History of WWF/E Games Part 23
WWF No Mercy
Release
2000
Format
Nintendo 64
Time to look at the last WWF game on Nintendo 64.
Background
This would be the last WWF game to be released on the Nintendo 64 console. Not only is it in my opinion the best WWF game on Nintendo 64 it is one of the best wrestling games ever made. I still fire this up multiple times a year.
This would be the last WWF game to utilize this game play style. While THQ still put the WWE games on the shelves, AKI the people who actually made the game would move on to other things such as the Def Jam games. Early copies of the game had a bug that would cause all saved data to be erased. It took me until my 3rd copy to get one that actually worked.
A very interesting thing about No Mercy is that a Game Boy version was going to be released along side this one. It would use the Game Boy transfer pack like the Pokemon games did in order to unlock extra things in the game. While the Game Boy version was canned, if you use a cheat device you can unlock some of the content, but they are really not that much use.
If you want a even cooler bit of info about this game, then here you go…did you know that this was actually not intended to be the last WWF game for the Nintendo 64? WWF Armageddon never got of the drawing board, but this was to be the sequel to No Mercy. It would be joined by a Game Boy game called WWF Road To Armageddon. Information about this games is pretty much zero. I think apart from the titles, and that there was to be a Hell in the Cell match type added there is no other information. Well none that I have been able to find. So if anyone out there has any more I would love to hear about it in the comments below.
Presentation
Many people think that this game juts looks the same, but I feel it looks better in pretty much every aspect. All of the wrestlers in the huge roster look great, and they look much more smoother than they did in Wrerstlemania 2000. Each wrestler still has four different attires that you can edit, but a really cool feature was added. Instead of a different attire some wrestlers would have a completely different character. The only negative I have about the presentation is the wrestler entrances they were cut short. It may not sound like a big deal, but when everything else is done so well, you really notice that the entrances are lacking.
There was more arenas this time around, and a couple even had to be unlocked. I do not think that they get the credit they deserve for how well they captured the arenas. Also the back stage areas all look amazing as well. Sound is also greatly improved over Wrestlemania 2000, and the wrestler entrance themes are much more clearer this time around. While there is no commentary during story mode, there are speech bubbles to let you know what is going on. The story mode actually has really cool little cut scenes that do a great job of making you care about what is going on.
Game Play
This is where WWF No Mercy is king. Trying to explain to someone who is not a wrestling fan why the Nintendo 64 wrestling games are so great is actually really hard. Like I said in my Wrestlemania 2000 review, these guys got that wrestling is entertainment and not a sport. By taking this approach the matches have great back and forth action. The amount of time I spent playing this in multi player with three of my best buddies is crazy. The amount of studying I blew off because I was up all night playing this game was probably not that great a idea, but we all loved every minute of it.
There was some new game modes included, and the biggest for me was the ladder match. These matches were so exciting in multi player it was unreal. You would wrestle like normal, but to win you would need to climb the ladder and get the brief case at the top. It sounds easy, but you need to make sure your opponent is beaten enough so that he can not knock you off the ladder. In four player mode me and my friends would have some last over a hour. It was so much fun you would make an alliance with someone only to screw them over at a later point in the match.
There was also a few backstage areas for you to chose from. These were also a whole lot of fun to wrestle in. My personal favourite was the arena bar. You could use pool cues to hit your opponent with, but for me the best thing about this area was giving your opponent a “Rock Bottom” through the pool table.
Career mode was another feature that they really improved on. Each WWF Championship had its own story. So you would pick your championship you wanted to go for, and then the story would unfold. Some matches you would have to win, but others would have a branching path that would alter the story depending if you won or lost. This added a ton of replay value to the single player mode. The game did get rid of making your own belts like in Wrestlemania 2000, but I loved it how it would let you defend the real WWF championships in exhibition mode.
Another fun feature was the Smackdown Mall. This was a mode where you could buy various thingssuch as arenas, moves, attires and wrestlers. You could even unlock the Godfathers Ho. Yes you read that right you could unlock a character called “Ho”.
Final Thoughts
I consider this game a master piece. If some one were to make me pick just one wrestling game as my all time favourite then it would be this game every single time. Its amazing how well it still holds up to this day. I do enjoy the current WWE games, but I cannot see myself in ten years time wanting to play WWE 12 again. WWF No Mercy is played every year in my house. Some people may think its just all nostalgia, but for me this is a game that got just what pro wrestling is all about.
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