(NOAH/ALL JAPAN): The culmination of All Japan's history, the dream All-Star game comes true!

Weekly Pro

22nd August 2000 (Issue 991)

Giant Baba, The Destroyer, Jumbo Tsuruta, Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada etc. 

Noah wrestlers will also be appearing! 

The culmination of All Japan's history, the dream All-Star game comes true!

Former All Japan correspondent Hidetoshi Ichinose* reports on the test play.

About two months ago, I received a press release from Sega. The date was listed as a lucky day, (6th June 2000), and so the contents were certainly auspicious; 

"All Japan Pro Wrestling and Sega have teamed up! 

"The strongest and last wrestling game of the century"

"The number of wrestlers featured has been significantly increased from the previous game, bringing to life dream matches that transcends time."

Hmmm, another new game is coming out. 

To be honest, that's all I knew at the time. I didn't pay much attention to the triumphant advertising slogans in the press release.

However,...

I can't believe it.

This is a huge surprise.

All Japan, which was supposed to have tag teamed with SEGA, has split up. For Sega, this must have been bad news, and an unlucky day in June, not an auspicious one. 

Suddenly, I became worried.

Will the long-awaited game actually be released? Or will it be shelved in the aftermath of the split? A month ago I received a sample copy of the game. It seems that it is moving towards release, which is a good thing in itself. However, as someone who had been the Weekly Pro Wrestling Reporter covering All Japan until June two years ago, I couldn't really call it a lucky win; I felt like I'd gotten the best of both worlds: neither good nor bad. So, I loaded the software onto my Dreamcast and timidly turned it on. Soon the screen appeared. I was first struck by the words "Famous Match Replay Mode," which had not been in the previous game. The game involves following the instructions on the screen, to recreate the famous matches (twelve in total), that have taken place in All Japan in the past. For example, on February 4, 1982, in the Baba vs. Hansen match (Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium), it started with the Kawazu Drop and ended with the Brain Splitting*.

New features and a wide variety of wrestlers. This is Giant Gram 2000! 

By following the instructions and timing perfectly, with ten techniques up to the 32 mon rocket launcher*, the "reproducibility" of the match can be improved, and if the degree of reproduction is 80% or more, the Baba vs. Hansen fight itself will be clear. The key to reconstructing the scene is to become Baba as he was at that time. However, this is quite difficult. 

- Baba & Tsuruta vs Hansen & Brody (20th April 1982, Nagoya)

- Misawa vs Tsuruta (8th June 1990, Budokan)

- Kawada vs Misawa (22nd January 1999, Osaka)

...and others 

As a fan, I would have naturally liked to drown in emotion thinking, "Oh, Misawa vs Kawada is reborn!", but there is no time for that in this mode. For those who really want to drown in emotion, I recommend "Spectator Mode". This mode, which was also in the previous game, involves watching the computer battle itself. To be honest, I wasn't particularly interested in it when the previous game was released. But the spectator mode of this game is really meaningful. Why? Because, even though they are fictional matches, they bring to life matches that will never be seen again in the real world, such as Baba vs. Tsuruta, Baba vs. Misawa, Kawada vs. Brody, and even matches that will probably never be held again, such as Misawa vs. Kawada* and Kobashi vs. Hansen. 

I couldn't resist watching the Misawa vs Kawada match five times in a row. In the first match, Misawa won with a spin kick. In the second match, Misawa won with a Tiger Suplex. In the third match, Kawada got revenge with an Abisegiri (Rolling wheel). In the fourth match, Misawa also won with a Tiger Driver. In the fifth match, Kawada got his revenge with a power bomb. This is a rare, soothing mode that makes you wonder what the results would be if you continued watching about one hundred matches like this. 

After reminiscing about those days, I finally opened the door to the game's main event, the Arcade Mode. The selling point here is undoubtedly the sheer variety of wrestlers appearing, far surpassing that of the previous game. I have already mentioned Tsuruta and Brody, but in addition to these two, there are other famous All Japan wrestlers such as Bruno Sammartino, The Destroyer, Don Leo Jonathan, Fritz Von Erich and Bobo Brazil, who also make an appearance, all of them using their famous moves from the past. In addition, the active wrestlers such as The Four Heavenly Kings, Akiyama, NO FEAR, Ogawa, Hansen, Vader, Williams, Albright, Mossman and others are in the same boat as both All Japan and Noah. The decisive factor is Baba and Rikidozan, so it's perfect! Of course, there are also plenty of hidden characters (apparently), and you have to meet various conditions to bring them out, but the fact that it's not easy to do so is what makes it so addictive. Still, I managed to find one "biter" named The Crusher, but I turned off the power without saving the data! What a fool! In addition, you can also enjoy CHAMPION CARNIVAL and ONE NIGHT TOURNAMENT with multiple friends in the VS mode, and there is the original training mode, which was also popular in the last game. Before I knew it, the trepidation I had felt before I had first pressed the POWER button had completely disappeared. 

In addition to the all-stars (both old and new), dream matches between All Japan and Noah will also come true. 

The theme song that can never be heard again. 

The costume that can never be seen again. 

Kyohei Wada, the referee, officiating the Misawa vs Kobashi match. 

All dreams are packed into this.

I remembered the promotional slogan in the press release two months ago, "A dream collaboration that transcends time will come true." That's right. This game is a rivalry game between All Japan and Noah, that will never have a PART 2. 

"Giant Gram 2000" ~ All Japan Pro Wrestling 3 Glorious Heroes ~"

The release date is August 10th.

It must be an auspicious day.

Notes

Hidetoshi Ichinose: Ichinose worked in the editorial department of Weekly Pro, covering All Japan and became the spokesperson for The Four Pillars. In the early to mid 80s, the relationship between All Japan and Weekly Pro was so bad, that Baba refused to allow them to cover events. Ichinose (who was an unknown to All Japan) got round this by purchasing a regular ticket and reporting back, by 1986 All Japan had lifted the ban on Weekly Pro reporters. He was also the man behind the creation of the yearly "Wrestler Directory".

For example, on February 4, 1982, in the Baba vs. Hansen match (Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium),

Kawazu Drop and Brain Splitting: Baba moves

32 Mon Rocket Launcher: Baba technique, "mon" is traditional unit used for shoe and sock sizes. When Baba was a student, no shoes would fit his feet, so his father would fashion planks and make geta out of them for him.  

Misawa vs Kawada: While Kobashi vs Hansen never happened again (and never will happen again), Misawa vs Kawada happened (for the final time) in July seven years after this article was written.