WWF No Mercy is still considered the gold standard when it comes to wrestling games. This is thanks to the mechanics and engine developed by AKI/Asmik Ace that continued to evolve from WCW vs World on the PS1 in 1997 to their classic N64 run that began with WCW/NWO World Tour and ended with WWF No Mercy.
The AKI wrestling system found its way onto other classic fighting games like the Def Jam series, but their wrestling games are the most memorable. Now, WWF No Mercy director Hideyuki Iwashita is back and he's teaming up with former WWE wrestling game developers Yukes to work on the upcoming AEW Fight Forever. For longtime wrestling fans, this is a grappling game dream team. So the expectations are spectacularly high but until then, here is why WWF No Mercy is still one of the best wrestling games ever made.
6 Character Creation
By today's standards, the character creation system in WWF No Mercy can look a little bare. The creation suites in the WWE 2K series are some of the best in gaming let alone wrestling games. However, for a twenty-two-year-old game, No Mercy was way ahead of its time.
For the first time, it allowed players to create female wrestlers and players could realistically adjust a character's attributes to perform better in the ring. Players could also create unique attires and looks for their created superstar's appearance. So if they wanted to create Goldberg or Sting to have dream matches against WWE's finest, WWF No Mercy made it possible.
5 The Attitude Era Roster
It might not be as huge as WWE 2K22's roster, but for fans that anxiously hope for the inclusion of legends from what was arguably the WWE's best era, WWF No Mercy can't be beaten for its range of Attitude Era superstars. Unfortunately, in modern wrestling titles, many of these legends are locked behind paywalls and season pass packs that fans need to spend their hard-earned cash on in addition to paying full price for the base game.
WWF No Mercy features wrestlers like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, and Chris Jericho when they were at their very best. The game also includes legends like the returning Shawn Michaels, the iconic Andre the Giant, and Jerry "The King" Lawler as well as the original MMA to wrestling crossover star Ken Shamrock at no extra cost.
4 The Career Mode
WWE 2K22 indeed has a lengthy career mode with MyRise as well as the Universe mode to keep players coming back. They feel somewhat flat and even boring when compared to WWF No Mercy's Championship mode. The developers of WWE 2K can learn a lot from No Mercy.
WWE 2K22's Showcase mode is the closest the game gets to the features and challenges in No Mercy's career but even then it is disappointingly short by comparison. The Championship mode features branching storyline paths and various ways to get to the title. There's no insufferable voice acting to endure and no long and drawn-out cutscenes trying to replicate a dull melodramatic sports movie.
3 The Wrestling System
The most important thing to a wrestling game fan is the mechanics behind it. Where WWE 2K22 has the flashy moves and the spectacle of amazing-looking intros, the WWF No Mercy system favors a Japanese-style Puroreso wrestling mechanics. This means that wrestling matches can be back-and-forth chess matches where reversals can be countered and counter moves can be reversed to change the momentum of a match in an instant. That said, the game also makes it difficult for players to start instantly spamming big moves for a quick win like the 2K series. Going for longer and stronger grapples meant that one left themselves open to being reversed and countered.
The only modern wrestling game to implement this style of wrestling is Fire Pro Wrestling World which along with WWF No Mercy is considered one of the best wrestling games ever made. The gameplay is perfectly balanced and makes sure that matches are fair and entertaining. Matches feel like a matter of skill and tactics as opposed to which player can hit the reversal button faster. In WWF No Mercy, reversals and countermoves require timing and momentum as opposed to immersion-breaking mechanics that ruin the modern WWE 2K series.
2 Styles Make Matches
One of the best features in WWE 2K22 and its predecessors is the weight detection mechanic. This means that light heavyweights can't just throw around super heavyweights as soon as the match begins. Unfortunately, it isn't long into a match before Rey Mysterio is suplexing Andre The Giant all over the ring and it descends into another arcade-style match-up.
WWF No Mercy lacks any kind of weight detection the differences between the styles of light heavyweights and super heavyweights are always apparent. Players have to use their speed or power to gain an advantage as the impact can be catastrophic for the light player. In opposition to this, high-fliers have an easier time countering powerhouses and making use of the ring.
Sitting between the power wrestlers and high fliers are the technical submission specialists like Dean Malenko. What he lacks in size and speed he makes up for in his ability to reverse and counter his opponents. This means that he can slow down high fliers and/or takedown power wrestlers with submission and joint-based wrestling moves. Once again, it's a wrestling system that's balanced to perfection and manages to capture the drama of a wrestling match that modern grapplers are yet to equal.
1 It's Easy To Pick Up
Much has been said about the complexities of WWF No Mercy's balancing and technical mechanics. So it's easy to forget that the game is easy to pick and play for just about anyone. The mechanics are easily accessible but they're rewarding to players that are willing to master them.
There are no complex button combos or awkward moves that require out-of-place timing. Moreover, one can be playing WWF No Mercy and other AKI-developed wrestling games for months only to discover something new about the game. Whether it's discovering new moves or how the AI reacts in the ring, WWF No Mercy has a ton of depth. It still has an active fanbase today for a reason, and one can only hope that the next AEW wrestling game and indeed WWE 2K manages to capture this same level of excellence in the future.
WWF No Mercy is available for Nintendo 64.