Wrestle Reviews
Top 10 Wrestling Games
Part 2
5-1
Number 5: WCW/nWo: Revenge
Nintendo 64
1998
This was the pinnacle of WCW video games, an this was the sequel to the awesome WCW vs nWo World Tour; it simply blew that game out of the water. There are many people who still consider this to be the best wrestling game that was ever made. It featured so many improvements over WCW vs nWo World Tour that it was just mind blowing. It had better graphics, better wrestlers, better arenas, more moves, more game modes and above all else it was just more fun.
THQ and Yukes really stepped up the quality of the WCW style presentation in this game. The only downside was the lack of authentic WCW music. The best thing about this game though has to be the amazing multi player. This was a game that caused me to miss so many classes when it was first released it was just crazy. You want a good time? Then get a Nintendo 64, four controllers and three buddies and you are in for a great night.
Number 4: WWE 13
2012
Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Whoa put down your pitch forks and let me explain why this one is so high on my list! This was the last WWE game from the guys at THQ and it was their best outing in years. By now they had managed to fine tune the game play so that it was balanced between being a simulation and an arcade style wrestling game. And in general it was just so much fun to play. The AI actually would give you a decent match in this game.
The reason this is so high on my list is that it has one of the best rosters ever put into a wrestling game. WWE games for years had legends in them, but they were always a mish mash of wrestlers from all different eras. WWE 13 did things differently. You had your regular roster of current wrestlers, but also a roster dedicated to the WWF Attitude Era. Not only did you have a great roster, but you also had arenas from this era as well. It was in a way kind of like having two games in one. The single player Attitude Era mode let you relive some of the great moments from this amazing time in pro wrestling history.
Number 3: WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth
2002
Playstation 2
I bet many of you were expecting to see Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain here! To me this is the best of the original Smackdown games and it was the first one in the series to show what the Playstation 2 was really capable of. The game had a huge roster many of the characters had different attires which is always a bonus. But this game really did capture the wrestlers characters very well. Brock Lesnar, Jeff Hardy and Lita are just few examples of wrestlers whose mannerisms they got perfectly right. Just little things like Brock rotating his shoulders really did a great deal to add to the character of this game.
As far as the game play goes it is far more limited than what its successor Here Comes The Pain offered, but I love this simplistic arcade style wrestling game. Truth be told it plays just like the first Smackdown game did on Playstation 1, but it has been perfected here. The story mode at I think was never bettered until Smackdown vs RAW 2009. In all this is just a wonderful game and if I could only pick one Playstation 2 WWE game it would be this one.
Number 2: WWF Wrestlemania The Arcade Game
1995
Arcade, Playstation, Saturn, PC, 32X, SNES, Mega Drive
Take the WWF and Mortal Kombat and put them in a blender and this is what you will be pouring out. To me this game is just a freaking masterpiece. I class it as one of the best fighting games ever made. Sadly many wrestling fans hate the game because it is a fighting game and non wrestling fans never gave it a chance because they though it was a wrestling game! But they all missed out on an amazing WWF experience. This game was brought to us by Midway and many of the guys who worked on Mortal Kombat also worked on this game.
You only have a small roster of 8 wrestlers who are all digitized just like in Mortal Kombat. The thing is they captured each of the eight wrestlers perfectly. No two wrestlers in this game play the same they are all their own unique individual. Each with their own set of realistic wrestling moves and over the top mayhem moves as well. It plays just like Mortal Kombat except instead of just being on a 2D plane you can walk all around the ring and the outside. If you like fighting games, but you have never played this then really cannot recommend this game highly enough. All the versions are great with the arcade being the best. Well the SNES version is a mess, but any of the others are great.
Number 1: WWF No Mercy
2000
Nintendo 64
Man has it really been 13 years? This to me is still the best of the best when it comes to wrestling games and when you think about it. It’s really quite sad that we have not had a game to come and knock this of its perch yet. This is wrestling at its absolute finest. THQ and Yukes absolutely nailed what makes wrestling so much fun. This was there 2nd WWF game on the Nintendo 64 and their fourth American wrestling game. And this one just eclipses them all.
Wrestling is supposed to be a form of entertainment and not a real sport. When games treat wrestling like a real sport all then usually end up doing is just sucking all of the fun out. But No Mercy just gets everything right. The game does actually have a really fun and quite in depth single player story mode, but multi player is where this game shines. I had matches with my friends where it was not unusual for them to last up to an hour. They were just filled with so much back and forth action that really anyone could win a match and that was what made it so much fun. I am sure some younger gamers will look at this game and say it’s over rated, but if you played this back in 2000 you surely must have great memories of this game.
For additional reviews by Jason Delacey: Click Here
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