- NA release: 2nd December 1997
- PAL release: 12th February 1998
- JP release: N/A
- Developer: Asmik Ace, AKI
- Publisher: THQ
- N64 Magazine Score: 70%
It took a while for the N64 to get its first wrestling game, although it ended up getting a LOT after this one. It’s quite difficult to judge these properly as WWF No Mercy essentially invalidated all the other wrestling games on the console and set the standard going forward.
For the first on the N64, it does a good job. The gameplay works well enough, although putting the special moves on the control stick is a very odd move (you move around with the D-pad). You punch, kick and grapple. That said, individual matches do go on for far too long – upwards of 20 minutes.
But there’s not much to the game. There aren’t that many wrestlers and there are just a few basic modes, the first of which is a 5v5 where they duke it out one at a time. If one wrestler wins, they fight the opponent’s next.
Fine
There’s none of the speed or agility of your average beat-’em-up. Rather, the game chugs along at the same leisurely pace throughout, with every wrestler moving at the same speed (and all appearing to skate around).
Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #12
Remake or remaster?
The genre itself has evolved.
Official ways to get the game.
There is no official way to get WCW vs. nWo: World Tour
Europe
Japan
North America
N64 Games by Date
1997: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
1998: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
1999: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2000: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
…and the Japanese version was sick AF…Muhammed Ali as an unlockable? Muta and wrestler edit! Man!
I think you need to keep in mind that this is the direct predecessor to WWF No Mercy (or rather, I should say that No Mercy is the 4th game in the AKI Corporation/Syn Sophia series of N64 wrestling titles, following on from 1997’s WCW vs. nWo: World Tour, 1998’s WCW/nWo Revenge and 1999’s WWF WrestleMania 2000, before No Mercy finally released in 2000).
No Mercy was built on top of those three prior wrestling games from the same developer, so the team were much more experienced by that point and had built up a mature and well honed N64 wrestling game engine by the time of No Mercy’s release.
Of course WCW vs NWO Tour would be much simpler and basic in comparison to its later sequels. They were built directly on top of what WCW vs NWO Tour started.
It never fails to make me laugh that the developer (AKI Corporation), famous for mastering the art of Alpha Male Ballet that is wrestling, would go on to eventually become Syn Sophia; makers of the ultra girly (and really good!) Style Boutique series. Talk about a change of face! :laughing: