WCW Nitro

"Worst wrestling game ever for the Nintendo 64"

This is a review of WCW Nitro, which is a very bad game. It's not like it's the WORST game of the Nintendo 64 (the award for that one goes to Superman 64), but I can tell you it's the worst wrestling game. It's nothing good compared to better games like WCW/NWO Revenge, Wrestlemania 2000 and WWF No Mercy. Even the Playstation version is way better than this.

Graphics (1/10):
Very bad, can give you a big headache. The wrestler's pictures look cool, but not as much as on the PSX version. The problem is that THQ spent too much memory in just creating as many wrestlers as possible, but that was bad. They don't even have any entrances. The PSX version is way better on this category (and I always thought the N64 had better graphics).

Sound (1/10):
Very stupid. The announcers don't even speak too much, they just say ''X wins!'' and when the wrestlers taunt, their voices don't sound real. Like The Giant, his voice is REALLY lame (and I've seen Big Show wrestle on WWF and his voice is TOTALLY different).

Gameplay (1/10):
Not good at all. If you've played any other THQ game and this one, you must have noticed the difference. There's also the fact that there's some kind of flashy meter, and the only thing that counts for pinning is to have the meter flashing red. So that means that you can just throw the opponent out of the ring and start taunting to put your meter back, and if the guy attempts to pin you again, you kick out easily this time. The finishers aren't good. When you do the Crippler Cross Face or the Lion Tamer (aka Walls of Jericho) you can't just break out. AND YOU CAN'T COUNTER.

And about the modes. The only way you can play with four people is with the Battle Royal, which sucks anyway because the opponent must be flashing red and you must THROW him out of the ring, something you can't actually pull off all the time. The tournament mode is dumb, there's no story mode, no microphone chat AND THERE ARE NO BELTS!!!! I despise THQ for not putting these. You can't play with a friend on Tag Teams, it must be ALWAYS against him. And you can't interfere in a tag match.

Controls (1/10):
Very bad. I mean, this is like a Street Fighter rip-off. Even a new player can win by just smashing all buttons at once like crazy. Some moves are a bit easier to make, like the Powerbomb, the Belly-to-Belly Suplex or the Piledriver. But those usually get done at random, not just when you actually press the combinations. Calling for help is nice, but sometimes when you're about to go for the pin, your ally throws the guy out of the ring and starts beating the daylights out of him.

Buy/Rent (1/10):
Don't relate to this game in any ways. You shouldn't even spend a buck for it. If someone gives it to you for free, go ahead and accept it, then sell it on eBay to some die-hard WCW fan. Don't have contact with this game, not even with the PSX and PC versions. The PSX version is fine, but not as good as Smackdown! or Smackdown! 2.

Re-Playability (1/10):
When you get better games, you'll NEVER want to play WCW Nitro again. I mean, it DOES give you nostalgia to see so many wrestlers from the WCW. But you won't feel the same when you replay.

Overall (1/10):
This game deserves to be in the bottom just like Superman 64. It doesn't deserve anything more than a 1/10. It should have been more like WCW/NWO Revenge. If you expect Nitro to be like, the sequel of Revenge, don't buy it and buy Wrestlemania 2000 or No Mercy, even if you're a die-hard WCW fan (the WCW isn't there anymore, but you will like the WWF more). If you bought it already, I can see your disappointment.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 03/27/02, Updated 11/03/02