WCW Backstage Assault on the N64 is Pretty Bad

I just want to get this one over with. WCW Backstage Assault is the final WCW video game. The developer made the bizarre decision to have a wrestling game without a wrestling ring. This feels like Vince Russo was part of the creative meetings behind the game.

Every match is a hardcore match that takes place in the backstage area. This should have been one match type in a larger game. It is such a strange decision, but it oddly matches the chaos that was occurring in WCW in the 2000s.

I didn’t like the PS1 version, so I don’t have high hopes for the N64 game. My standards are so low that I’m just hoping this game is playable. Let’s see what this game has to offer and if it can manage to be better than the PS1 version.

TLDR: A Boring, Repetitive Game that is at least Playable.

Narrative

There is no story. This isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it is odd that the WCW games went backward to a more arcade feel. It feels like there should have been something closer to a season or a career mode.

Gameplay

The gameplay is fine, but it gets very old quickly. You’re doing the same thing in every match, and there is no variety. Everything is a hardcore match that takes place in one of the rooms in the backstage area.

There are no character health bars. You get some indication of how close you are to knocking an opponent out, and there is a momentum meter similar to WCW Mayhem. Having a health or stamina bar would have been better.

The controls are decent enough. The game is playable but very repetitive. It is an endless string of hardcore matches, and it doesn’t help that the whole game is one-on-one.

I looked up the manual online to see what the controls were or if I was missing anything. Thankfully, the manual is available on the Internet Archive. I’m glad someone put these up online since I mostly collect loose cartridges and don’t have manuals for the vast majority of my games.

This feels like one of the NES or early SNES and Genesis wrestling games. The game has one big draw, and that is all you get. Sure, you can pick other wrestlers to play as or create your own, but why would you want to when there are other options?

WCW Backstage Assault has a lot of unlockable content in the game. Unfortunately, none of the unlockable content lets you play a better game. It would be funny if you could unlock a regular wrestling game and not have to keep playing this.

This game has few gameplay options. Everything is a one-on-one match, and they have to be hardcore matches. You have a few options for winning a match, but you’re still doing the same thing. WCW Backstage Assault is a repetitive game that should’ve been part of a better game.

I didn’t like the gameplay in this one. Shockingly, I like this game more than WCW Nitro on the N64. This game is playable, but I don’t know why anyone would want to play it for more than an hour or so.

Visuals

This game looks terrible. It has nothing to do with the N64 because the PS1 version also looked awful. The N64 version of WCW Backstage Assault is a little worse because it lacks FMV.

The character models look awful for a game released in the early 2000s. The Smackdown games were out at this time, and they look much better than this. They look worse than the earlier games like WWF Attitude, Warzone, Mayhem, Thunder, and Nitro.

The animations look good. Surprisingly, I thought they looked good for the time. I didn’t have any problem with how the moves looked. The weapons also looked good, and I like how they get battle damage as you continue to use them.

The different areas in the backstage area look good for the time. It is a little disappointing that the whole game takes place back here, but at the very least, the sections look okay. The camera is a little rough, but it doesn’t hurt the game.

The graphics are one of the brighter spots in this game. They aren’t great, but they look decent enough. WCW Backstage Assault does suffer from not having FMV in the game, but the game has bigger issues.

5/10. This is a boring and repetitive game. There are a lot of things to unlock, and it looks okay, but the game gets boring quickly.

Pros

• Decent Graphics
• Lots of Unlockable Content
• Large Roster

Cons

• Boring
• Repetitive
• Lack of Game Modes

Conclusion

This game is bad but better than WCW Nitro on the N64. I know that is a low bar to get over, but I don’t think this game is as bad as Nitro. It has decent controls, and the arena graphics are okay. The character models look pretty bad, and the gameplay is very repetitive.

It is a boring game. Every match takes place in a room in the arena; there is no wrestling ring, and you can only do hardcore matches. This makes every match feel the same despite the rooms changing.

I would rather play WCW Mayhem or WWF Warzone. Both of those games are better than this one. It is sad that this is the game that WCW went out on.

If you want to read more of my posts about wrestling video games, please check out my lists on the PS1 and SNES wrestling games.