Champion Wrestler: Jikkyou Live
[チャンピオンレスラー実況ライブ]
1996年2月16日
“The last great 2D wrestling game”
Champion Wrestler: Jikkyou Live, published by Taito in February 1996, is a 2D wrestling game released exclusively for the PlayStation. While most wrestling titles of the era were turning toward 3D graphics, often resulting in rigid motion and angular character models, Champion Wrestler: Jikkyou Live was created entirely in pixel art, featuring impressive animation and an exceptional variety of moves, echoing the finest Super Famicom wrestling titles.
Champion Wrestler: Jikkyou Live is a 2D hidden gem that brings back the magic of 8- and 16-bit wrestling games, offering a return to the nearly romantic vision of professional wrestling as a form of video-game spectacle.
It serves as the sequel to the renowned wrestling title Champion Wrestler, originally released in arcades by Taito in August 1989.
The game employed a top-down perspective covering the entire ring, a common feature among wrestling games of the time, yet distinguished itself through its extensive move set and the fast-paced rhythm characteristic of arcade titles.
Unlike the original Champion Wrestler, Champion Wrestler: Jikkyou Live introduces a more technical gameplay engine and a grappling system that relies on precise timing. To initiate a grapple, the player simply approaches the opponent: When both wrestlers make contact, the player must hit the action button right as they lean back, in that split second before they grab each other.
The game offers an extensive roster of 42 playable characters, comprising wrestlers and mixed martial arts champions modeled after renowned figures from across the globe, including eight hidden characters that can be unlocked upon finishing the Title mode. The lineup includes young high-flyers with spectacular aerial techniques to massive foreign heavyweights, offering a broad diversity of fighting styles and body types. Every fighter is a loving tribute to real wrestling stars, from Hulk Hogan, Big Van Vader, the Steiner Brothers, Tiger Mask, Royce and Rickson Gracie, and André the Giant, to Japanese legends like Tsuruta, Great Muta, Misawa, Hayabusa, and Great Sasuke. On the character select screen, the player can pick from fifteen distinct color variations for each wrestler’s outfit.
Each wrestler has around fifty moves, among which several are exclusive to each character, such as their trademark grapples and signature taunts. The player can perform dives to the outside of the ring, aerial attacks from the turnbuckles, coordinated tag-team techniques, and spectacular reversals.
The game features a Title mode, where the player takes on every wrestler in a series of official matches to win the championship belt. A Training mode, without audience or announcer, is designed to help the player practice controls and master the timing required for move execution, with on-screen indicators that display the button inputs for every possible move or counter. When a move becomes available, an exclamation mark appears above the player’s character. A Versus mode allows up to four players to compete simultaneously, allowing every kind of confrontation, from tense duels to cooperative tag matches and all-out battle royals. The system includes counter moves, grappling throws, and two-on-one assaults, along with last-second dodges where attacks can be reversed against the opponents. Finally, a Champion mode lets you challenge a friend for the title belt. Each player inserts his own memory card, and when the champion loses, the title belt is automatically saved to the winner’s card.
The difficulty ranges from 0 to 13, yet even at its lowest setting, the matches remain challenging, as opponents display unexpected resilience.
The mechanics take a little getting used to, yet with the Training mode, mastering the controls quickly becomes intuitive. By colliding with the opponent, a grapple starts, and the player must press the action button with precise timing to execute a move. The timing is pretty forgiving, which makes chaining moves together feel smooth and satisfying. From the moment both characters engage in a grapple, the player can choose from a wide range of moves: standard kicks, punches, and throws, along with numerous submission techniques that vary according to the wrestler’s position relative to the opponent, running attacks, corner grapples, rope moves, and team-specific moves available in Tag and Battle Royal modes. The player can chain together light but unblockable strikes, intermediate throws and slams, strike combination, or go for big powerful moves, riskier by nature, as they are frequently countered or reversed. Each wrestler comes with a personal taunt and a bunch of different submission moves.
Controls are simple: most moves are executed with a single button or a direction combined with a button, while the most powerful attacks require two-button inputs. Getting out of the ring or climbing the ropes is achieved with a simple directional input toward the desired direction.
Each button is assigned to a distinct category of action:
Square for punches, Cross for kicks, and Triangle for running.
During a grapple:
Square performs a body slam or a quick grab.
Direction + Square performs a quick attack, such as an elbow strike or a Flying Mare.
Direction + Triangle throws the opponent against the ropes.
Up + Cross executes a powerful move, for example, a brainbuster.
Down + Cross triggers another powerful move, such as a piledriver.
Left or Right+Cross also triggers a powerful move, such as the Drop Dead Twice.
After throwing the opponent against the ropes:
Square, Cross, or Circle performs a horizontal strike, an elbow attack, or a shoulder throw.
While running, Square or Triangle performs a shoulder tackle or a jumping knee strike, while Cross or Circle executes a more powerful lariat or dropkick.
When the opponent is lying on the ground:
Press Square to pick your opponent up.
Press Cross to perform a pin attempt.
Press Circle for ground attacks. For instance, an elbow blow or a stomp when the player is at the opponent’s head, or leg holds and submissions when positioned near the legs.
By holding down Cross, the player can flip the opponent onto his back.
After performing a powerful move, the player may quickly rise and close in on the opponent to execute a special follow-up attack — such as a dropkick or a spinning kick — by pressing Square + Cross or Triangle + Circle simultaneously.
Following a powerful move, the player may ascend the top rope with the directional inputs and press Square to execute a flying knee or Cross to execute a flying elbow attack.
Finally, when the opponent is stunned outside the ring following a shoulder toss, the player can perform a dramatic attack by running toward the ropes and pressing Square + Cross.
It’s best to open the match with simple strikes, progressively shifting to more powerful attacks as the fight heats up, to conclude with devastating finishing moves using overpowered techniques. These moves are executed using direction + Square + Cross or Triangle + Circle combinations, either during a grapple, from the top rope, or when the opponent is down.
The greater the damage a wrestler endures, the more his stamina decreases, and the longer he stays down on the ground.
Powerful moves, such as suplexes or piledrivers, are deliberately restricted early in the match and cannot be executed right away. Furthermore, in the later stages of the match, attempting to rely solely on repeated suplexes or high-impact techniques will prompt the opponent to counter and reverse those moves against the player.
Once the player has mastered the game’s movement system, it becomes a true delight to play.
But what really makes this game stand out is its live commentary: a continuous, fluid narration that accompanies the entire match, something no other PS1 wrestling game had back then. Jikkyou Live literally translates to “Play-by-Play Live,” basically “live commentary” in Japanese. The game’s commentator, Shigeru Kajiwara, a renowned Japanese television announcer, delivers an impressively engaged performance throughout. With unrestrained enthusiasm, he reacts to every action — shouting “STOMPING!! STOMPING!!”, “Body slam!”, “Elbow?!”, “Brain-smashing piledriver?!”, “Powerful?!” — enhancing the game’s sense of realism and heightening the excitement of every move. Powerful attacks have never been portrayed with such spectacle.
The crowd really adds to the atmosphere — going from sitting around bored to jumping up and yelling as the match heats up. The referee is convincing and rarely intrusive, yet can be accidentally knocked down right in the middle of the action.
The game thus really nails the rhythm and tension of an actual wrestling match.
Champion Wrestler: Jikkyou Live is pure, living entertainment — fast, energetic, and true to the spirit of pro wrestling. Drawing on moves directly modeled after real-life matches, it delivers an unforgettable experience for all wrestling fans. A perfect blend of skill, spectacle, and emotion — a glowing tribute to the beauty of pro wrestling.