Game Info

Developer: SNK
Publisher: SNK
Year of Release: 1993

Game Review & Impressions

The popularity of professional wrestling exploded during the late 80s and early 90s, and its rise to prominence was certainly felt in the video game industry. Despite the lack of any kind of official liencense, 3 Count Bout undoubtedly takes many of its aesthetic cues from what was happening in the WWF (the precursor to WWE) at the time, and does a decent job of capturing the razzmatazz surrounding some of those classic payperview events of yesteryear.

In terms of mechanics, players select from a roster of combatants running the gamut of video game stereotypes (fastbutweak, powerfulyetlumbering), then spend the next three minutes attempting to slap, kick and suplex opponents into submission. Each fighter has a series of special moves, plus an assortment of slams, which can only be executed by winning a clinch. These occur when wrestlers attempt to grab each other at close range, which instigates a few seconds of frantic button mashing to build sufficient power to overcome the opponent. If successful, the victor can perform a powerful body slam or piledriver, the most effective means of draining an opponent's health. It's also possible to ascend and leap off the turnbuckles, rebound off the ropes, and even take the fight outside the ring itself. Victory can be achieved by pinning a wrestler after exhausting their stamina sufficiently, causing them them to tap out, or force a ringout; how you win is up to you, just know that the game is going to be constantly working against you, so figure out the strategy which works best and stick to it.

This is all pretty typical fodder as far as this sort of game is concerned, so SNK tried to add some extra spice to the proceedings. As you can see from the video thumbnail, there's a darker side to the proceedings. Each professional bout is followed by either a fightout in a disused warehouse, or wrestling ring with electrified ropes. These matches include an assortment of weapons to use, including a wirewrapped baseball bat, stun gun, and the usual array of wooden crates to hurl in the direction of one's opponent. The handheld weapons impose a massively telegraphed windup animation whenever you use them, however, leaving you massively exposed to a counterattack, which makes them more trouble than they're worth.

As far as wrestling games are concerned, 3 Count Bout is pretty good. The graphics are excellent, especially the wrestlers themselves, and the overall presentation is commendable. Winning grapples and slamming your opponent induces waves of palpable excitement, and there's enough variety in the available roster of moves and interactivity with the environment to keep one's interested.

However, the game isn't without its faults. It's not uncommon for coinops with grapple systems to simply have the CPU player win every single clinch, regardless of how much you waggle the stick or bash the buttons, a real pet hate of mine. 3 Count Bout is guilty of this; I found myself getting slammed, despite having clearly won the grapple, but it's not as egregiously unfair as, for example, King of the Monsters 2. There were also occasional instances where opponents continued to break out of pins, even though their life bar had long since been exhausted, and way the game prevents any kind of pinning next to the ringside proved to be a constant annoyance.

While it might have some issues, 3 Count Bout remains a wrestling game worth playing, especially in multiplayer, where the gripes about the grappling system no longer apply. It looks and sounds great, and while it might lack any kind of official license of endorsements, it remains a compelling choice. If the prospect of muscular men dressed in closefitting lycra taking turns to stuff each other's face into the canvas is your kind of game, you could do worse than this.

Chapters

00:00 Attract mode
01:40 Player select
02:07 Match 1
03:55 Match 2
05:55 Match 3
07:20 Match 4
08:43 Match 5
10:53 Match 6
12:50 Match 7
14:08 Match 8
16:01 Match 9
18:08 Match 10
20:00 Ending