As a kid, I was a big fan of pro wrestling, and this show would loosely fit into the same genre. I thought this was the greatest when I was 12! Rollergames featured performers in roles of "good guys" and "bad guys" and, much like pro wrestling, the outcomes were predetermined. The fun is in the performance. Also like pro wrestling, the performances were loosely scripted and performers improvised upon a theme.
The basic premise of the show was old-school roller derby with some cartoonish twists. Each team has four blockers and a jammer, who scores points by passing opponents on the rink. Blockers line up and whip their jammer for speed. However, old-school roller derby is just an oblong or circular rink. Rollergames added the wall and the ramp.
On Rollergames, shortly after the starting line was a "thiry foot" wall with three scoring zones. The higher the jammer could get up the sharp incline the more points they would score. Coming down from the wall with high velocity, the jammer would hit the ramp. The ramp also had scoring zones for distance. Then the whole thing would loop and start again. Rollergames also had lots of planned skits.
Rollergames featured cohesive teams of bad guys and good guys (or heels and babyfaces, if you like). Face teams were the all-American T-birds, Hot Flash with some hot girls in neon spandex (this was 1991), and the Rockers. The heel teams were the evil Violators in all black, the Maniacs, and Bad Attitude. Each team had a gimmick and a look. There were also story lines, like in pro wrestling. I remember an angle with two blonde twins from a "good" team who were split up, and one was put on a "bad" team. The Thunderbirds had a big William Perry-esquire character called "Icebox". In sudden death, a pool was filled with alligators. Characters were featured in backstage pre-taped vignettes as well as interviews on the field. I recall the show ending with a cliffhanger, where a member of the Violators had flipped off the top of the wall, and everyone freaked out. I never got to see how the story ended.
I wish I could revisit Rollergames, but other than the NES game there are really no remnants. It was obviously not popular at all, and I don't expect it to resurface on DVD any time soon.
EDIT After writing this review I was compelled to go out searching on the web, and I found a wonderful online group dedicated to Rollergames. Check out http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/rocknrollergames/
