PWP Nation’s Derron Browning is back with another video-game review, but this time takes a look at WWF Rage In The Cage.
Back by popular demand, it’s time for another video game edition of the “Browning Review.” This time around, I review WWF Rage in the Cage for the Sega CD. Rage in the Cage was released for the Sega CD on December 21, 1993 and is a spin off of sorts to WWF Royal Rumble.
So, let’s get started.
LACK OF REPLAY VALUE
Rage in the Cage has three tag teams on its roster in the Nasty Boys, Money, Inc. and the Headshrinkers, but there are no tag team match modes in the game that are playable. Rage in the Cage has four game modes: One-on-One, which is your standard match. Brawl, which is where two people fight it out until the other person’s health bar is empty. Tournament mode is where you choose one wrestler and you have to beat every wrestler in the game in singles matches to win the WWF Championship.
Finally, is the game’s main feature, the Cage match which is a no holds barred match where you can only win by escaping the cage. However, the cage match is no different than a brawl with a cage around it. You can escape by pressing A + B, while climbing up the turnbuckle. If successful, you will escape the cage uncontested as there is no way to stop your opponent from escaping. With no tag matches or even a Royal Rumble match, which would have been ideal for the large roster the game had at the time, this game will get old very quickly.
GAMEPLAY IS STILL POOR
Rage in the Cage has the same gameplay style as WWF Royal Rumble. You can do punches and kicks and your wrestler’s finishing move. However, the grappling moves for each wrestler is identical. The button mashing, tug-of-war system to execute the grappling moves exists in Rage in the Cage just like all the other 16 bit WWF games at the time. I always hated this system as it requires little strategy other than button mashing. In essence, If you played WWF Royal Rumble for the SNES or Genesis, you have played Rage in the Cage.
Usually, I would move onto the positives of the games but besides from a slightly larger in-game roster than its 16-bit cousins (which consists mostly of the SNES and Genesis rosters of the WWF Royal Rumble game, give or take a few new faces) and hearing Howard Finkel announcing, that is it.
You would think since Rage in the Cage was released on a CD as opposed to a cartridge, it would have better sound quality but it does not. The theme music for each wrestler is in 16-bit form not the actual track. Like WWF Royal Rumble, you cannot win by submission. Submission moves simply drain your opponent’s health.
In conclusion, if you feel like you missed playing Rage in the Cage, you didn’t miss much. If Rage in the Cage kept the features of Royal Rumble and only added the cage match and expanded the roster, this would have been a much more passable game.
However, the lack of game modes and it being more of a roster update to WWF Royal Rumble makes this game forgettable. If you played Royal Rumble, Super WrestleMania or WWF RAW, you have already played this game. This game, overall gets 4/10.