Pro Wrestler Story

Genre: Management Simulation

Players: 1

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Review:

Without a doubt the most prolific developer and publisher of Management Simulation games on Nintendo Switch is Kairosoft, who specializes in games with a retro-style isometric pixel art style, often with the word “Story” in the title. As of this writing, Kairosoft has released 64 games on Nintendo Switch, most of them Management Simulations.

After their earlier games, Kairosoft had established a few templates for their Simulation games that later games would largely follow. Game Dev Story established a Simulation-style game more focused on managing employee time and focus, Hot Springs Story established a Simulation style in line with Theme Park Simulators where you try to cater to guests’ tastes to maximize attendance and income, and Epic Astro Story established a Simulation style akin to games like Sim City, where you’re building out a town or settlement. And then there’s a template that has you managing not employees but members of a sports team, something we first saw in Grand Prix Story.

Pro Wrestler Story originally released on mobile devices and Nintendo Switch in 2024, then received a port to PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in 2022, with a port to Xbox One in 2026. This game starts out in the first category of managing a sports team, but gradually encompasses the other types of games as you house wrestlers on-site and improve the growth of their stats by building up their living conditions, and you’ll also be appealing to customers as your gym gains popularity and you start attracting shoppers looking to buy your gym’s merchandise.

It’s a clever mix of elements that mostly works well, though I think the sports side of things is the weak link here, as you’ll be forced to watch wrestling matches you can’t participate in, but must respond to pins (both your wrestlers’ and your opponents’) by button-mashing. I really wish there were an option to either play the wrestling yourself, or just skip ahead to see who won.

As for the presentation, this is in line with what we’re used to from Kairosoft. As I mentioned above, this game makes use of Kairosoft’s signature presentation style using simple retro-styled pixel art visuals (here presented in an isometric overhead view perspective), paired with upbeat synthesized music that’s actually kinda’ catchy, but also repetitive. For the most part, everything about this presentation is really endearing, though by this point we’ve seen more or less the same thing in numerous other Kairosoft games.

In the end, I think Pro Wrestling Story does a good job blending different elements to make this more than just a training and team management Simulation, but the lack of interactivity with the actual matches combined with forced interactivity at pivotal points is the worst midway point this game could have found for its Sports elements. Still, if you enjoy Management Simulation games and Pro Wrestling and the above complaints don’t dissuade you, Pro Wrestling Story may appeal to you.

tl;dr – Pro Wrestling Story is a Management Simulation that has players managing a stable of aspiring Pro Wrestling stars, and the gym they train in. This game has a good mix of elements from different types of Simulation games, but it insists on frustrating players by making them watch wrestling matches they can’t interact with but still forces them to button-mash at pivotal points. Overall, this is not a bad Management Simulation game, but its problems definitely hold it back and keep it from appealing to anyone who isn’t already enamored with the topic matter.

Grade: C+

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