WWF No Mercy

Pros • multi-branch story lines • wide variety of matches and every title belt • four player mayhem, although two player works better and is less chaotic • create a wrestler mode gives player complete control over their superstar • Smackdown mall lets you purchase secrets instead of randomly unlocking them • lots of wrestlers, more than enough moves	Cons • favours brawling over old fashioned grappling style wrestling • missing some WWF rules - last time I checked wrestlers had to go over the top rope in a Royal Rumble to be eliminated • collision detection problems with some character models - not good in a wrestling game • attitude meter is unbalanced, especially in handicap matches • pace of the in-ring action is slow • wrestler grahics become blocky at certain camera angles • exhibition opponents don't provide enough competition to prepare you for the story modes wrestlers
Bottom Line WWF No Mercy comes as close to providing a complete WWF wrestling experience as you can get without laying out in the squared circle and personally receiving a People’s Elbow. It has been a long time since I have stepped into the virtual squared circle and tossed out some of my best, button mashing wrestling moves. I held the Nintendo coin-op Pro Wrestling belt back in ’86 and was The Main Event tag team champ in my local arcade for most of ’88. However by 1990, at the ripe old age of seventeen, it was time to pass on my legacy to the next generation of arcade superstars of wrestling. I can still remember the day I watched my on screen avatar “El Condor” get pinned to the mat as I turned and looked down at the twelve year old kid smiling up at me. It was over, I had aged past my arcade-wrestling prime. Luckily, for old time wrestling stars far and wide, those of us who have lost the ultra-twitch reflexes of our youth, we can now relive our glory days in the safety of our own homes, hidden from the lightning quick youth of today, and layeth a new, and amazingly well done, Smackdown in WWF No Mercy.

WWF No Mercy takes everything that is good about Vince McMahon’s wrestling federation: flashy superstars, cool wrestling moves, energetic intros and a wide assortment of exciting wrestling matches and adds something that is missing from today’s WWF telecasts: actual wrestling. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a huge fan of the WWF and I try to ensure that I am home every Monday and Thursday night for my weekly dose of Raw and Smackdown, but wrestling fans need to be honest with themselves, the WWF isn’t so much about wrestling anymore as it is about telling far-fetched, over the top soap opera inspired stories. The actual gladiatorial combat between muscle bound tough guys has taken a back seat, and at times is almost completely forgotten in today’s WWF events. Thankfully No Mercy cuts back on all the Hollywood glitter and focuses on an excellent game engine providing excellent wrestling matches.

The gameplay of No Mercy, although noticeably slower and more lethargic than actual WWF matches, is near perfect. Every wrestler and every wrestling move is represented within the game with a look and feel that perfectly conveys the real life counterparts. When injured, The Rock rises from the mat and holds the small of his back just right while he stumbles across the ring, Steve Austin hammers his opponent into the corner of the ring and, at just the right moment, pauses to flick a “double bird” in his opponent's face before finishing his ass-whooppin’ and when you manage to lock someone in Triple H’s pedigree, the ring seems to shake and rattle just right when your opponent's head hits the mat. The wrestling action of No Mercy is so exact any true fan playing the game will find a smile on their face as they discover the developers have programmed something just right.

But a perfect cast of wrestlers and their signature moves would be nothing without the matches that fuel their battles. No Mercy features a full list of the WWF’s best including ladder, handicap, ironman and steel cage matches to name a few, as well as providing backstage locales perfect for carrying out a hardcore title bout or an ambush of your archenemy. Want to pick up the ring stairs and turn your opponent into a bloody mess? Done. Want to toss someone through a table? Feel free. All of the WWF’s over the top action is available and ready to be utilized as you make your way to the top of the federation.

Yet the game's content does not end in the ring, although there is almost enough to do in the exhibition mode alone to warrant a complete game, as No Mercy comes with a Championship mode allowing you to wrestle for each of the WWF title belts through original story lines that branch off in different directions depending on your success in each of the pre-set matches. Not only does the game’s story mode provide an amusing back drop that gives purpose to your matches, it also creates a huge amount of replay value as you will find yourself repeating matches and losing on purpose just to see where the new story line takes you.

However, gamers will not discover the true depth of No Mercy until they enter the Create a Superstar mode and discover one of the richest and most complete athlete creation modes of any sports game available. No Mercy allows you to custom build your wrestler’s appearance, entrance, wrestling style and, most importantly, allows you to pick and choose each move within your wrestler's repertoire. Gamers may find themselves ignoring most of No Mercy’s game options until they have spent hours altering, testing, then adjusting their own personal wrestler to perfection, ready to reek havoc on the virtual World Wrestling Federation.

Unfortunately, similar to Vince McMahon’s decision to bring back Bob Backlun or allow the Fabulous Moola to wrestle once again, there are problems with No Mercy and although none of these problems are game-wreckers, they detract from the overall experience. At the forefront is the presence of some collision detection issues that seem to arise when certain wrestler’s avatars are standing diagonally on the screen, resulting in your striking and grappling attacks passing through their chests causing a huge amount of frustration as your opponent pummels you. The game also seems to favour striking attacks and pulling off a strong grapple move without first laying your opponent out on the mat can border on impossible. Like the WWF, No Mercy seems to have forgotten the beauty of watching two old school wrestlers toss each other around the ring and focuses more on the all out fist fight action that has become popular with wrestlers like Steve Austin and The Rock.

The other main problem with the game is the Attitude meter, which seems unbalanced in certain situations. This meter determines your wrestler's overall energy level and controls when you can use your signature moves in a match. However, the use of the game’s taunt function has an extremely powerful effect on the attitude meter causing it to rise rapidly and resulting in wrestlers standing off in a taunting battle instead of just pounding each other’s brains in. This problem becomes even more apparent in handicap matches where you battle one wrestler while his partner stands in the ring executing taunts and enabling his special move without carrying out a single wrestling move. The attitude meter should have been more dependant on actual wrestling and well timed taunts (like The Rock spitting on his hand while pummeling some jabrone in the corner) instead of being effected by X-Pac standing in the center of the ring pulling off one random meaningless taunt after another.

Any other complaints with No Mercy are nothing more than nit-picking (why does Chris Benoit hook the leg when he does a crippler crossface? Why does the computer try to pin me in a cage match?) and take nothing away from the game's over-all success at providing the ultimate WWF wrestling experience. If you’re a wrestling fan and own an N64 then WWF No Mercy is a must buy, and that’s the bottom line, cause EP says so!

Info & Screenshots