WWF No Mercy

Infobox VG
title=WWF No Mercy


caption=North American boxart
developer = Asmik Ace Entertainment
Aki Corporation
publisher = THQ
designer =
engine =
released = November 14 2000
genre = Fighting, Sports
modes = Single player, multiplayer
ratings = ESRB: T (Teen)
platforms = Nintendo 64
media = Cartridge
requirements =
input =

"WWF No Mercy" is a professional wrestling video game released in 2000 on the Nintendo 64 console and published by THQ. It is based on the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment annual pay-per-view event of the same name. "No Mercy" is the follow-up to 1999's "WWF WrestleMania 2000". "No Mercy" was well-received by players and critics alike. There were plans to release a sequel, "WWF Backlash". However, Nintendo had chosen to retire the Nintendo 64 console, and so, "Backlash" was cancelled.

Gameplay

Some of the features included in "WrestleMania 2000" were removed from "No Mercy". First, wrestlers' entrances were cut short to showing the wrestler only appear on the stage/entrance ramp, and players never see wrestlers actually enter the ring (despite early screen shots showing full ring entrances). The belt options were also changed; rather than creating a belt from scratch, players now have to complete a story mode to win a title. While this added an extra challenge to the game, fans felt that they had been robbed of a unique and well-liked option from "WrestleMania 2000" (The Create-A-Belt option would return in "WWE WrestleMania X8"). However, the 'official' WWF belts that replaced user-created ones can still be wagered in Exhibition matches and pay-per-view events. Additionally, there is noticeable slow down when four wrestlers are on the screen at once, something not present in "WrestleMania 2000".

However, "No Mercy" features a much more extensive Create-a-Wrestler mode with, among other changes, more moves, customizable body attributes both offensively and defensively, better-organized clothing options ("No Mercy" utilizes descriptive categories and titles for each clothing item, whereas "WrestleMania 2000" simply numbers items) and the ability to create female wrestlers, which is all but impossible in "WrestleMania 2000". Each wrestler in the game has 4 different ring attires that could be independently edited, and each attire can be completely changed including name, height and weight, body parts and music, technically allowing 4 different wrestlers per slot; although, they must share a common moveset. Several of the game's unlockable wrestlers used this feature, such as Taka Michinoku who has his partner Funaki in 2 attire slots. The graphics also were improved significantly over the game's predecessor, and various match types made their debuts in Nintendo 64 wrestling games, including ladder matches and special referee matches. The game also marked the first time on the system in a WWF game that players could fight backstage.

The story mode is very extensive and much improved over "WrestleMania"'s career mode. Each WWF title features a unique story. For the WWF Championship, players can choose any wrestler to reenact the classic feud between Mankind and Triple H that dominated the WWF in early to mid 2000. Other angles include Stone Cold Steve Austin's feud and The Rock's temporary alliance with Vince McMahon. After winning a title, the player can replay the story mode and defend the newly-acquired belt in a variety of new storylines. Also, unlike future wrestling games, players are allowed to fight for and defend any championship in the exhibition mode.

The biggest significant change in WWF No Mercy compared to their counterparts is the game's extensive gameplay mechanics. While Wrestlemania 2000 has 5 types of damage (A-E, A being the highest and E being the lowest), No Mercy extends that to 8 types of damage (S and A-G, S being the highest). In addition, the movesets are more divided based on the amount of damage moves can do. With the exception of the back grapple's Back Suplex (C), you can no longer perform strong C-B moves with a quick grapple (you can customize your CAW to do B moves with quick grapples and B afterwards in WM 2000). You cannot perform certain ground grapple moves or turnbuckle moves without SPECIAL (example: Crippler Crossface or the People's Elbow stance). This mechanic was essential and highly praised to No Mercy's Create-A-Wrestler to balance the game and prevent competitive matches to end prematurely. When lifting the Super Heavyweights over 400 lbs., rather than picking them up for moves such as Brainbuster or Samoan Drop, they are picked up via scoopslam with a delay of effort, which can dramatically increase the user's Spirit Meter if successful or leave you with a minor stun if unsuccessful. However, this was criticized to being unbalanced to Super Heavyweights. Also, weapons that are taken from stage no longer disappears when hit or blocked. Also, these weapons can also be thrown at opponents as well or be used as a setup to inflict more damage to the opponent (such as Tables). Despite a weapon limit count in the ring, you can still throw weapons outside the stage to decrease the count, exchange weapons outside the crowd, or go backstage and back in the ring to reset. Also new to the game is the ability to do running grapples such as facebusters.

What gives the story mode so much depth is its branching storylines that develop based on the outcomes of the player's matches. In "WrestleMania 2000", if the player is to lost a match in the career mode, the game only allows the player to retry the match, rather than adjusting the storyline accordingly. "No Mercy"'s story mode is considered revolutionary in wrestling video games for offering branching storylines based on the outcomes of matches. The player has to actually play through each story several times and lose matches in order to achieve a 100% completion rating.

Another notable feature that was added to the game is the "SmackDown! Mall." With money earned from winning matches in story mode and playing the Survival mode, players can purchase unlockable characters, clothing, wrestling moves, props, tattoos, weapons, and venues. Characters are extremely expensive and some of them can be unlocked at much less effort by defeating them in special matches in the story mode. The addition of this feature greatly increases the game's replay value.

A notable twist in the WWF Championship story mode is the lack of The Big Show, who at the time was working at Ohio Valley Wrestling trying to lose weight. He was replaced with Steven Richards, the leader of Right to Censor. On an interesting note, although Big Show is not in the game, his face, attire, taunts, and moves are included in the game. However, a cheat device is necessary to unlock his face.

Roster

Note: "People featured on the same line indicate that they are featured on the same slot as an alternative attire."

Featured wrestlers

Unlockable wrestlers

¹: All of these Superstars can be created in Create-A-Wrestler mode as their parts and photos are available.

²: These wrestlers are available in one slot under "Ho".

³: This wrestlers face and clothes can be unlocked via "Game Shark".

Reception

"No Mercy" received generally positive reviews, receiving scores of 9.0 from IGN, [ [http://ign64.ign.com/articles/164/164737p1.html IGN: WWF No Mercy Review ] ] , 7.7 from GameSpot [ [http://www.gamespot.com/n64/sports/wwfnomercy/review.html WWF No Mercy for Nintendo 64 Review - Nintendo 64 WWF No Mercy Review ] ] and B+ from Game Revolution. [ [http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/n64/wwf_no_mercy WWF No Mercy review for the N64 ] ] Overall, the game had an average score of 89% on Metacritic. [ [http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/n64/wwwfnomercy WWF No Mercy (n64: 2000): Reviews ] ] Common elements critics praised the game for included the improved graphics, large roster, diverse match stipulations, deep Create-a-Wrestler mode, and improved story mode.

Technical issues

The cartridges were designed to be able to save game data without the use of a memory card like on the Playstation. However some of the first wave (namely European) copies of the game were faulty, with saved data sporadically being erased to the default settings of the game as if it had never been played. There were many recalls and fixed copies of the game later replaced the faulty ones in shops. These copies are identified by the code ending in EUR-1 (the original faulty copies had a code with EUR at the end).Fact|date=April 2008

Game Boy Color version

A sister game also titled "WWF No Mercy" was planned for the Game Boy Color (GBC). The GBC version was planned to utilize the N64's Transfer Pak to help unlock more features. This included an extra unlockable CAW slot and an extra GBC option in Championship mode. Unlike the GBC game for "WrestleMania 2000", the GBC version of "No Mercy" was planned to be developed by AKI, rather than Natsume. The game was eventually canceled, but the modes can still be unlocked in the game through a cheat device. A similar idea of linking a portable port to the console port would eventually be used in "WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006", for unlocking Jake "The Snake" Roberts on the PlayStation 2.

References

External links

* [http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/n64/data/914112.html WWF No Mercy] at GameFAQs
* [http://ign64.ign.com/objects/014/014737.html WWF No Mercy] at IGN