retro fridays and wwf no mercy

When released in 2000, wwf no mercy was the huge bombshell that changed wrestling games. I'm not exaggerating either, it was that good and that influential upon release and still is to this day. Released only on the nintendo 64, wwf no mercy was a wrestling video game however it's gameplay is what changed the game and also makes it highly addicting.   To give you an idea, wwf attitude was the main game and it's controls involved convoluted button presses and long combos to do a signature move or a grapple

No mercy simplified the controls by using the A and B buttons a lot, for example with b you punch and with A you grapple. If you hold down A then you do a strong grapple and you can do stronger moves. Once you have an opponent in a grapple you press a direction and the A button again to do a move. It's a lot simpler then up down left left left up up right triangle. The rest of your moves like running or switching who your facing is handled with the yellow C buttons and counters and reversals are mapped to the L and R buttons. It seems simple but it was quite a breakthrough

No mercy also has a unique branching story mode. Rather then doing things in a linear fasihion, the story changes depending whether you win or lose certain matches. But wait there's more, a lot of the unlockables can be purchased in a store called the smackdown mall and there is a royal rumble like match called survival(you can also pin or cause opponents to submit) where you earn money for your eliminations

. You can edit the appearance of wrestlers and each one has 3 alternative costumes, there are a lot of hidden characters and something about the gameplay makes you want to come back for more. If you have never played wwf no mercy you are in for a treat as long as you ignore the playdoh graphics