RVG Forum

I like to think that War Gods was created with one thing in mind: to tie fans over until the highly anticipated 3D debut of Mortal Kombat. If I can accept the fact that it was designed to be mere hors d’oeuvre for the Mortal Kombat 4 main course, I become a little more understanding of its mediocrity, but then, War Gods doesn’t really whet your appetite for anything except a different game. The whole product feels crude and unfinished, as if it’d been a mere experiment for the 3D engine Midway planned to employ in Mortal Kombat 4. To begin with the arenas, they’re all dull and uninspired and mostly consist of flat surfaces with scenery strewn about the parameter. You can move along the z-axis to dodge projectiles, but the added range of movement doesn’t contribute much to the battles. The fighting system seems to be hampered by two major issues: the clumsy implementation of the 3D engine and the general choppiness of the animation. Battles feel as if they lack fluidity, and it’s easy to get disoriented. The character selection is unfocused, and there’s no rhyme or reason as to why they’re in the game. While the characters in Mortal Kombat have interesting backstories, the War Gods roster exists for no other purpose than for Midway to showcase their “digital skin” high resolution texture technology, which does look pretty nice. There are some creative fatalities, but mostly they’re unimaginative and rather unsatisfying to pull off. Overall, I think it’s safe to say that Mortal Kombat 4, though far from perfect, dodged a bullet. With the commercial failure of War Gods, Midway managed to discern everything a 3D fighter should aspire not to be. Good for Mortal Kombat; bad for War Gods.

Sponsored by Kawasaki in 1996, Wave Race 64 was one of the first games to bring an authentic jet skiing experience to home consoles. It was also one of the earliest games in the Nintendo 64 library, and it set a high standard with beautiful, lifelike water effects, gorgeous environments, and tight racing controls. The premise is simple: take one of Kawasaki’s distinctive jet skis out on the water and race against your friends or computer opponents, or participate in the time trials mode or stunt mode for high scores. The Championship circuit is the equivalent of a grand prix, where you compete against three other racers. As the difficulty scales up, the number of tracks to race increases and you have less leeway for failure. You gain points for placing well in races, and you must maintain a specific point tally in order to qualify for the next course. The courses are well designed and make good use of Nintendo’s water physics engine: waves have varying degrees of intensity, from small ripples to larger swells that can launch you into the air. Your path is delineated by brightly colored buoys, which grant you a speed boost whenever you pass them. Many levels feature ramps that you can hit to perform tricks like barrel rolls and backflips. It’s a satisfying feeling to attempt a perilous stunt and then make the perfect landing. There are four characters to select, and it’s important to pick the right one for your play style as some characters have faster maximum speeds, and others have better handling or acceleration. Races can become very intense on higher difficulties, but the gameplay never feels unbalanced. Wave Race 64 is an excellent game through and through, one of the best looking, best feeling racers on the console.

For the follow-up to WWF WrestleMania 2000, AKI planned their biggest and best wrestling game yet. WWF No Mercy contains all the features that made the previous game so enjoyable to play, and introduces some additional modes to further customize the experience. Now, there are ladder matches and cage matches. You can even take the action backstage for a hardcore brawl, slamming opponents onto pool tables and bludgeoning them with fire extinguishers and chairs. Indeed, AKI has expanded the gameplay by an enormous margin, offering more moves and modes than ever before. The Create a Wrestler function of WrestleMania 2000 returns and is now joined by the Shop, where you can purchase new outfits and moves for your wrestlers. You earn money by competing in the Championship mode, in which you advance through a storyline to earn a shot at the belt. An improvement over its predecessors in every way, No Mercy would be almost perfect if it weren’t for a few flaws. First, the difficulty in the Championship mode can be unforgiving, especially when you’re fending off two opponents at the same time and all of your moves are getting reversed. Second, when more than two wrestlers are on the screen at once, the performance suffers considerably, as if you were playing in slow motion. Finally, there’s the annoyance of a potential glitch in the game which, if a certain condition is met, can wipe the data clean off your cartridge. THQ sent out replacements with the glitch removed, but today, you’ll need to go out of your way to find the patched version. That notwithstanding, No Mercy offers the richest, most authentic wrestling game experience on the Nintendo 64. For hardcore wrestling fans and casual gamers alike, it is a real joy to play.

In 1998, THQ published the sequel to AKI’s groundbreaking WCW vs. NWO: World Tour, which had single-handedly elevated the stature of console-based wrestling games in the ‘90s. WCW/NWO Revenge is a marked improvement over its predecessor with expanded gameplay options, better sound and visuals, and other nuances that make for a more authentic wrestling experience. The roster of Revenge serves as a year-end review of 1998, a pivotal time for the WCW due to Goldberg’s undefeated streak and the NWO schism. Not only are there a greater number of recognizable wrestlers, but they’re better detailed and their animations have been tweaked to look more realistic. AKI’s innovative grappling system returns with a few minor adjustments. You still grapple with opponents using the A button, and if you hold the button for a longer duration, you’ll commit to a strong grapple and execute moves that are more damaging but easier to reverse. Now, certain wrestlers can chain together striking combinations during a strong grapple. It suits those wrestlers, like Goldberg, who were known to incorporate more punches and kicks into their repertoire. Overall, Revenge has what seems to be one of the deepest rosters in wrestling game history with stars like Bret Hart, Sting, and Hollywood Hulk Hogan, and you can unlock additional wrestlers by winning titles in the Championship mode. You can even edit their wrestling gear this time around, so if you’ve always hated the way Hogan has looked in tights, then you can put him in something else! The game supports four players and you can customize the rules to your heart’s content. Want a tag team match with weapons? What’s stopping you? Revenge is one of the best games to bear the WCW brand. Even if you’re not a fan of wrestling, it’s well worth your time.

After publishing two excellent games for the WCW, THQ changed licenses and worked with the WWF for WWF WrestleMania 2000, loosely based on the Pay-Per-View of the same name. Naturally, some comparison to its predecessor, WCW/NWO Revenge, must be made, so we’ll start with the positives. First, the game modes have been expanded radically. There’s a Road to WrestleMania campaign, which allows you to take a wrestler up the ranks en route to a title shot at WrestleMania. Plot development follows the blueprint of WWF programming, complete with rivalries and backstage feuds developing as you ascend the ranks—very ambitious for the time. Also, wrestlers now come out to their theme songs. They sound very grainy and compressed, but the songs are all there and it’s a nice touch. As a whole, however, I think Revenge has the stronger roster for the fact that it condenses, much like WCW did, many generations of wrestling talent into one ring. WrestleMania 2000 is a snapshot of the Attitude era, which is to say that as many awesome gimmicks are to be found as bad ones. Who in the world is clamoring to play as The Blue Meanie or Mideon? Thankfully, AKI remedies this with what is by far the most robust Create a Wrestler tool of the early 2000s. You’re able to start from scratch, tweaking every move and hold in your wrestler’s repertoire, every taunt, every piece of equipment he or she wears to the ring. You have sixteen empty slots, so there’s no danger of you running out of room unless you’re as dedicated as I am and have spent uncounted hours creating wrestlers. Overall, if you liked Revenge, WrestleMania 2000 is more of the same great wrestling action with some additional modes to keep you busy.