WCW/NWO Revenge is the sequel to WCW vs. NWO: World Tour. This critically acclaimed video game was released in 1998. I’m looking forward to playing it and hearing what people said about it at the time.
This game needs a little warning. I have a used copy, and the previous owner altered a couple of the wrestlers. It isn’t a big deal, but it does create some strange moments in the game. It adds to the game’s charm and reminds me of other things like this happening when I rent a game.
This is one of the games I haven’t played before. I’ve heard about it from my friends, so I have some idea of what I’m getting with this game. It should be good, and I wish this game had been ported to the PS1.
TLDR: The best WCW video game ever made.
Narrative
This game has a championship mode but no career or storyline mode. This is understandable for the time. It would have been nice to see it in 1998, but it isn’t that big of an issue.
Gameplay
The gameplay is very good! The control system is easy to learn, and I love how easy it is to do several moves. Getting the counters and reversals down takes a little time, but you can get through the game without learning them. If you try multiplayer, which might be more difficult now, you should know how to do the counters and reversals.
WCW/NWO: Revenge has a great roster, but I need to point something out. If you play this game on an N64 and not with an emulator, you’ll run into some edited rosters. It is something that you need to accept if you’re playing a used game.
This doesn’t detract from the quality of the game, and it reminds me of renting games back in the 1990s. Back then, you might run into a game where the previous renter made changes or had all the save spots. This also applies to the memory card you’re using if you have a used memory card.
The manual is available online. I didn’t need to use it as a reference until I started writing this. The game’s controls are very easy, but you can refer to the manual and other lists online if you want to do specific moves.
WCW/NWO: Revenge has a ton of game modes. I spent most of my time in the Championship mode. This is a gauntlet where you work your way up to a championship match for the belt of your choosing. It is great!
There isn’t too much else I can say about the game. I had a lot of fun with it. This is a spectacular game that is easy to learn but can be difficult to master. It is an upgrade over the previous WCW game, WCW vs. NWO: World Tour.
Visuals
This game looks good for 1998. While the wrestler models don’t look that different from the previous game, I think they look better than WWF Warzone and WWF Attitude. The ring entrances look amazing for the time.
The ring entrances look great! It is such a simple thing to overlook, but when you go through all these games, it stands out when they aren’t in the games. In Revenge, they look much better than games like WCW Mayhem.
The character models are dated. They are the only weak part of the graphics, but I don’t see this as a big deal. The animations make up for the dated graphics.
There was one minor thing I wanted to point out. The turnbuckle pads look bad. It is the only thing I could point to as being bad. Everything else looks good for the time. This is such a minor thing that it is barely worth mentioning, but it is the only thing I can point to as being an issue.
Despite the dated look of the wrestler models, this game looks terrific. It would’ve looked good at the time it was released. It looks better than some of the other 3D games of the time, but not as good as WWF Attitude or WCW Mayhem.
Reviews at the Time
I would like to point out that the scoring system in the 1990s and early 2000s was different from what it is now. A 5/10 is average, a 7/10 is good, and anything higher than a seven is considered great. I should’ve pointed that out earlier, and I’ll start putting this disclaimer in each time I do this.
I looked up four reviews for this game. GameSpot and N64 Magazine gave the lowest scores (7.2/10 and 7.5/10). Nintendo Power and IGN gave the game an 8.1/10 and an 8/10.
I hate to pick on N64 Magazine, but when they write things like “An improvement on its predecessor, but still nowhere near the giddy heights of WWF Warzone.” I love WWF Warzone, but it is not as good as WCW/NWO: Revenge. The reviewer knocked the blocky character models, which is understandable.
GameSpot’s major complaint was the things the developers didn’t improve on from the previous game. This is understandable, but I’m not sure it would knock the score down that much. This is a good time to point out that reviews are opinion pieces.
Nintendo Power’s score is an aggregate of five reviewers. I like this approach more than the other magazines. It is similar to how Famitsu does reviews. The reviewers focused on the improved graphics and how the game is easy to play. This is something I noticed. It is very easy to play, but it takes some time to master the controls.
The review from IGN is awesome! Whenever the reviewer suggests that “if you own World Tour, then sell it, ” they go on to say to use the money to buy Revenge. The reviewer praises the game as a great update but mentions that the graphics are not as good.
It seems like every review agreed that this is a good to great game. This game is an improvement on World Tour, but the dated graphics held the game back. It looks like they put more weight on a game’s graphics at the time. I find it interesting to see what the reviewers focused on in games like this.
9/10. This is one of the best wrestling games on the N64, and if it was on the PS1, it would’ve been one of the best on that system.
Pros
- Easy to Learn
- Great Roster
- Wonderful Multiplayer
Cons
- A Little Blocky
- You might get an edited version of the game.
Conclusion
This was great! Playing a great game, which I’ve heard a lot about, is always fun. It is a shame that I missed out on this game because I would’ve enjoyed it.
Games like this make me wish I had played more N64 games growing up. I rarely played the system, and the discourse around it online doesn’t help much. There are quite a few great games on the system, and this is one of them.
I’m coming to the end of the wrestling games on the N64. I’ve only been playing the North American releases, so I probably missed out on the Japanese-exclusive games. If I have time, I might look at those games someday.
If you liked this post, check out my other wrestling posts, such as my WCW vs. NWO: World Tour or ECW: Hardcore Revolution review.