Reviews

I wanted to like this wrestling game, I really did. The cover artwork and screen shots promised "a fast paced intergalactic wrestling match", it was enough to part me with my hard-sponged pocket money at the time.
What I had actually bought was instant disappointment, and one of the worst games I have ever played. I came back to it a few times, thinking that maybe I was missing something, but it never disappointed in disappointing. The game seems to have all the right elements; large, bold graphics, two player combat and crazy alien opponents, its just that it had no playability at all. Whatever moves you do, whatever strategy you think you might try, the outcome of the matches appears to be almost entirely random.
A quick blast again in the emulator (I never learn), confirmed my memories of this game. I considered giving this 2, on the merits of its OK graphics, but then the hate came flooding back :]

Also known as Intergalactic Cage Match, as well as one of the worst games to ever exist...which do you prefer to call it?

This is easily one of the absolute worst games I've ever come across on the ZX Spectrum! Every single feature in this game is bad with the worst being the appalling gameplay it possess. The worst thing of all was after so many attempts of trying to win and failing and being put back to the title screen as a result I finally won a match, and when I did.....did I get another opponent? No, I'm back at the title screen again!

Absolute rubbish! At the time of this "review" this currently sits in the top 5 worst games on World of Spectrum, and it well and truly earns it's place on that list.

There are worse games than Cage Match but not many ... in its favor I must say that I was expecting a much worse program in view of the ill reviews compiled in WOS about Cage Match .

Cage Match is not a master-piece but it is far from being one of the worst programs ever made , in my humble opinion .

Am I trying to excuse Cage Match ? Not really , I´m just saying that in spite of all its faults Cage Match is still playable , unlike many other games with much better reputation .

The idea behind Cage Match is pretty original indeed !!

I say ...

1988 Entertainment USA (UK)
by Paul Atkinson and John Brennan

As a beat-em-up, 'Intergalactic Cage Match' is dreadful. The movements are awkward and not accurate, with no diagonal movements available, and the blows all look the same and fell the same, with no apparent distinction in the way they affect the opponent, except for the "grab and drop" wrestling move (there's a name for it but I don't know squat about wrestling!). Oh and some of the homo-erotic positions are a laugh!

It's true it's unfair to judge this as the worst game in spectrum history or even in the top 5 of worst code machine games. But it's miles away from almost any beat 'em up around, so it really doesn't deserve much credit.

What holds the game together, in my opinion is the theme. Playing against intergalactic monsters, as the giant fly, for instance, is a great and fun idea. But overall, unless you like wasting time repeating the same moves over and over again, this is simply avoidable.

1,5 points

Saw Ashens review the C64 version of this and thought I'd try out the Speccy version, it's just as bad and hideous in every aspect but thankfully no music which was dreadful on the C64. But what an appalling excuse of a game.

Terrible alien beat'em up plus cage climbing - with two or three moves.

1,5/5