WCW/nWo Revenge

Overview

The game would become THQ’s swan song for its WCW license on the N64. They produced 1 more WCW game for the PS1, before acquiring the WWE license. The game is regarded as one of the best wrestling games, and the best WCW wrestling game developed for any console, with the highest average rating of any WCW game on GameRankings. The gameplay accommodated very competitive multi-player, and captured the WCW atmosphere with great animations, presentation, and a huge roster.

Differences From WCW vs. nWo: World Tour

Revenge introduced many new features not included in it's predecessor WCW vs. nWo: World Tour. These features include: wrestler entrances, the ability to bring weapons into the ring, and instant replay. Other additions were new arenas based on the WCW's shows and pay-per-view events and the ability to edit the costumes and names of existing wrestlers. The game also introduced multiple Special moves.

Several modes from WCW vs. nWo: World Tour don't return in WCW/nWo Revenge. These modes are: WCW vs. nWo, League Challenge, League, and Tournament.

WCW vs. nWo was a series of elimination matches between a team of WCW wrestlers and members of the nWo. This feature would be excluded from the WWF AKI/Asmik Ace games as well, but would return in Virtual Pro Wrestling 2. In VPW2, you can choose any combination of wrestlers to be on each team; it's not specific to any faction like with the WCW and nWo.

League mode allowed you to create a round robin tournament. You can choose up to 16 wrestlers, or 8 teams, to compete. This was another feature excluded from the WWF AKI/Asmik games, and would be seen again only in Virtual Pro Wrestling 2. Round robin tournaments are more popular in Japanese wrestling promotions, which is probably why they were left out of the later WWF wrestling games.

League Challenge was similar to WCW/nWo Revenge's Championship mode, although each organization had their own singles and tag-team champion. WCW and DOA also had a Cruiserweight championship. In League challenge you competed against everyone within the organization before facing the champion, who was a hidden character. In WCW/nWo Revenge, the championship mode more accurately reflects the titles in WCW, with each belt having it's own path, and you face eight randomly chosen characters from the roster before facing the champion. The fictional promotions included in WCW/nWo Revenge do not have their own belts.

Tournament mode was excluded from WCW/nWo Revenge, but would be featured in every other AKI/Asmik Ace wrestling game after. Single and Tag-Team elimination style tournaments in WCW were very rare, which could potentially be a reason why this mode was excluded for this game.

In WCW vs. nWo World Tour a battle royal match was selectable in Exhibition mode, but limited to only four wrestlers. In WCW/nWo Revenge you could have up to 40 wrestlers compete, with new wrestlers entering once someone is eliminated.

Gameplay

Like WCW vs. nWo: World Tour, the controls focus offensively on weak/strong attacks & grapples. Defensively the game focused on the timing of blocking and evades. The Left button acted as evade, while the right button acted as block. If the player timed a block correctly, they could counter an enemies attack. For example, if Goldberg attempted a spear and the player blocked too early Goldberg would simply be unsuccessful. If timed perfectly, Goldberg would be caught in a submission. The gameplay was highly centered on balance. Opponent’s taunts and special moves could be used against them. By rotating the analog stick counter clockwise a taunt could be stolen. If an opponent had a devastating finishing move, it could be stolen by executing a successful grapple with the special meter flashing, and pressing A B at the same time.

One major issue with the game once discovered was the analog break. If a player was caught in a submission or pin, they could repeatedly push the analog stick in a direction to break free. This rendered a pin or submission attempt virtually useless against other human players.

Presentation

The game really captured the WCW product presentation wise. Players contained signature entrances, and taunts. Wrestlers had multiple special moves, and many signature holds. The game included the Nitro arena, along with more popular PPV themes like Starrcade.

Arenas

The major difference between each arena is the entrance design. The logo for each arena appears in every ring except for Monday Nitro and Superbrawl. The color of the ring ropes and turnbuckles are the same for each arena. Listed below are the arenas you can choose in game, and the actual WCW events they were modeled after.

• Monday Nitro
• Souled Out (Souled Out '98 - Hara Arena - Dayton, OH)
• SuperBrawl (SuperBrawl VIII - Cow Palace - San Francisco, California)
• Bash at the Beach (Bash at the Beach '97 - Ocean Center - Daytona Beach, Florida)
• Halloween Havoc (Halloween Havoc '97 - MGM Grand Garden Arena - paradise, Nevada)
• Starrcade (Starrcade '97 - MCI Center - Washington, D.C.)

Weapons List

• Chain
• Suit case
• Black bat ( Sting Trademark)
• Silver bat
• Trophy
• Microphone
• Stop sign
• Trash can
• Chair ( La Parka Trademark)
• Broken Table Fragment

Roster

The roster is split up between WCW wrestlers, the two factions of nWo, and the Raven's Flock stable. Wrestlers that are unlocked in Championship mode have an asterisk next to their name. EWF and DAW, two fictional wrestling promotions in the game, feature characters whose individual movesets are based on real life Japanese wrestlers. The changes in appearance and name for these characters is due to copyright. The wrestlers they are based on are listed in parenthesis.

Managers

When playing a singles match in exhibition mode, certain wrestlers are accompanied to the ring by a manager not present in the main roster, and can only be seen during this time. If you press Z on a controller plugged into the 3rd or 4th controller slot, you can control them for the duration of the match.

• Jimmy Hart (accompanies Meng & Barbarian)
• Kimberly Page (accompanies Diamond Dallas Page)
• Miss Elizabeth (accompanies Eric Bishoff & Macho Man Randy Savage)
• Vincent (accompanies Scott Norton, Scott Steiner, & Brian Adams)
• Rick Rude (accompanies Curt Hennig)
• Dusty Rhodes (accompanies Scott Hall)
• Sonny Onoo (accompanies Yuji Nagata)

Historical Context

WCW/nWo Revenge was released almost 11 months after WCW vs. nWo World Tour. During this time, the nWo had split into two factions: nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac. This storyline is referenced during the game's intro and the grouping of the nWo members in separate rosters.

Raven's Flock also has their own separate roster listing, although the group disbanded almost a month prior to the game's release, when Perry Saturn defeated Raven at the Fall Brawl PPV, freeing himself and the rest of the flock from Raven's control.

Having appeared in WCW vs. nWo World Tour, Ric Flair is absent form the roster of WCW/nWo Revenge, most likely due to a lawsuit he was in with Eric Bishoff at the time. His absence from WCW began in April of 1998, and lasted until September that year, a month before the game's release.

Kanyon is unlocked by defeating him for the TV title. Kanyon never was TV title champion during his time at WCW.

Chris Jericho was the TV Title champion during the game's release.

Meng & Barbarian are unlocked by defeating them for the Tag Team title. They never held the WCW Tag Team championship during their time at WCW.

The Tag Team title changed hands the day before the game's release, at the Halloween Havoc PPV on October 25, 1998. Up until the PPV, The Giant and Scott Hall were Tag Team Champions, representing nWo Hollywood. The titles were defended by The Giant and Scott Steiner on Halloween Havoc, invoking a variation of the Freebird Rules called nWo Rules, in which any duo of the nWo can defend the Tag Team championship. They faced Rick Steiner, who was feuding with his brother Scott, and Buff Bagwell, his first match back from an injury and supposedly no longer a member of the nWo. During the match Buff Bagwell turned on Rick, leaving him to face The Giant and Scott Steiner alone. Rick Steiner would endure long enough to win the match, after The Giant attempted to hit Rick with a missile dropkick from the top rope, and hit Scott instead; allowing Rick to beat The Giant with a Steiner bulldog from the top rope. Rick Steiner would choose Kenny Kaos to be his new partner the next night, but Kaos isn't a playable character in WCW/nWo Revenge.

Roddy Piper is unlocked by defeating him for the World Heavyweight title. Piper never was World Heavyweight champion during his time at WCW.

Goldberg was the WCW World champion during the game's release.

Billy Kidman was in his second reign as Cruiserweight champion during the game's release, the only hidden character who actually was champion at the time. Although Kidman was no longer a member of Raven's Flock when he became Cruiserweight champion.

Curt Hennig is unlocked by defeating him for the U.S. Heavyweight title. Curt Hennig held the title once during his time at WCW, winning it on September 15, 1997 on Monday Night Nitro. The victory came two months before the release of WCW vs. nWo World Tour, but Hennig was not included as a character in that game.

Diamond Dallas Page won the U.S. Heavyweight title the day WCW/nWo Revenge was released on an episode of Monday Night Nitro, by defeating Bret Hart.

Criticisms

The game was lacking in the sound department, largely in part to the restrictions of the N64 cartridge. The entrances consisted of a few possible midi sound clips. The game featured no match commentary, and no specific entrance themes.

Collision detection remained an issue as in World tour. Though collision detection had been improved, many reviews claimed of issues with floating limbs, and bodies. The game was criticized as being too similar to World Tour.

Awards

• D.I.C.E. Awards
  • Console Fighting Game of the Year (1999)