Fire Pro Wrestling | |
---|---|
Genres | Fighting |
Developers | Human Entertainment, Spike |
Publishers | Human Entertainment, Spike, BAM! Entertainment, Agetec, 505 Games |
Creators | Masato Masuda |
Platforms | Various (see table) |
Platform of origin | PC Engine |
Year of inception | 1989 |
First release |
Fire Pro Wrestling Combination Tag June 22, 1989 |
Latest release |
Fire Pro Wrestling (Xbox 360) September 21, 2012 |
Fire Pro Wrestling (ファイヤープロレスリング?) is a long-running professional wrestling video game series originating from Japan, started in 1989 by Human Entertainment and continued by Spike in 2000. The series is distinguished by its grappling system, which is primarily based on timed button presses and strategy. Another signature feature of the series is its Edit mode, a character creation feature with many options to customize appearances, wrestling moves and A.I. behavior.
Unlike many other pro wrestling games, most Fire Pro games are not licensed by any major professional wrestling promotion, but do feature likenesses of real-life wrestlers under different names. Games in the series generally utilize 2-D sprite-based graphics, with some later games incorporating 3-D graphical elements. The spin-off King of Colosseum series features polygonal 3-D graphics.
Most of the titles in the Fire Pro Wrestling series have been released exclusively in Japan, although some of the games have seen releases in North America.
Beginning with the first title in the series from Human Entertainment, Fire Pro Wrestling Combination Tag for PC Engine in 1989, the Fire Pro Wrestling series eventually produced editions of games for many systems, notably the Super Famicom, Sega Saturn, Game Boy Advance, Dreamcast and the PlayStation 2. Human also released a wrestling game outside the Fire Pro Wrestling series in 1989 for Game Boy. Titled Pro Wrestling in its native Japan, it was released internationally as HAL Wrestling. Most of the titles in the Fire Pro Wrestling series have been released exclusively in Japan, although some of the games have seen releases in North America.