Insert Coin: WCW/nWo Revenge

“At the time of the game's release, the Monday Night Wars were starting to go in favor of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Despite this WCW/nWo Revenge was generally recognized as the best wrestling game of 1998. Revenge's main competition that year was WWF War Zone by Acclaim. The Revenge grappling system is part of what ensured the game's success and popularity. The system was simple to learn and allowed for a variety of moves to be performed depending on the character.”

Screw 1998. This is still one of the best wrestling games ever created. I remember back when I first played this it seemed so damned realistic. It was the first game to feature blood. You’d hit someone in the head with a bat, chair, or trophy and they would pause, check the blood, and pass out. Some woman even screamed out loud when it happened. This was also one of the first times I played a wrestling game where people actually had most of their own real moves, not a generic move set with hopefully their real finisher. I’m looking at you Royal Rumble for Sega Genesis.

"Lay off! Three of us are dead!"

Sporting a roster of over 60 damned wrestlers, this game never got old. I still own it. I still play it. Badly. All the crazy buttons from newer systems actually makes it harder for me to grasp the simple controls of this game now. I used Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg the most because at the time they were my favorite wrestlers. I would spear the shit out of people. There was also a combo system with a few wrestlers like Ultimo Dragon and fake Hayabusa. I say “fake” because there were some wrestlers the company didn’t have rights to so they created versions close to them. Like Jackal instead of Dr. Death Steve Williams.

Raven and The Flock were also in this game which was too cool! Raven would come out and get in the ring and sit in the corner and wipe his nose. I know it may not sound like a big deal but at the time every wrestling game would have people come out to their music and that was it. This didn’t even have their original music but the fact it had their movements made up for it. Oh, and the game also had a cool short film at the beginning that could look different based on how you’d altered the characters in the game. Yes, you could change the colors and bodies of every wrestler in the game.

One of my favorite things to do with this game was to take WCW wrestlers and turn them into WWE and ECW wrestlers. I’d turn Sickboy into HHH, Dean Malenko into Justin Credible, David Finley into Rugged Ronnie Garvin, and AKI Man into Robocop. Don’t ask. Okay fine. Robocop was actually in WCW at one point. Click all up in here for proof! WCW/nWo Revenge is and was one of the most fun games, not just wrestling games, period. Hell, I think I’m gonna play it now!