Game: "Arm Wrestling"
System: Arcade
Genre: Sports
Published by: Nintendo

Reviewer: -RoG-
Posted: 5/13/2009

Review: Arm Wrestling is an old arcade game produced by Nintendo back in 1985. It's more or less a speedy button-mashing joystick-yanking game, but the real interesting thing about it is that it's the only spin-off of the Punch-Out!! games ever made.

From the second you start playing it, it's obvious that there are a lot of elements taken straight outta Punch-Out!!, particularly with how the characters are drawn and their ethnic stereotypes. You start off facing a cowboy named "Texas Mac", then you move on to a Japanese Sumo wrestler named "Kabuki". You'll also notice that your player is the same green-haired guy from the Punch-Out!! arcade games.

Most amusing of all, perhaps is the fact that your third opponent, the mysterious "Mask X" luchador is none other than Bald Bull (a famous Punch-Out!! character) in disguise. During your match with him you have to try yanking off his mask to reveal who it really is. And believe me, it's no easy task.

After that, you go on to fight some less traditional characters such as a girl controlling a monkey robot and then, for the final boss, an homage to Frankenstein's monster.

The arcade cabinet itself had a somewhat different layout as it had two monitors stacked on top of one another. Imagine a Nintendo DS converted into an arcade cabinet, and that's what Arm Wrestling was like in a nutshell. The top monitor showed your points / opponents and other information, while the bottom screen showed the actual match taking place. It also featured some amusing computer-generated voices and, of course, in classic Punch-Out!! style, your opponents would taunt the hell out of you if you lost to them.

It's not the greatest game ever (and there were arcade games that came along later in which you actually engaged in REAL arm wrestling matches as opposed to button mashing), but Arm Wrestling is definitely worth checking into if you want to learn about one of the more obscure historical elements of the Punch-Out!! series. That and seeing Bald Bull in a Mexican wrestling mask and making a "you're loco!" gesture as he laughs in your face whenever you lose. If seeing that isn't worth popping a few quarters into the machine, I really don't know what is.

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)