15 Best Wrestling Games Of All Time
3. WWF No Mercy
WWF No Mercy took everything AKI had worked on in Virtual Pro Wrestling 2, WrestleMania 2000, the WCW games like World Tour or Revenge and perfected it. Released in late-2000, No Mercy coincided with the first two SmackDown titles on PlayStation. Those were fun, but the N64 reigned supreme as a wrestling game connoisseur's console of choice. If you missed out, you had to listen to Nintendo-loving pals at school bragging about No Mercy's excellence.
AKI nailed the WWF's atmosphere, but it was their gameplay engine that charmed people most of all. You will not be shocked to read that this deep into the 'best of' collection at hand. AKI knew how to mimic the ebb and flow of real world wrestling matches better than most, and they knew it was killer bell to bell action that'd keep people coming back time and time again for more.
Yeah, Stevie Richards muscling in on the 'Mania 2000 main event was a strange decision for the Championship (Story) Mode, but even that's become a curiously cute moment from WWE gaming history. Those who played No Mercy didn't care anyway - they were far too busy tearing it up in multiplayer with their mates then rushing home to battle the AI and hone their skills.
It's no wonder this became one of the best selling N64 games ever.
Finally, CPU controlled characters were smarter than they'd been in Revenge, which upped the difficulty factor somewhat. That challenge only made No Mercy stronger. Only two wrestling games stick out as 'No Mercy beaters', and even that's arguable depending who you speak to. Another almost joined them, but Backlash was scrapped before launch.
Dig dig diggity dig-diggity dog!