Magazine Archives: In the Heat of Success: Looking Back on “WCW/nWo Revenge”

By Rob Sutter from FightfulMag.com issue 6

The fall of 1998 was a pivotal point in the professional wrestling world. The Monday Night Wars was in full effect, pitting Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation against the Time Warner-owned World Championship Wrestling. Wrestling fans had their favorite matches, stars, and of course, companies, which fueled this rivalry between promotions that much more. What intensified this grudge was the sheer litany of video games released across all consoles. One could argue that, during the fifth generation of home consoles, no system saw better wrestling offerings than the Nintendo 64. Enter WCW/nWo Revenge, developed byAsmik Ace and AKI and published by THQ.

Released on October 26, 1998, in North America and November 30, 1998, in Europe, WCW/nWo Revengewas a successful sequel title. It followed up the N64 wrestling title known as WCW vs. nWo: World Tour, which established many of the Asmik Ace and AKI wrestling game mechanics fans know and love today. From the grappling system, consisting of different tiers of moves, to the Spirit Gauge, the Asmik Ace and AKI gaming offerings were designed to be easy to pick up and play. WCW/nWo Revenge was no exception. In fact, depending on who’s asked, it may be one of the Nintendo 64’s landmark titles.

If World Tourestablished a specific wrestling game formula on the N64, Revengesuccessfully built upon it, smoothing out the proverbial edges and enhancing what made its predecessor special. This is evident as soon as the game loads and the introduction video plays. On a desolate road in Atlanta, Georgia, a trucker is stopped during his drive. The driver is stopped by none other than Sting, staring down the vehicle as if daring it to move further. From there, the viewer is treated to a collection of highlights featuring the game’s expansive roster – we will touch on this in detail shortly – and various moves being executed. It’s an energizing intro, perfectly setting the tone for the rest of the game.

Speaking of the roster, Revengeboasts one of the most impressive rosters of any wrestling game, regardless of console or generation. From the nWo Black and White, led by Hollywood Hogan, to Kevin Nash’s nWo Wolfpacto Raven’s Flockto the various heavyweight and cruiserweight competitors with the company, Revengeeclipses World Tourfrom a roster standpoint. Younger gamers or those that are jumping into this title for the first time may be put off by the lack of a traditional create-a-wrestler option, but the fact that there are over sixty wrestlers to choose from means that there’s no lack of variety to be seen.

This roster even expands beyond the realistic boundaries of WCW and into the fantasy world, albeit with certain influences in place. In addition to the real-life wrestlers, there are 12 original characters spread across two promotions: Empire Wrestling Federation (EWF) and Dead or Alive Wrestling (DAW). At first glance, these seem like odd inclusions, almost as if they’re fan creations thrown into the grounded world of WCW. Though it wasn’t obvious to the traditional gamer back in 1998, now with the sheer wealth of information online, these original wrestlers boast movesets based on real-life personalities.

Consider the following examples: AKI/THQ Man, the “developer/publisher mascot” character, has similar moves to Japanese wrestling legend Mitsuharu Misawa. Dr. Frank, a Frankenstein’s monster behemoth battling in biker attire, shares techniques with Jumbo Tsuruta. Han Zo Mon, a ninja, fights using high-flying, fast-paced offense akin to Hayabusa. Due to licensing issues, wrestlers primarily known in Japan such as the ones mentioned here were unable to be used. However, these original wrestlers are interesting in their own ways. Moreover, for the keen wrestling fan that consumes media around the world, they make for clever Easter eggs. This practice of real-life inspired original characters was seen in World Tour as well, so it should come as no surprise that Revengebrought it back into the fold.

Anyone that has ever played Revengewill attest to its gameplay. Simply put, it’s timeless, being friendly to newcomers while still possessing mechanics that avid gamers can master. Weak strikes, strong strikes, weak grapples, strong grapples, building enough “Spirit” to execute a finisher – more than 23 years following its commercial release, Revenge’sgameplay holds up. It never feels old to successfully pull off a finisher, nor is it boring to go outside the ring and retrieve a weapon from the crowd. However, where this game is truly notable is its personality. World Tour, despite being a technically solid game, is on the plain side from a presentation standpoint. Revengeisn’t shy about what it is: an in-your-face wrestling game.

One of the ways Revenge’spersonality stands out is in its cast of characters. Many wrestlers have taunts unique to them, bringing their magic from the TV shows and incorporating it into the game. As “Macho Man” Randy Savage spins and taunts, a gruff “ohh yeah” can be heard. When Sting does his signature shout, he bellows out an audible “oww.” Even Raven, when taunting in the corner, will lazily sit and scratch his nose before returning to a standing position. There is so much detail in not only how fighters wrestle but showcase their characters in the game.

It says something about the quality of Revengethat it has taken us this long to get to specific gameplay modes, of which there are a few. In addition to singles, tag team, and handicap matches, as well as a battle royal, Revengefeatures a Championship Mode. This is broken up into five individual campaigns, each focused on the WCW World Heavyweight, United States Heavyweight, Television, Cruiserweight, and Tag Team Championship. Each mode will see the player face off against multiple wrestlers en route to the champion, who is initially a silhouetted wrestler that said player must defeat. By doing so, the player wins the title and unlocks that mystery wrestler. Not all the secret wrestlers are obvious, which makes it all the more fun to unlock them for play. Even if single-player modes only last so long,Revenge remains an infinitely replayable multiplayer title, so call up a few friends to join you for a few rounds.

Following its release, WCW/nWo Revengeproved to be a major success. It went on to become the best-selling wrestling game on the N64, moving over 1.8 million units during its lifetime. For context, Revengeoutsold other well-known N64 titles including Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, F-Zero X, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, and Paper Mario. Even with this success, however, a sequel title on the N64 wasn’t in the cards for World Championship Wrestling. Soon thereafter, THQ acquired the license of WCW’s main competitor, which brought rise to two WWF games on the N64, starting with WrestleMania 2000. WCW would go on to release a few other games on different consoles, though these failed to live up to the high bar Revengeset.

The unfortunate reality of wrestling games such as WCW/nWo Revenge is that we are unlikely to see them re-released. Without question, these would be welcome additions to any service, such as the Nintendo Switch Online’s N64 catalog. However, given the litany of licensing issues surrounding these older titles, the only way that they’re kept alive is through fan support. There aren’t very many games that would motivate me to dust off the old N64, mainly due to the fact that the lion’s share of the console's catalog has aged less like wine and more like a grape in the sun. However, its Asmik Ace and AKI-developed titles remain winners and WCW/nWo Revenge serves as not only a memorable gameplay experience but an interesting time capsule dating back to one of the hottest periods in pro wrestling.

Rob Sutteris the current Editor and Department Manager at Last Word on Pro Wrestling and a contributor for Last Word on Gaming. He has extensive knowledge about the wrestling world as a fan for over 20 years.

Twitter: @KHsNotebook