WWF No Mercy

"No Mercy: My love affair, and why I keep coming back to it..."

So, you've probably heard this game called the greatest wrestling game of all time, and if you haven't, you haven't heard people talk about wrestling games. Is it the greatest of all time? Well, that's for you to decide. Having played numerous wrestling games over the years, I can safely say that it is the one I come back to the most. I believe King of Colloseum II for PS2 may be a better all around game, but for whatever reason, I always come back to No Mercy.

Graphics: 9/10
It's 2005, or at least it was when I wrote this. These graphics are far from wowing now, but when this game came out, they were state of the art. No wrestling game could beat them, and there was rarely and graphical glitching. Looks great all around.

Sound: 10/10
Dig Dig Diggity, Dig Diggity Dog. Menu Music aside, this game has some of the best sound ever in a wrestling game. The entrance themes weren't perfect; they were sped up to fit on the cart, but they still sound damn good. Based on entrance themes alone, this game would only get an 8 for sound, it's what goes on in the ring that earns it is score. When someone is suplexed, it sounds like they were suplexed. The sounds coordinates with the moves perfectly, and everything sounds like it should. They even put in different sounds when moves were done onto the various weapons in the game, and each one sounded different. Beautiful.

Gameplay: 10/10
This game's interface is too intuitive, its amazing. A for grapples, hold A for strong grapples, B for strikes, hold B for strong strikes. It's ridiculous how easy the basics are to learn. The fun comes in mastering your technique; learning to counter perfectly, attempting to KO in a big situation, dodging an elimination in a Royal Rumble, even just when to make a cover. These are all things that come in time, as you play, you become more and more enthralled, you cannot help but keep playing. After years and years, this is still my favorite grappling and striking basic system of all time. Gameplay is at the heart of any game, and this one has one huge heart.

Create a Wrestler: 9.5/10
The game's X-Factor(no pun intended), the true selling point. Now, I didn't rate it as high as the gameplay or sound, but that's only because of the limitations that exist. But essentially, you can create who you want to, provided they don't wear a mask. The lone major limitation is in that you can only have about 5 different masks, and they aren't very useful in the grand scheme of things. But for every other area, its perfect. Not to mention that with a gameshark, these things can be avoided.

Moves in the CAW are incredible, some of the best animations I have ever seen, and by far the coolest selection of Puro and US moves. It truly is a marvel. You can also set things like your movement speed, reversal style, and jumping distance to add further personality to your CAW.

Replay Value: 10/10
Seriously, I got this game like 5 years ago, and I still play it. Its replayable. The championship mode has so many different paths that your head will explode, the survival mode is way too much fun to miss, the Shopzone will keep you playing until you can buy that damn Ho, and the ability to defend belts in exhibition allows for leagues with friends or alone for you hermits.

Features: 10/10
Wow, lots of stuff here. You can play singles, tag, handicap, triple threat, four way, Royal Rumble, Ladder, Cage, and even Create a Pay Per View. There's survival too, which is like a giant Royal Rumble; with pins, submissions, TKOs, and over the top eliminations. Championship is the most in depth season type mode to date.

IN CLOSING:
If you're a wrestling fan, buy the damn game...

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/01/05