Released on June 30th, 1995, Shin Nippon Pro Wrestling 1995: Tokyo Battle 7 was the last game made by New Japan for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Graphics - Pretty simple, but you can tell who most the wrestlers are without squinting while they are wrestling. The moves look good though and its on par with what other games were doing in 1995. Score:  5.0

 

Controls - Real basic. One button performs a weak strike and a weak grapple, one a strong strike and strong grapple, one runs and one blocks. Grapples are initiated by simply walking into your opponent, and you get onto the top turnbuckle by walking into it. Doesn't take long to adjust to, although picking up your opponent (with the block button) can be somewhat hit and miss.   Score:  6.0

Single Player Mode - The main mode is a series of singles matches and personally I found it hard as hell. I got my ass handed to me on a number of occasions and the computer is relentless. There isn't much creativity to having just a series of random matches but it is pretty fun to do it with different wrestlers since the roster is so deep.  Score:  4.0

Other Game Play Options - Other modes include the G1 Climax (round robin tournament), Battle Royal, and IWGP Championship mode. Not a bad variety, as I like both tournaments and battle royals when I am in the right mood for them.  Score:  7.0

Wrestling Moves - Every wrestler has one weak grapple move, four strong grapple moves, two strikes, an Irish whip move, two top rope moves, and two or three unique finishers. A lot of wrestlers have the tombstone piledriver, but other then that the moves are pretty varied and are moves that the wrestlers actually uses. The different finishers is particularly impressive... Scott Steiner, for example, has both the Steiner Screwdriver and the Frankensteiner. Eddie has the Crucifix Powerbomb and Tornado DDT, Benoit has the Dragon Suplex and Wild Bomb, etc. So no complaints, especially for a game made so long ago.  Score:  6.5

Wrestler Options - This is who the game includes: Tatsumi Fujinami, Shinya Hashimoto, Keiji Mutoh, Osamu Kido, Kensuke Sasaki, Rick Steiner, Jushin Thunder Liger, Wild Pegasus, Norio Hanaga, Great Sasuke, Riki Choshu, Masahiro Chono, Hiroshi Hase, Scott Norton, Hawk Warrior, Scott Steiner, Black Tiger, Shinjiro Otani, El Samurai, and Super Delfin. For a game made in 1995, 20 wrestlers is damn good.... for comparison sake, WWF RAW which came out in 1994 only had 12 wrestlers. The list is also a virtual who's who in terms of the stars of New Japan in 1995, with Inoki being the only noticeable absence. Nothing really to complain about here as having 20 unique wrestlers is pretty impressive. Score:  8.0

Edits - No CAW, that really wasn't happening back in the mid-90s outside of the Fire Pro Wrestling games. Score: N/A

Long Term Appeal - Between the roster and multiple game modes, there is no reason that this game shouldn't hold your attention. And it is multiplayer in both single and tag action so you can play with a friend as well if you get tired of the single player modes. A very deep game that would only be improved with Edits, which I only mention since Fire Pro Wrestling in the same period had Edits and is considered a game that can last forever because of it.   Score:  7.5

Final Thoughts - My only complaint about the game is the difficulty, but since that can be adjusted (although its not easy on "easy") I would say this is a very complete Super Nintendo game. It has a big roster, four different game modes, and a different moveset for every wrestler available. The roster includes all the big stars sans Inoki and also has a lot of American stars such as Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, the Steiners, and the Road Warriors. Overall if you can get your hands on it I'd recommend giving it a try, its a fun little game.

Score:  B

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game reviewed in 2007