The definite wrestling game for the N64 is right here. WWF No Mercy , and yes, even over Virtual Pro Wrestling 2, but that is only because of the Japanese barrier, and because I hardly know any of the wrestlers in that game besides the fact that it has a shoot fighting/MMA system. I will explain that in another review. May not be the best ever, but its better than most modern wrestling games, not because or graphics or features, but because of the gameplay, and that will be explained in more detail right now.


Graphics 9.5/10


Before I get into the graphics, I must explain one flaw. The faces of the Wrestlers looks like they are paper cutouts, but that is only a minor flaw that grows on you, and sometimes its funny to look at. But the graphics even had aged well enough for me. Forget what you see in these new wrestling games. To this day, the graphics are still are what I remembered them to be for the most part, but I am not playing this on a real N64 for technical reasons as it is so many would not understand what I mean too well? Anyways, the animations are elaborate, and there is no details skimped. I don't care what people say about it, but there are the best visuals I have seen on the N64 since Turok 2. The Arenas, Ring, blood animations, and everything about the games visuals overall earns this score. That is all I have to say about this aspect of the game.


Sound 9/10


Near perfect, but there is only one gripe, and that is that the music for this game is low quality, and the titantron is only a few seconds of animation, then loops. Some themes start looping only 20 seconds into it. You do get used to it, but it is annoying that as you get into the theme it loops, and the looping seems worse in this game than in Wrestlemania 2000, but I guess its because of the extra content in this game limited space for the audio. At least you can swap titantrons like I used to do. For example swapping X-Pac's theme with Stone Cold's entrance video for a semi-funny result. Only if the N64 used disks or if it was on the PlayStation. I would imagine that the music themes would be much longer, and the videos would not loop possibly like on the N64. The generic music themes are not bad, but not as good as the previous wrestling games sadly. About the sound, its as good as it can get. When you hit a wrestling move, it has impact that really sounds painful, and when you do something like a head drop move, it sounds brutal. Other wrestling games these days lack such a sound, except RAW 2 in my opinion. All I have to say about the sound aspect of the game.


Gameplay 10/10 for what it is.


Even though that there are those that disagree with me, its the best wrestling game I have played overall. I will split this up into parts since its going to be a long one.


CAW 8/10


It might be limited comparing to today's games, but you can still create anyone you can dream up of 95% of the time. Its simple, yet effective. You can edit the color of whatever attire you use as well as entrance attire though limited, add props or a favorite weapon for your character if its a part of a gimmick. My favorite thing about this is you can even edit some of the current rosters clothing and attire, but sadly you can't edit there movesets (on a real N64 that is). Only problem I have with it is the lack of masks, and the limited slots, but that can't be blamed as other things needed to fit into the cart with limited space.


Movesets 10/10


This game gives you so many moves, and then some. Your fighter can even have fighting styles that are outside what you see in the WWE/WWF due to the many moves that are used in Japan, Indy, and even in MMA. I love how moves are not just limited to just wrestling as you seen in today's wrestling games. You can create anyone from a Street Brawler to a Kung-*** Expert. You can even create an amateur style wrestler as well. Creativity is not just limited to how you CAW looks, not in this game. I wish other wrestling games would focus more on not only what wrestlers do in the WWE/WWF as their moveset, but everywhere else as well. This game sets a good example. One more thing, what is even more wonderful about this game is that you can use gameshark hacks people make to change moves in this game along with mods. Only problem is that the lines of codes are very very long if your using a real console along with the mods, so it might not be an a option after all.


In the Ring Action 9/10.


Realistic and the Grapple system is perfect. I don't see why some want to change it, but this is what its all about. The learning curve is pretty nice as well. The AI in this game is a bit iffy some times because some wrestlers have a personal AI that conflicts with the general difficulty you would set in the options mode. You can get around that with little problems at times though. In any match, you can go out of the ring, and into the parking lot or locker room. This game gives you freedom that is lacking in most wrestling games. There is new weapons like the belt, some flowers you can use to attack people with, and other that you can buy in shopzone along with others things like moves, clothing, and arenas.


Storyline 10/10

Each title you go for has a storyline that splits up into different situations depending on if you win or lose matches. The Women's, Light Heavyweight, and European belts might have an easier set of paths to deal with, but the Intercontinental and World titles are much more difficult to achieve 100% on. This is all based on how it works in wrestling at the time. Most of these storylines are based from the storylines from wrestling back in 2000, but you will see some strange twists with them since you would most likely be using characters that was not apart of the said storyline in reality. For those that that watch wrestling during the time or liked it better then will find it nostalgic to remember those old times. You even earn money for completing matches, but not losing them though.


Replayablity 9/10

There is too much to do. With the many titles on the line and unlockables, hours and hours will be spent trying to get them all. It would take at least a month or more at best to complete everything. One huge fatal flaw looms over this though, and its a nasty glitch in the cartridge that erases data randomly. This does not effect everyone, and so far it has not hit me, but its not a problem if you don't play it on an actual cartridge.


Rent or Buy


This game is too old to rent, so you would have to buy it. You can find this game from $5-$10 used.


Final Words.


I still play this over everything else just because it still has it comparing to everything else. Its just the solid gameplay mechanics that keeps it at the top of my list. If its your first time playing, then that is good if you would try

Reviews on Vizzed must be exclusive to Vizzed so I'll have to close this:

Original review:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/n64/914112-wwf-no-mercy/reviews/review-113194