The 5 Best Old School Wrestling Video Games…Period
By Matt Perri
#1: WWF No Mercy (THQ)
(2000, Nintendo 64)
The system is extinct and the game is nearly 15 years old. It qualifies. Plus, this was the game that, in my opinon, pretty much set the standard for all other wrestling games to come. This game inspired WWE’s entire 2K series and you can see why
WWF No Mercy was the swan song in a line of wrestling games by THQ which teamed with Japan’s AKI Corporation.
The first were two incredible WCW games: “WCW/nWo World Tour” and “WCW/nWo: REVENGE”.
When WWE saw what THQ and AKI could do, they dealt with THQ to create “Wrestlemania 2000”, adding features like the ability to create your own wrestler with his/her own moveset and gimmick as well as your own Pay Per View.
AKI had invented a cool grappling system where the player who grappled first was able to pull off a move. If you were fast enough or quick on the buttons, your opponent could counter moves meaning that there were times you hit your moves or they countered and hit theirs…or you both countered back and forth and ended in a stalemate.
The possibilities were endless.
No Mercy added some nice tweaks to WM2000’s already-stellar features.
If you had enemies, they could run out and interfere in a match. If a player had a manager, they could distract the ref or beat up a wrestler. It was a wrestling fan’s nirvana.
On top of that, SEVERAL modes of play were added. On top of singles and tag matches (and competing in a Royal Rumble), you had Ladder Matches and Iron Man matches. You could even set your regular singles matches to be submission-only or the first wrestler to draw blood wins or a Last Man Standing match where your opponent could only lose if you knocked them out.
You could make it no-disqualification or countout and you could even fight all the way to the backstage area and utilize any debris or weapons laying around. If you wanted a stipulation where falls counted anywhere, you could do it.
This was the game that I had dreamt of when I started playing Tecmo World Wrestling.
I don’t think there’s an old-school wrestling game out there that tops it.
Of course, I leave it to you guys…what are YOUR favorite old-school wrestling games?