to win the match. In a Raw Endurance match, the player chooses their first wrestler, and then up to five additional partners, or wrestles alone. The player will face a six-member team in an elimination-style match.
The roster for, WWF Raw differs by console. The SNES and Genesis versions feature The Undertaker, Bam Bam Bigelow, Bret Hart, Yokozuna, Razor Ramon, Lex Luger, Doink the Clown, Shawn Michaels, 1-2-3 Kid, Diesel, Owen Hart, and making history as the first female wrestler in a WWF game, Luna Vachon. Also, the 32X version features Kwang, but a code must be used to access him. The Game Boy version features The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, Diesel, Doink the Clown, and Lex Luger. And the Game Gear version features The Undertaker, Bam Bam Bigelow, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, Lex Luger, Diesel, Randy Savage, and Crush.
The commercial for WWF Raw was star-studded, featuring four WWF superstars. It is also notable that the person doing the voiceover for the commercial says, “WWF Raw is war”. This was three years before the “Raw” TV show of the same name began being referred to as, “RAW IS WAR”.