Remember the halcyon days of ‘On A Pole’ matches
You would think that SNK has already exhausted its run of re-releases as they pertain to its awesome Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld, but nay, as today sees the arrival of the ring-rocking ‘rassler Big Bang Pro Wrestling, which is now available to download on Nintendo Switch, priced at a modest $7.99 USD.
Originally released for the NGPC in the fall of 2000, Big Bang Pro Wrestling is sort of a hybrid between Spike’s excellent Fire Pro Wrestling series and the more mainstream wrestling titles released on U.S. soil. The story concerns the resurrection of defunct promotion IEW, and eight legendary wrestlers who return to the squared circle to prove themselves the company’s ultimate champion.
Big Bang Pro has a roster of 10 original stars, each with the suspiciously familiar movesets and fighting styles of top WWE stars of the era, such as The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, and Goldberg. Big Bang Pro boasts a simple two-button control system but does feature a fair amount of throws, holds, and acrobatic maneuvers, as well as single match and tournament games modes. As a fun addendum, players can also engage in Casket Matches and “Money on a Pole” matches too. Russo is stoked.
Big Bang Pro Wrestling is hardly celebrated in the pantheon of classic wrestling games, but given that its physical NGPC release is one of the rarer and pricier titles, it is great to see SNK add this game to its digital NGPC collection, where it joins such stellar releases as SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium, Card Fighters Clash, and The Last Blade.