Video Game Review - WWF Betrayal (GBC)

Note: This review contains spoilers for the game WWF Betrayal

If you are looking for a great wrestling game on the Gameboy Color, then WWF Betrayal would probably not be your best choice. Really it’s not accurate to describe it as a “wrestling game”, when in reality it is a basic side scrolling beat-um utilizing an official WWF license.





Upon starting the game, you get to pick from a whopping list of four superstars. But in all fairness the choice of superstars does correspond with the big names of the time: Triple H, Stone Cold, Undertaker and The Rock.



The story begins with you facing the WWF Champion in a title match. If you play as Stone Cold, Undertaker, or The Rock, then the champion is Triple H. If you play as Triple H then the champ is Stone Cold. Regardless of who your playing as, the opening plays out pretty much the same. Another wrestler attacks you with a trashcan costing you the match.



Your reaction to losing is naturally to start beating the snot out of the referees at ringside. There are two referees, one chubby and one skinny. You best get used to them, because you will be seeing them re-appear a lot during the course of the game. After taking the two referees out, you head to the backstage area. There you are greeted by WWF Chairman himself Vince McMahon. He informs you that his daughter, Stephanie, has been kidnapped. Despite your visible reluctance, you are elected to hunt her down. Thus begins a lengthy and repetitive journey.



Your attacks are notably limited. You can punch, kick, dropkick, hit your finishing maneuver, and hit your favorite maneuver. Your finisher maneuver can only be preformed once your special meter is filled. You fill it by getting simultaneous hits without being hit yourself. Your favorite maneuver is also only performable when you special meter is full. However favorite maneuvers can only be preformed during boss fights.



Boss fights consist of one on one fights will another superstar. Gee for a second there, this almost feels like a wrestling game, but then again, not really. The boss fights are extremely fast paced and basically depend on you mashing the hell out of the buttons before the computer annihilates you.

So you travel from level to level, stopping in a parking garage, a street, a subway terminal, a moving subway, and even the famed WWF Headquarters Building. All the while beating down a slew of opponents ranging from referees to sexy office ladies.



As the levels go on you are introduced to some particularly interesting opponent designs. Including my all time favorite, a guy in a business suit wielding A MACHINE GUN. Now I’ll be honest, when I first encountered the security guards that whip out tasers I thought that was dabbling on the excessive side, but then along comes finely dressed fellows wielding machine guns, attempting to fill me with lead. Considering I’m an unarmed professional wrestler, the use of guns strikes me as perhaps a tad extreme.



The conclusion of the game takes place on the roof of WWF Headquarters. If your playing as Stone Cold, The Rock, or Undertaker, then it is revealed Vince and Triple H faked the whole Stephanie abduction just to keep the belt on Triple H. If you’re playing as Triple H, then it’s revealed Vince abducted Stephanie and plans to keep Stone Cold as the new champ, feeling Triple H doesn’t deserve it. Regardless of who’s being played, you must encounter a wrestler in one final showdown. After defeating your final opponent, your reward is a single picture of the WWF Title Belt followed immediately by the end credits, a rather lackluster ending.



If I had to pull a Steve Austin and put a “Bottom Line” on this game, then it would be that WWF Betrayal will likely not appeal to the vast majority of wrestling video game fans. If you enjoy simple side scrolling beat-um ups, then WWF Betrayal could very well provide you with entertainment. But from a wrestling stand point; this game breaks the model too much for my taste.