Wrestling ChallengeThis game has no description VectorificThis game has no description Monster SumoThis game has no description Crazy Push OffUse your hands and weapons to push your opponents off the cliff. Push PigsThere can only be one ruler in the mud patch, and it's gonna beYOU! Penguin SumoPlay this game with 1 or 2 players!Push the other penguin into the water! Sumo Wrestling is the focus of these anime. Training and competing in tournaments or championships are common themes in sports titles, as well as individual or team spirit, or being an underdog who goes against the odds to succeed. Sep 16, 2014 Everyone thinks they know what sumo wrestling is. It’s about big fat guys slamming into each other, right? Well, yes and no. Sumo may seem comical to you and me, but it is actually a very serious business – there is an awful lot more to sumo wrestling than most outsiders ever realise.
The Simpsons Wrestling | |
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Developer(s) | Big Ape Productions |
Publisher(s) |
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Director(s) | Dean Sharpe |
Producer(s) | Dave Wisehart |
Programmer(s) | Robert Leyland Tom Schenck |
Writer(s) | Jamie Angell |
Composer(s) | Christopher Tyng |
Series | The Simpsons |
Platform(s) | PlayStation |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Sports Fighting |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
The Simpsons Wrestling is a fighting video game based on the animated television seriesThe Simpsons. Developed by Big Ape Productions and published by Activision (Electronic Arts in Europe) for the PlayStation, it was first released in Europe in March 2001, followed by North America a month later. It is also the only Simpsons video game released for the PlayStation
There are 20 characters in the game, all of whom are voiced by the same actors that provide their voices in the show, and each character executes his or her own exclusive moves and gestures and power moves in the wrestling ring. The matches take place in detailed 3D locations from Springfield. A round in the game ends when one wrestler pins his opponent for a three count. Two victorious rounds wins a match. Unlike in traditional wrestling rules, the opponent may be pinned belly-down.
The game was widely panned by critics, and is considered to be one of the worst video games of all time.
Gameplay[edit]
The game is loosely based on professional wrestling games, but more closely resembles a beat-'em up. The game can be played in two modes: a tournament style single-player game or a grudge match where two players can interact. The matches take place in ten different detailed 3D locations from Springfield, such as the Simpsons' house, the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, the Kwik-E-Mart, and Moe's Tavern.[1] Letters float around in the wrestling ring, and if a wrestler collects enough of them, they can taunt and temporarily become invincible.[2] A round ends when one wrestler pins their opponent for a three count. Two rounds are needed to win a match.[3]
Each time a successful attack is performed on a player, their health meter depletes. Players with low health stay stunned for longer when knocked down. A player can increase their health by picking up food items that randomly appear in the ring. Running and attacks drain stamina. If a player does not have enough stamina to perform a certain move, it becomes unavailable until they recover. Stamina is regained through not pressing the actions buttons or picking up certain items. Attacks which require more stamina are generally more effective. The stun meter only appears when the opponent is knocked down. It depletes gradually, but the stunned player cannot move until the Stun meter is completely drained. A player can reduce the stun meter faster by pressing the action buttons, or by receiving certain attacks. If a player is low on health, the stun meter will normally be higher, making pin attempts harder to resist. Once a player's health is completely depleted, it will only take one hit to stun them. Certain attacks to a stunned opponent will actually reset the stun meter.
Homer and Bart fight in the wrestling ring. Homer is only three letters away from being able to taunt his opponent.
During matches, wrestlers have a health meter that drains as they perform special moves, and gradually refills when they are not attacking. Different moves use up different amounts of energy, and certain characters can win any match by repeatedly using a particularly damaging move that does not require much energy.[2] Several different power-ups are also available in the game, including a donut that increases speed, bowling pins that can be used as clubs, and bubble gum that slows players down.[4]
In addition to health items, the letters A, N, U and T appear randomly in the ring. If either player collects enough to spell the word 'TAUNT', they can then perform a taunt. The taunt will completely drain the opponent's stamina, making them unable to attack for a limited time.
Characters[edit]
The game features 20 characters from the show, all of whom are voiced by the same actors that provide their voices in The Simpsons. The player begins with only 8 of the 12 main characters to begin with. Others can be made playable by unlocking them, or unlocking a certain game mode.
- Homer - Homer is the most balanced character in the game, but relies particularly on brawling.
- Bart - Bart is a faster character who uses toys (skateboard, catapult) to make up for his lack of strength.
- Lisa - Lisa is another smaller character who uses her speed to make quick strikes on opponents. Her saxophone attack can hit an opponent anywhere within the ring.
- Marge - Marge has good reach but lacks strength. She uses household items as weapons. She can even use Maggie to limit an opponent's movement.
- Barney - Barney is one of the stronger characters, but lacks speed and stamina. His attacks are based on beer (including throwing beer glasses).
- Krusty - Krusty is a balanced character who uses a combination of brawling and typical clown paraphernalia.
- Apu - Apu is a brawler with moderate strength, but has good speed and stamina.
- Groundskeeper Willie - Willie uses gardening equipment to either keep opponents at a distance or to limit their movement.
- Bumblebee Man - (Unlockable) Bumblebee Man is a balanced brawler.
- Moe - (Unlockable) Moe is one of the faster characters who relies on fighting dirty. To that end, he carries a lot of makeshift weapons.
- Ned Flanders - (Unlockable) Ned Flanders is a weak character with very strong special attacks. His prayer attack is the most damaging in the game as it causes high damage, stuns instantly and hits repeatedly anywhere in the ring. He also fully recovers when pinned, so opponents must beat him twice just to win one singular round.
- Professor Frink - (Unlockable) Frink is a hard to control character who relies on gadgets to wear down opponents.
- Mr. Burns - (Boss Character) Waylon Smithers fights on Mr. Burn's behalf while Burns stands outside of the ring. Their strongest attack involves Mr. Burns throwing explosives into the ring that do not affect Smithers. They are only playable in the Mr. Burn's Office level.
- Kang and Kodos - (Boss Character) Kang battles on behalf of this team while Kodos supports by throwing random items into the ring. They are only available in the Spaceship level.
- Itchy - Itchy is a cartoon mouse with a lot of dangerous booby traps and weapons. He is only available in his own stage and can only battle Scratchy.
- Scratchy - Scratchy is the long-suffering victim of Itchy. However, his moves and attributes are comparable to Itchy's. He is only available in his own stage, meaning that he can only battle Itchy.
The voice of Kent Brockman can be heard occasionally during matches as a commentator. Various characters make cameos as background images. Each character executes their own exclusive moves and gestures.[1]
Development[edit]
Big Ape Productions developed The Simpsons Wrestling.[4] At the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2000, Fox Interactive announced its plans to produce and publish the game for the PlayStation console. Karly Young, director of Fox Interactive, said that the company had received an 'overwhelming' response to their previous Simpsons games, so they wanted to give the fans 'another dose of Bart and Homer—this time for PlayStation gamers'.[5]
The following months, Fox Interactive looked to partner with somebody who could help publish the game. Activision, who knew the possible casual gamer interest in The Simpsons, announced on March 12, 2001 that it had signed a deal with Fox Interactive that would allow it to publish The Simpsons Wrestling in North America.[6] Kathy Vrabeck, executive vice president of Activision, commented that 'The Simpsons is a property that enjoys phenomenal success across several entertainment mediums, including interactive entertainment. The acquisition of this game reinforces our strategy of delivering products based on powerful, recognizable brands.'[7]
Reception[edit]
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The Simpsons Wrestling received negative reviews from critics. It received an aggregated score of 41.21% on GameRankings[8] and 32/100 on Metacritic.[9] They criticized the game for having simplistic, unbalanced gameplay and bad graphics, but praised the game's audio track.
Doug Perry of IGN described The Simpsons Wrestling as one of the 'ugliest' games he had ever seen. He thought the graphics were 'choppy' looking, and the character outlines looked 'broken up'.[11]Game Informer's Andrew Reiner criticized the game's design by saying that he did not think it held any wrestling qualities at all, and that the characters looked 'awful'. He said that instead of 'grappling' or performing 'devastating slams', you have to 'slap your opponent silly' by mashing the buttons redundantly.[3] GameZone, however, called the graphics 'quite good, though a little clipped at times by the pace of the combat'.[10] Perry also thought there was little wrestling in the game, instead it is 'all about smashing buttons and not having any skill whatsoever'.[11] Reiner said that the game was a major disappointment and is 'one of the worst PS games to date'.[3]
In contrast to the game's negative response, GameZone said that even though the game does not feature continuous play, 'the action flows well once into an event'. GameZone's review praised the game's audio track, and thought it was 'fun' because the comedy is straight from the television show, and the characters will 'bring a smile to your face'.[10] Reiner also commented positively on the soundtrack[3] and that the game may not be the best wrestling game available, 'but it delivers what the cover advertises'.[10]GameSpot's Frank Provo said that 'wit' and 'charm' are the two most redeeming features of The Simpsons Wrestling, and in spite of the game's weak gameplay, it has 'plenty of laughs in store' that devoted fans of The Simpsons will enjoy.[2] The BBC's David Gibbon wrote that the end result of the track is one that will not 'fail to impress fans'.[1]
The Simpsons Wrestling received a 'Gold' sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[12] indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[13] In 2018, Watchmojo.com ranked the game #1 'Worst' on their 'Top 10 Best and Worst Simpsons Video Games' List.[14]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abcGibbon, David (March 23, 2001). 'The Simpsons go Wrestling'. BBC. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^ abcdProvo, Frank (March 12, 2001). 'The Simpsons Wrestling for PlayStation Review'. GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^ abcdeReiner, Andrew. 'Simpsons Wrestling'. Game Informer. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^ ab'Activision ships The Simpsons Wrestling'. GameSpot. April 13, 2001. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^''Let's Get Ready to … D'Oh!'. Business Wire. May 11, 2000. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^Mar, Posted (March 12, 2001). 'Activision to publish The Simpsons Wrestling'. GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^'Activision Scoops up The Simpsons'. IGN. March 12, 2001. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^ ab'The Simpsons Wrestling for PlayStation'. GameRankings. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- ^ ab'The Simpsons Wrestling for PlayStation Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ^ abcd'The Simpsons Wrestling Review - PlayStation'. GameZone. April 4, 2001. Archived from the original on March 10, 2005. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^ abcPerry, Doug (April 6, 2001). 'The Simpsons Wrestling Review'. IGN. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^'ELSPA Sales Awards: Gold'. Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on March 19, 2009.
- ^Caoili, Eric (November 26, 2008). 'ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK'. Gamasutra. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017.
- ^'Top 10 Best and Worst Simpsons Video Games'. WatchMojo. May 28, 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
External links[edit]
- The Simpsons Wrestling at IGN
- The Simpsons Wrestling at MobyGames
- The Simpsons Wrestling on IMDb
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Simpsons_Wrestling&oldid=924190446'
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SumoWrestling
Go To
Dosukoi~!
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They are big and fat, they are strong and resistant, they are almost naked: they are sumo wrestlers!
Before anime and video games became mainstream, Japan was known through popular culture for four things: geisha, ninja, samurai, and these big fighters known as sumo wrestlers. Big, rotund men whose objective is to throw the other man out of the ring, they are usually cast as Close Range Combatants per excellence in Fighting Games along the Boxing Battler, or as minor characters in different kind of stories.
It's Serious Business in Japan, where it could be described as the national pastime, and it is often interspersed with traditional Shinto rituals. Its rules are rather simple: you win by forcing your opponent out of the circular ring or forcing him to touch the ground with any part of his body except the soles of his feet. For this reason, matches usually only last a few seconds invested in big explosions of strength, making them short, dramatic and frequently spectacular, just what casual fans need to entertain themselves and keep watching. Indeed, although in the West it is often called a martial art and piled together with Judo and Karate, sumo wrestling could be much better described as a combat sport with religious undertones. While there are amateur associations in schools and colleges (as well as open circuits abroad), official sumo is a strictly professional competition which one dedicates his life to.
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Contrary to popular belief, actual sumo techniques and training regimes are far more complex than it looks, as the open nature of the ruleset allows for more or less all wrestling moves, including those grabbing the opponent's loincloth (which is called mawashi). It also contains a rudimentary form of striking, as palm or forearm blows are legal, so knockouts happen with some frequency. Most notably, although there are minimum height and weight requirements, there are no weight divisions, meaning David vs. Goliath is an everyday scenario and a big factor on victory. Sumo wrestlers are called sumotori or rikishi, and after a certain level they compete under a shikona, a ring name formed by a given name (usually theirs, if they are native, or a Japanese traditional name if they are foreigners) and a surname with a meaningful, often poetically powerful composition (for instance, famous champion Asashoryu's means 'Morning Bue Dragon').
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Fictional sumo can be Big Fun guys or Fat Bastards, depending on their place on the moral spectrum, and tend to be Big Eaters. Almost always Japanese, much like real ones, although a few Brazilian and later Mongolian sumos exist. Tend to have their hair tied in topknots and rarely wear much other than a pair of shorts and sandals. Of course, real ones wear other garments when not competing or training.
Believe it or not, sumo wrestlers were not always fat. Older sumo wrestlers, while large, were far leaner with more traditionally athletic builds.note This began to change around the 80's, when heavier wrestlers became the norm due to their weight making them harder to throw and their fat and mass making them more resilient to impact. Even modern sumo wrestlers are less fat than they appear. Most sumo wrestlers only have around 15-20% body fatnote and under that outer layer of blubber is an astoundingly muscular physique.
![Wrestling Wrestling](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125630100/312959930.jpg)
This Trope is almost Always Male. Traditional and religious customs prevent women from participating in Real Life sumo, and a fictitious Distaff Counterpart would likely look pretty silly. This has been challenged occasionally in modern times by some like Governor Fusae Ohta of Okinawa, but is unlikely to change in the near future.
The sport is Older Than They Think, dating back many centuries.
This trope is about characters that are designed about the concept and sumo wrestling in general.
Examples
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- Hinomaru Zumou resolves around the concept, being a shonen fighting series about sumo wrestling.
- Dragon Ball has involved at least two fighters designed after sumo wrestlers, both in Tournaments:
- Minor contestant Doskoi from the 9th movie, Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound, who was the only person outside the Z fighters to go very far in the Tournament. He is sadly killed by one of Bojack's henchmen.
- Dragon Ball Super: One of the Universe 10 fighters for the Tournament of Power is Napapa, a giant pink sumo wrestler with pig attributes. He is called the 'magician of the edge ring', and is surprisingly tough, managing to avoid a ring out by Basil, another contestant from Universe 9.
- Android Moscov from EDENS ZERO is built to resemble a Sumoka and fights like one. Heck, he can even fly by palm-pushing the air above him... somehow...
- Fairy Tail, the obese, child-like Kain Hiraku, of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, fights with Sumo moves when not employing his Ushi no Koku Mairi magic. and is nearly unstoppable, easily defeating several Celestial Spirits unleashed against him.
- Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple has Thor, one of the members of Ragnarok, the 7th fist, who specializes in competitive Sumo wrestling and challenges Kenichi to a Sumo match, intending to make him embrace Sumo if he wins. However, Kenichi is able to overpower him and Defeat Means Friendship follows.
- Notari Matsutarou is about a grown up man in the middle school who has the strength of a gorilla, who after defeat some Sumo fighters in a tour, quickly becomes a new star in sumo wrestling.
- One Piece: a few characters in the story actually employ Sumo-like moves, namely:
- In the Water Seven arc, the crew meet Yokozuna, a Sumo Toad who wears a Rikishi clothes and attacks Sea Trains with palm strikes, damaging them. He later proves to be a force to be reckoned with when he guards a breach from enemies and keeps them at bay for some time.
- Shichibukai Kuma uses Sumo palm-stikes and pose in conjunction with the powers of his Devil Fruit (which allows him to deviate anything and make air bullets) to launch a barrage of unstoppable air blasts.
- Sentomaru has the built of a Sumoka, and in spite of his gargantuan axe, his main fighting style involves sumo moves, which allows him to kick pre-Timeskip Luffy's ass with no effort. His technique contains a stealth pun on the traditional Sumo kiai Dosukoi.
- In the Wano Arc, as expected, we meet a Sumo wrestler in the form of the jerkass supreme Urashima, who eventually Luffy fights in a regular match. As noted by Luffy, he's not above using dirty tricks such as aiming for the ears or eyes.
- In an Older Than Television example, there's the 1931 animated short movie Doubutsu Sumo Taikai, in which Funny Animals fight to be the best in this sport.
- In a manga-only arc of Rurouni Kenshin, Sanosuke has to deal with a local crime lord who's a former Sumoka strong enough to leave an imprint in stone with his hand strikes. Sano kicks his ass in a few punches.
- Averted and Played for Laughs in Soul Eater: Kirikou is confronted by an artificial soldier who boasts about the hundreds of fighting styles and techniques programmed into him. Unfortunately, he alternates all attacks with the nearly-useless Sumo technique 'Nekodamashi' note . After the third one, Kirikou just slugs him in the face and scolds him for considering 'Two fatasses hugging each other' as a fighting style.
- An episode of Yatterman has the Doronbo Gang using tricked Sumo Matches to gather money for their Robot of the week. Later on, the heroes add the Sumo-themed Yatta Mecha to the roster.
- Averted in an episode of Lupin III (Red Jacket): the massive crime boss Tatsumaki is being pummeled by Jigen, so as soon as he gets some breath, he unrobes himself, assumes a Sumo pose, bellows 'Dosukoi!'... and promptly falls unconscious for the beating.
- Bear Brute Jerome from Killing Bites is a former sumo wrestler who used to be quite successful if ostracized because he wasn't Japanese. One day, a lunatic hater tried to kill him with a knife, but Jerome killed him in self defense with a single slap. He then abandoned the ring, not because he felt guilty but because he enjoyed the feeling of killing someone with his bare hands. After being turned into a bear-man he's gifted with incredibly powerful arms which allow him to hit like a truck.
- Interesting Times, being set in the Disc's Imperial China / Wutai, features Tsimo wrestlers, ginormous, ogre-like humans with ravenous appetites and maybe a few neurons each. Rincewind uses them in a Give Chase with Angry Natives moment by claiming one of their handlers has a sandwich, causing a stampede that destroys a small garden and a pagoda.
- Dave Barry, in his book Dave Barry Does Japan writes about watching a sumo match. Afterward, one of the wrestlers drinks a a Diet Coke and belches hard enough to send a 'surfable wave' of fat across his belly.
- 'Man-Mountain Gentian' by Howard Waldrop revolves around the sport of zen-sumo wrestling, where psychic attacks and mind games have taken the place of physical exertion. Many of the traditional trappings of the sport remain, and zen-sumotori are still huge men dressed in mawashi.
- The Man with the Golden Gun: The Japanese tycoon Hai Fat has two statues of them on his manor grounds; when Bond comes at night on a dinner invitation, the statues are replaced with real ones whom he has to deal with.
- The Bud Spencer movie Piedone a Hong Kong features a Sumotori named 'Yamada' as a friend of a woman involved in a drug-smuggling organization; Yamada attacks the hero thinking he was responsible for her death but, when things are cleared, helps him and shields him with his body from a hitman. Notably enough, he was the only guy in the movie capable of manhandling Bud around... for a while at least.
- The Japanese movie Sumo Do, Sumo Don't, about the travails of an amateur university sumo club.
- A few heroes in the Super Sentai franchise, usually The Big Guys, have used sumo moves in their repertoire. Of note is Sōtarō Ushigome from Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, who is a retired sumo wrestler.
- The Ultraman 80 episode 'The Mountain Sumo Boy', in which a sumo child youkai named Jihibikiran comes down to civilization to do what he must every few years — defeat 100 opponents in sumo wrestling. Hilarity Ensues, but it soon climaxes in Jihibikiran Hulking Out to a kaiju form that Ultraman 80 must placate with a good ol'-fashioned sumo match.
- Naturally, many professional wrestlers in Japan have been former sumo wrestlers, not only low-ranked ones (like Genichiro Tenryu, John Tenta, Nobutaka Araya, Toru Owashi and Ryota Hama) or amateur (like Kiyoshi Tamura and CIMA), but also grand champions (most famously Hiroshi Wajima, Koji Kitao and Akebono).
- Similarly, some American wrestlers have used sumo-themed gimmicks. The appropriately named Yokozuna and Rikishi are the best known.
- Amateur sumo champion and Guinness recordman Emmanuel Yarbrough also competed in Catch Wrestling Association in Germany.
- Wakashoyo, Takatoriki and Takatoriki's son Yukio are all sumo wrestlers who made the jump to pro wrestling in more recent times.
- The toyline for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) had Tattoo, an ally of the Turtles who had tried to be a Ninja, only to be 'heckled for being humongous', and later join a society of Ninja Sumos. He eventually made it into one episode of the cartoon, where he was recast as a mutated hamster (who still looked like a human sumo).
- Amusingly, this character's tattoos would have made him unable to compete in sumo, as, in Japan, tattoos are usually a sign of Yakuza and are banned.
- The character of Edmund Honda, from Street Fighter II, a big and fast fighter who is inspired by the sumo wrestling sport. Currently, this trope picture and the Trope Maker for Fighting Games. Ironically, E. Honda's recurring character goal is to promote sumo as a valid martial art, but the style Honda uses is so divergent from the established canon of sumo that no traditionalist would consider him a sumo wrestler, which is a side effect of the changes Honda had to make in order to compete on equal footing in the Street Fighter tournaments.
- A popular archetype in Fighting Games, inspired by E. Honda:
- Ganryu from Tekken series.
- Taka-Arashi from Virtua Fighter series.
- Akatsuki-Maru from Buriki One.
- Gan Isurugi from Rival Schools series, who's also a Japanese Delinquent.
- Bo Rai Cho uses it as one of his styles in Mortal Kombat: Deception.
- In Psikyo's Battle K-Road, there're Mitsuji Tanimachi and Harimaoh (a half-Japanese half-Brazilian wrestler).
- Also in Fighting Games, there are some fighters that are out of the ordinary using this martial art:
- Hinako Shijo from The King of Fighters series is a petite schoolgirl practicing this sport. Being mocked in her school for wanting to start a sumo club, Hinako joined the Women Fighters Team in one of KOF tournaments to demonstrate her strength.
- In ClayFighter 63 1/3 and its sequelSculptor's Cut, there's Sumo Santa, a Bad Santa that uses sumo as his fighting style as well he's one of the Big Bads and Final Bosses of the game.
- Robo no Hana is a robot sumo wrestler in the Hiryu no Ken series.
- Ballz has Tsunami, the fighter of the game that is a sumo wrestler. If by 'fighters' you think in spherical characters, of course.
- In Super Mario World, the sumo brother is a large, fat Koopa that has the ability to stomp the ground and create columns of fire.
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has a sumo wrestling mini-game. Link has to compete against the much larger Mayor of Ordon Village to advance the plot.
- In Pokémon, Makuhita and Hariyama, both named after sumo rankings, are bulky Fighting-types that possess high HP and attack. The latter's appearance draws heavily from sumo culture, with large, open palms and sumo shorts and waist coat.
- There are a few Fighting Games entirely dedicated to this martial art, mostly seen in Japan only. The website Spritted compiled the most famous games about sumo wrestling in this article. Also Hardcore Gaming 101 has their own article about sumo video games in its old website.
- And about sumo video games, there's Sumo Fighter, a Platform Game for Game Boy that rarely was exported to Western audiences. In the game, there's a sumo wrestler named Bon-chan (aka Bontaro Heiseiyama) on his quest to rescue a beautiful Damsel in Distress. Fittingly, most of Bon-chan's moves are based on actual sumo techniques.
- From Pushmo series, there's his protagonist Mallo, a little Cartoon Creature akin to a sumo wrestler, who pulls and pushes on blocks to create platforms which he then climbs on to progress through the level.
- Geekwad Series: In Wacky Funsters: A Geekwad's Guide To Gaming, the first opponent faced in Ping, Tsunami Tso Tsume, looks like a sumo wrestler and uses Gratuitous Japanese.
- For Honor: The Shugoki class of fighters are heavily based on Sumo Wrestler. While they do use Kanabō, a giant wooden club with metal studs on it, everything else fits Sumo Wrestling to a T. They are large, Japanese warriors, who are are slow but hit like a truck. They have three moves (the most of any class) related to positioning the enemy fighter, making them the best class for pushing the enemy off ledges. They have the option to have a Genko style chonmage and use sumo wrestling moves as emotes.
- The Powder Keg Cannoneers from Battle Realms are sumo wrestlers conscripted to battle. Unlike most VG examples above, they are Long-Range FighterGlass Cannon, as they are the only people with enough girth to handle the powder keg cannons. The lore mentions how the enemy would laugh at these fat, lumbering 'soldiers' making their way to the field — right until their massive cannons start ripping apart the enemy's lines.
Sumo Wrestling Results
- The Show Within a Show in the Ben 10 franchise, 'Sumo Slammers', is our titular protagonist's favorite franchise series. In one episode, Ben travels inside a video game to meet the game's protagonist, Ishiyama, who has the ability to increase his size, durability, and strength.
- In Ed, Edd n Eddy, one episode is devoted to the Eds trying to make Jimmy famous by making him a sumo wrestler. They succeed in making him fit for the position, but sadly, sumo wrestlers only exist in Japan,making the plan completely pointless.
- In Avatar: The Last Airbender, one of the Earthbenders participating in Earth Rumble VI, using the Stage Name 'The Big Bad Hippo', is a large, fat man dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts and a belt that resembles a sumo wrestler's.
- The infamous cartoon of Super Duper Sumos is about three big fat sumo fighters that fight Kaijus with their butts. Their form of handshake after a work well done is slamming their butts together.
- The Villain of Hanna-Barbera's Jonny Quest episode 'Dragons of Ashida' has a hulking manservant named Sumi, who is quite corpulent and wears only a loincloth supported by a steel belt with rivets. Sumi is the only one powerful enough to keep the Mad Scientist's oversize komodo dragons leashed and controlled.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987): a sumo was one of the crooks the Turtles had to deal with in a martial arts themed Bad-Guy Bar.
- Toru from Jackie Chan Adventures is a Stout Strength fighter who claims he turned to crime because he was 'too small for Sumo', although his stated weight of 480 pounds is actually typical for the sport.
- Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama features a sumo ninja.
- Xiaolin Showdown had the episode Dreamscape, where the heroes had to face off against their greatest fears in one-on-one sumo matches. This caused them to all bloat up to larger sizes. Notably, Kimiko was included, providing a Rare Female Example.
- Rugrats in Paris: There is a scene where the characters are in a restaurant being served by sumo wrestlers who sing karaoke. The rugrats mistake them for giant babies.
Bob vs. Penguin
One of the training exercises in 'Getting Stronger' involves Bob Sumo Wrestling a penguin.