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WRESTLING VIDEO GAMES
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WWF No Mercy
by THQ (for Nintendo 64)
Description: WWF No Mercy for the Nintendo 64 is quite possibly the best WWF/WWE Game of all time. Sure there is the new PS2 Smackdown! games that have killer graphics and a crazy Create-A-Wrestler feature, but this game is where it is at, and where it will always be at.
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The controls are brilliant, and are often imitated in the Wrestling Games of today. A few of the games to follow in the classic No Mercy/Wrestlemania 2000/WCW/now Revenge control setting. On the N64 controller, A is used to grapple, followed by a direction + A or B for the move, and B is used to attack. This basic formula works better than just about any control scheme of any wrestling game out there, and it is also why games like WWE: Day of Reckoning and Def Jam: Vendetta have attempted to recreate it.
Near Perfect controls mean very little if the game has no presentation and depth. Luckily, this is where No Mercy also shines. The game comes packed with things to keep you busy for years, yes... years. I am still playing this game with friends nearly every week. The basic Exhibition/Multi-Player mode is in, with tons of different match types like Single, Tag, Cage, Handicap, and Triple Threat... along with Royal Rumble, Create-A-PPV, King of the Ring, Guest Referee, Ladder Match, and the Ironman Match, made famous by Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart at Wrestlemania XII. With all these match types, you can also customize the rules, such as making it a NO-DQ match, Hardcore Match and customizing rules for Count-Outs, and how the match ends (Submission Only, TKO only, Pin Fall). If the crazy amount of possibilities for a multi-player or vs. the CPU match weren't enough, you can Fight in 10 different Arenas, and you can defend belts you have won in Championship Mode against your friends! WWE Smackdown! vs. RAW tried to recreate this great feature, but unfortunatly couldn't pull it off.
The Single Player features are also 100% awesome. You can choose between Championship Mode (Where you also choose which storyline/belt to win) and Survival Mode (Which unlocks a ton of wrestlers, including a legend at the end) Survival Mode is basically a seemingly never ending Royal Rumble, only Pin-Falls and Submissions count also. You go through everyone with your superstar until you reach the virtual end, and you know when it happens because the legend will come down to fight you) It's pretty much a fun little thing to unlock features and break the pre-set records for the match-type. Championship Mode is outstanding as well. You go in, select your wrestler, and the belt you wish to go for. Then you pretty much go through a storyline until the end when you are Champion. Each belt has a few different roads to go down in order to complete the storyline, so the whole thing won't be beat when you get all the belts.
The Commissioner Mode is where the game really shines though. Gameplay aside (and it is awesome) this mode allows you to Create Wrestlers, Clone Existing Wrestlers (Maybe to make the Faces of Foley if you want) and Visit the Smackdown Mall. The SD! Mall is the unlockables shop, where you can buy clothes, moves, and acessories for you Create-A-Wrestler, and you can also buy Hidden Wrestlers, Arenas, and Weapons. You earn money for the Smackdown Mall in Championship Mode, and some things in the Mall can be unlocked elsewhere in the game, like some wrestlers. There are slots for 18 Created Wrestlers, to go along with the 52 Unlocked from the Beginning (And about 10-20 Unlockable)
All in all, this game kicks a lot of ass. The graphics are beautiful for N64 style graphics, the sound is great, and the presentation is unmatched. A GameShark also allows you to create perfectly wrestlers that are not in the game, such as Sabu and John Cena. Just another perk of owning this awesome wrestling game for the Nintendo 64.
Rating: 9.8/10
Reviewed by Trevor McClung on July 9, 2005.
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