Suda51 Retrospective: Part 1 – Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special

Goichi Suda, born on January 2, 1968, was a simple undertaker from Nagano, who may not have even imagined that he would become a cult figure. But his great love for video games allowed him to change his destiny forever.

Suda sent his resume to Human Entertainment. Weeks passed, but no answer came. When Suda was already in despair and had given up, they called him and hired him.

How did this happen, you ask?? After all, “undertaker” is clearly not the work experience sought in the field of games.

The fact is that Suda was also a long-time fan and connoisseur of puroresu – Japanese professional wrestling and was aiming specifically at working on a series of wrestling games from the Human company.

Knowledge in this area was in great demand in the company, and it is not surprising that the first project in the career of suda51, and by the way this nickname comes from his last name, which is read as (go-five, ichi – one), was the game Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Final Bout.

It was followed by Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special – another part of the most popular wrestling series in Japan at that time.

We’ll talk about these games today.

Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Final Bout, released on the Super Famicom in 1993. never translated into English or published outside of Japan.

But they paid attention to the game https://mrspincasino.uk/bonus/ designer in his homeland after his second wrestling game – released a year later.

Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special

The reason for the public’s attention was the unusually dark ending of the game. By the way, I want to warn you right away that there will be spoilers here and there. Therefore, I advise those faint of heart to immediately leave the hall.
And for those who stayed, let’s continue.
Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special. released in 1994 also for the Super Famicom console, tells the story of the path of a newbie, a young wrestler, to the championship title.

Let’s first understand a little about what the Japanese mean by wrestling.
Yes, these are exactly the same staged battles, but much tougher and, so to speak, with a twist.
If the Americans take the idiocy of the costumes and the absurdity of the biographies of the fighters, then the Japanese sometimes prefer tough things like battles in barbed wire, in an exploding arena or in an aquarium with piranhas.

Despite these differences, wrestling, both in Asia and America, has always remained something entertaining and divorced from reality.

Therefore, it is important to understand here that when you play wrestling on the SNES, you expect a secondary plot or its absence at all. All you need is a cheerful fight with hefty shaggy men in bright shorts.

And if we take the previous games in the series and the game mechanics in general, then, as they say, nothing foreshadows.

This is a good fighting game that you can play alone or with friends. The game features many fighters and several game modes.

For a Russian-speaking player, the process of getting acquainted with the game may be overshadowed by the fact that the game has never been released outside of Japan, and, therefore, has only a Japanese version. But it won’t hurt to play because violence is international.

We have grabs, strikes, various techniques – you can have a cool run from the ropes – in general, all the requisites of proper wrestling are present. The choice of characters is quite wide and, as far as I know, they are all based on real wrestlers.

But in terms of plot, Suda, out of the blue, throws a real heavy sports drama at the players with a twist worse than “Southpaw” with Gyllenhall.

The main character, having gone through the deaths of his loved ones during the game, accidentally killing his friend during a fight and reaching the championship title, remains a devastated person who has lost everything.

Here he is, standing alone in the ring in despair.

But in the next scene he shoots himself in the head in his mansion.

But these are still flowers. With his wrestling, Suda set the tone for his future work. Thus, he announced himself in the industry. The most interesting things awaited players in his next games.

In general, the game is extremely important for further understanding of his style; references to wrestling will one way or another come through in his next works, so remember well Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special.