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After 15 years and numerous wrestling simulation games including the latest entry in 2K Sports’ series, WWF No Mercy withstood the test of time and remains a classic in the eyes of wrestling fans across the globe. While the newest addition, WWE 2K15, generated a considerable amount of buzz around it before release largely thanks to the launch of the new generation of consoles providing developers even more tools to harness the power of these platforms. Despite this, WWE 2k15 released to somewhat acceptable reviews and sold a sufficient amount on both last and current generation platforms. Though WWF No Mercy was released years ago it still remains a fan favorite and is the definitive game for any wrestling fan.
#8 Fighting mechanics
Obviously in a wrestling game, you need accurate character movement, grappling, countering and striking to make it realistic and fun at the same time. The character movement in No Mercy is much more believeable and the speed at which the characters move are relatively slow compared to today’s games presenting an opportunity to players who may be getting pummeled a chance to turn the match around. All the animations are hand drawn and the grappling and countering moves aren’t as complex so even newcomers can have a good chance at winning. The realistic depictions of the fighting styles for each wrestlers and numerous moves and counters gel very well.
#7 A wider range of environments
The backstage environments were re-introduced when the WWE series took over the reigns from the WWF series, and even in WWE 2k15 the backstage environment can be used to take the fight beyond the ring and to settle rivalries. As cool as it is with the backstage environments, WWF No Mercy took it further with it’s capability to make behind-the-scenes more entertaining and varied. In No Mercy apart from the backstage and the ring obviously, you can change environments on the go before the match itself by leaving the ring and going through the curtain and taking the fight to the parking lot, the locker room and even a lounge. The objects in the environments are also usable; you can grab the pool stick in the lounge to beat up your opponent or shove him into the pool table itself. Also for the first time in the series, apart from the ability to fight backstage, moves can even be performed on the commentator’s table too.
#6 A fleshed-out story mode
The showmanship and grandeur of WWE is what makes it so popular and attractive to fans of this form of entertainment. In No Mercy, AKI found a balance between the gameplay mechanics and the story elements ensuring replayability and fun. The Championship mode in No Mercy gives players the opportunity to choose a wrestler from the roster and can attempt to dethrone a current WWF Champion, intercontinental champion and so on and with each title you choose to chase, the storyline is different. The events take that place backstage and outside the ring pyschologically affects your character and during the match there may be different outcomes that depend on the events that took place before. Features such as this made No Mercy enjoyable and extended the longevity of the game.
#5 Rich customization
WWF No Mercy introduced a comprehensive mode called Create-a-Wrestler mode where players can modify, edit or create their own characters. Only a handful of wrestling games allowed gamers to thoroughly customize and edit your superstars. Using this mode, a multitude of options were available such as adding more moves, customizable body characteristics and unique attires. Also a newly added feature to No Mercy was the ability to create female wrestlers, which was missing in it’s predecessor- WWF Wrestlemania 2000. Though No Mercy didn’t allow players to modify a wrestler’s facial features and the body types were mostly similar, it made up for this with a decent amount of freedom along with an addition of a new attritbute system that ascertains how well your wrestler will perform in the ring.
#4 Huge range of moves
Keeping the unique styles of the numerous wrestlers in the game, WWF No Mercy ties these styles up with the countering, grappling and so on. The game offers a number of fighting styles each having unique move combinations and counters. These depend on the player’s choice of wrestler ,as each wrestler’s weight varies thus providing a set of exclusive moves. The animation for these moves in No Mercy was highly regarded, as character movements were particularly polished and the developers only added more move sets while keeping the older ones from previous games. Instead of opting the mocap features that other companies used, the developers, AKI Corporation, decided to animate each move by hand to reduce memory usage and allowed them to add even more moves.
#3 A lengthy list of wrestlers
As each game is released in 2k Sports’ WWE series, one may get the feeling that the number of wrestlers in the roster is being lessened. The roster is WWE 2k15 is definitely lesser than previous years with quite a few wrestlers missed out in the core game. But the missing characters can be purchased as downloadable content separately with real money. But during the time WWF No Mercy released, there wasn’t a concept of buying extra content that the developers should’ve included in the game. WWF No Mercy had one of the best rosters ever with the all-time favorites such as Edge, The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin among other wrestlers. With a list that included almost every wrestler during that era, WWF No Mercy provides endless combinations and bouts that never gets old, even till today.
#2 Giving players satisfying rewards
If you’re a gamer who likes working hard and grinding to rack up more money to unlock more wrestlers, arenas and alternate costumes then WWF No Mercy is the game that rewards you accordingly. With a great in-game store called the Smackdown! Mall, WWF No Mercy allows players to spend their hard earned cash on a wide array of useful unlocks. Aside from the store, these collectibles can also be unlocked by attempting to complete the in-game challenges. Sadly the in-game store is a feature that was removed in the recent games, including WWE 2k15. Apart from this back in the day if you played the game enough, you could buy items with in-game currency rather than with real money, as is the trend with most games found in the market today
#1 Simplistic but enjoyable gameplay mechanics
WWE 2k15 had a lot going for it before and during release with beefed up visuals and realistic physics. Regardless of this, the core gameplay lacked severely and lost many strong elements that made the previous iterations entertaining. For a 15 year old N64 game, WWF No Mercy offers some of the best mechanics preferring simplicity over realism. With so many variations, grappling styles, countering along with much lesser button combinations compared to the recent WWE games, the gameplay is much less complicated making it much more enjoyable.
In the end, WWF No Mercy packages everything into an excellent wrestling game that every newcomer or purist must try. Till now few games have come close but haven’t achieved what No Mercy did back in the day and so the wait for a new wrestling game to match WWF No Mercy continues.
