News/Universal Wrestling Corporation (Unreleased NES game)
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UWC (Prototype)
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Today we have something really special to share with you - a prototype of the unreleased UWC (also known as Universal Wrestling Corporation) for the NES, courtesy of Stephan Reese and Frank Cifaldi from the Video Game History Foundation!
UWC is a wrestling game that features wrestlers that were part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Inc., such as Jimmy Garvin and Barry Windham. The title UWC is significant, as the title was the original name for the company WCW that was very quickly renamed sometime in late 1988. This game was published by SETA and developed in 1989 by Thinking Rabbit, a relatively obscure Japanese company that mostly developed titles for Japanese home computers at the time. Most of the team members responsible for the game would also work together on the Japanese exclusive title “Fighting Road” for the Famicom in 1988. No evidence is known to exist that confirms if this game was ever officially announced in either gaming media or in one of the various trade shows at the time. The game was canceled for unknown reasons, but might’ve been shelved due to poor reception by the game’s licensors and to support Nichibutsu’s superior attempt with WCW World Championship Wrestling (also known as Super Star Pro Wrestling in Japan) which came out on December 9th, 1989 in Japan.
Until recently, this game remained completely unknown as no documentation exists that confirms that it was ever in development. Stephan Reese, also known as Archon 1981, acquired the prototype from a former Nintendo of America employee. Given the completeness of the game, it was most likely submitted for approval before manufacturing could begin. Upon receiving the game, Stephan was willing to allow The Video Game History Foundation to digitally preserve the prototype so that others can enjoy it.
The game features three modes of play with three different difficulty levels, including support for two players. If you are playing on the easiest difficulty level, the game will gradually up the difficulty level until you are playing on “Master” difficulty. The goal of the game is to get your opponents HP as close to zero as possible so that you can pin them down. The closer your opponents HP is to zero the easier you can pin your opponent. While relatively simple, the game is quite challenging.
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We’d like to thank the great folks over at The Video Game History Foundation for giving us the opportunity to release this prototype and for making other opportunities possible. We deeply thank Stephan Reese for being extremely kind in releasing this prototype for many to see and enjoy. Without people like these, many of our releases would never have been possible.
Until next time!