Arm Wrestling (video game)

Arm Wrestling is a 1985[1] arcade game developed by Nintendo and released only in North America. As a spin-off of the Punch-Out!! series, and created by the same development team, Arm Wrestling features many of the same features, such as a dual-monitor system and quirky computer opponents.

Arm Wrestling
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)Nintendo R&D3
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Producer(s)Genyo Takeda
Designer(s)Genyo Takeda
Artist(s)Shigeru Miyamoto
Composer(s)Koji Kondo
Platform(s)Arcade
Release
Genre(s)Sports game
Mode(s)Single player
CabinetUpright
Display2 Raster horizontal monitors, 224×288

Development

The game was developed by Nintendo R&D3, the same team that created the Punch-Out!! series. It is the final dedicated arcade game Nintendo both developed and distributed. The game's announcer uses some voice samples of Han (Shih Kien) from the 1973 film Enter the Dragon, as well as original ones. It shares multiple similarities to the Punch-Out!! arcade games, including the use of multiple screens and visuals, utilizing the same graphics engine.[2]

Gameplay
The first match in Arm Wrestling against Texas Mac.

The goal of the game is to become the World Arm Wrestling Champion by defeating as many opponents in arm wrestling as possible. In order to achieve this title the player must compete against five different computer opponents and pin them in a timed match. The opponents are:

  • Texas Mac, a stereotypical Texan in a cowboy hat
  • Kabuki, a Japanese sumo wrestler
  • Mask X, actually Bald Bull from Punch-Out!! in a mask
  • Alice & Ape III, a little girl controlling a monkey robot via remote
  • Frank Jr., an homage to Frankenstein's monster as popularized in the 1930s films

A match begins when the player taps left on the joystick. During the match the player must attack the computer character by pressing right on the joystick and tapping the button to increase the power of the attack. The game foreshadows a counterattack when computer character makes a strange face. In order to win a match the player must move the joystick back and forth and "surprise" the computer player before it has a chance to counterattack. After defeating Kabuki and Frank Jr., the player can earn bonus points by catching a sack of money thrown from above, pulling up on the joystick at the proper moment as it falls. Once Frank Jr. is defeated, the game begins again with increased difficulty.[3]

Reception

Arm Wrestling was neither as popular or as well-received as the Punch-Out!! arcade games.[2] JC Fletcher of Joystiq expressed hope that Arm Wrestling would see release on the Wii's [{Virtual Console]] service, due to it not being a game many have played.[4] Anthony Burch of Destructoid felt it was strange due to it not representing what arm wrestling actually feels like, though notes that the strange controls and visual similarity to Punch-Out!! makes it an intriguing game. He ultimately enjoyed the game, expressing that it may be due to the speed of the game and the fact that he felt soreness in his arm after playing, finding it interesting that it reproduced that aspect in the way it did. However, he found it too shallow and short.[5] Jeremy Parish of USgamer felt its obscurity was due to it being too visually impressive to be reproduced on the NES, and that adapting it would be difficult as a result of the gameplay not being deep enough. He also noted that Arm Wrestling cabinets were likely hard to find and expensive.[6]

Legacy

A clone named Arm Wrestle for the ZX Spectrum was published in 1987.[7]

gollark: No, Arch is very general.
gollark: Sure?
gollark: The wiki has a page on it.
gollark: Well, you can configure GRUB for that.
gollark: Well, you basically use the live USB, configure your partitions, install the base system packages, chroot into the new system, configure things, install a bootloader, reboot, then install/configure a desktop environment and whatnot.

References
  1. "Arcade Release Date". Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  2. Gill, Charles G. (December 10, 2013). "Punch-Out!! (Assorted)". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  3. "International Arcade Museum". Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  4. Fletcher, JC (October 2, 2008). "Virtually Overlooked: Arm Wrestling". Engadget. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  5. Burch, Anthony (November 24, 2008). "Games time forgot: Arm Wrestling". Destructoid. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  6. Parish, Jeremy (July 25, 2014). "Forgottendo: 10 Nintendo Games You've Probably Never Heard Of". USgamer. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  7. "Arm Wrestle". Spectrum Computing. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
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