I found arcade wrasslin' classic 3 Count Bout on the PlayStation Store

I have played a whole lot of wrestling games in my time, so many that I've forgotten some of them. When I encountered the 1993 Neo Geo arcade classic 3 Count Bout, I had to purchase it. I instantly remembered the cramped thumbs from 90s era button smashing.

Like many arcade fighters of the time, it was in no way fair. It's free for me to play now and I still haven't beaten it. Your character has to build up their special move while the computer can spam its special repeatedly. Of course, it wouldn't be pro wrestling if everybody played fair, now would it?

The game blends Wrestlefest-style action with a Street Fighter-vibe that I am actually cool with. 3 Count Bout includes deathmatches and it is fun to hit your opponent with tasers and other ridiculous weapons. Wrestlers boast more than 15 moves, which is a wild amount of wrestling holds for the time period. Heck, many of my opponents in WWE 2K24 don't use more than two and it's a modern title.

I was even able to find an old article from GamePro (remember video game magazines?) that gave some still valid tips on how to win matches. Even with that, being able to play this game at home is the only way I was ever going to beat it.

I'm sure whatever masochist designed this game never envisioned people being able to play it 30 years later and search for help on the Internet while doing so. It's only fair, since this game and its ilk were designed to turn us upside down and empty the last coins from our pockets.

3 Count Bout is $7.99 on the PlayStation Store, or less than a fraction of what I spent trying to beat it back in 1993. If I had invested the money I poured into these arcade games, I could have purchased my own video game company by now.