This is the Super Bowl weekend for us wrestling fans, it's WRESTLMANIA WEEKEND!! As I finish up watching night one of WrestleMania, I see the advertisement for WWE 2k24 and it makes me think of all the great wrestling games we have gotten over the years. Sure there have been some bad ones but I think it's been more good than bad. With being said let me tell you about some of my wrestling games.
Honorable mention goes to WCW nitro. It wasn't the best game but it was super entertaining. It had video introduction, cheat codes, unlockables like wrestlers and fictional characters. It was fun, spent hours playing this game with friends and family.
My next honorable mention goes to WWE 2k24 and some of the more recent 2k releases. Although they aren't perfect, they bring back the fun of playing couch multiplayer or online multiplayer with friends. The introduction to the Wargames match, bringing back the guest referee, casket matches and ambulance matches and other mechanics make these games a must play for wrestling fans. Not to mention the incredibly amazing create a wrestler community who provide some of the best real and fictional characters to download, along with different championships belts, arenas and so much more. Also I forgot to mention you can throw weapons now, top tier!!!
Alright so let's get into my number 5, and that's going to be WCW vs. Nwo: World Tour. This was the first wrestling game o had on my N64 and when I tell you I spent hours on hours trying to get all the unlockable characters. Back then these were a challenge to get but I had so much fun playing with my favorite wrestlers, Dean Malenko and Sting. Also the hidden characters like Hannibal(Hayabusa), Black Belt ( Taka Michinoku) and plenty othes. The arcade/ tower system was fun and gave you something to actually strive for.
Number 4, is Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain! This was a great game and the gameplay was revolutionary. The sequel to Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth, this game had a more advanced grappling system but still kept the fast pace of the series. It also was the first time you could play the elimination chamber match in a game. We got season updates, a great roster and you could do just about anything in this game.
Number 3 for me would be WCW/NWO revenge. This is the squeal to WCW/Nwo : World Tour and it was a bigger and better game. I spent plenty afternoons and evenings playing this game with friends from my neighborhood. Considered myself a submission specialist from using wrestlers like Dean Malenko, Bret Hart and Sting. Still one of my favorite grappling systems to date.
At number 2, we have Wreslemania 2000!!! I know for a fact I put in over 500 hours in this game. This game dropped at the height of the attitude era, and getting to play as those superstars was amazing. Wrestlemania 2000 utilized the same grappling system as WCW\Nwo revenge. It had an extensive create a wrestler system. King of the ring, royal rumble and create a ppv modes also. I have to shoutout the "Road to Wrestlemania" mode. I remember having to defend like 3 titles at a ppv one time, such a cool yet crazy experience.
We are now at Number 1, and my all time favorite wrestling game is...(queues drumroll) WWF NO MERCY!!!!!! I know it's widely regarded as one of the best wrestling video games ever made. A sequel to Wrestlemania 2000, it made improvements on what was already great and made it better. The graphics (Still blocky but it was the N64), the gameplay, a more extensive and in depth create a wrestler. A lot of things used in this game are still used in the 2K games today, from the grappling, to earning money to use to unlock things. We also got the first iteration of the Ladder match in this game and played at least a 100 matches. I played this game just about everyday until I got rid of my N64.
So to say I'm just a wrestling fan might not be enough. I love wrestling whether it's WWE, AEW, NJPW, TNA, MLW or other indies. I'm a fan of the sport and getting to put myself in those matches and moments is so entertaining and fun. This is my list, if yours is different please let me know, I welcome the opinions and feedback; because I know we all love the sport of wrestling and wrestling entertainment.
