Did anyone read this review of WCW Nitro?
Quality over at THQ is really beginning to improve.http://www.ign64.com/WCW Nitro
WCW Nitro proves that the newest wrestling game isn't always the best
wrestling game.
Full review.February 11, 1999 18:00
The opening sequence to WCW Nitro for Nintendo 64 serves as the
perfect indication of bad things to come. The game boots to various
clips of wrestlers fighting it out in real-time by way of Nitro's 3D
engine. The action is completely void of any music and worse, it
actually pauses between each clip as if it were loading. After 15
seconds of this, we are treated to the game's title screen.
And that's true enough. After all, the games were developed by two
completely different teams -- World Tour and Revenge by Asmik/Aki and
Nitro by Nintendo 64 newcomer Inland Productions. Hard-core wrestling
fans will recognize Inland Productions as the same development house
that delivered WCW Nitro and, more recently, WCW Thunder to
PlayStation owners, both of which were slammed unanimously by the
videogame press and gamers alike. Unfortunately, this shoddy port --
and it is nothing more than a port -- of Nitro to Nintendo 64 isn't
likely to receive favorable reviews from anyone, us included. Features
16 immediately selectable WCW and NWO superstars, plus 48 hidden
wrestlers for a total of 64 playable characters. Run-in wrestlers.
Multiple gameplay modes including Tournament, Exhibition, Exhibition
Tag Team, Two-player Versus, Two-player Tag Team and Four-playerBattle Royal.
More than 30 different moves to choose from. Ring-out fights. Surprise attacks.
Multiple rings including Nitro, NWO, WCW, Fall Brawl, American Bash
and Halloween Havoc. Rumble Pak Support. Controller Pak compatible. Gameplay
If you've ever played the PlayStation version of Nitro -- or Thunder
-- let us first warn you that there isn't much different here. Nitro
(64) retains the same gameplay mechanics of past incarnations, which
means that wrestlers control identically (and digitally, despite the
use of Nintendo's analog stick), moves are the same, surprise attacks
are the same, and reversals are virtually absent, just as before. Even
the menus are the same. In fact, the only real difference we can tell
here is the speed, which has seen a significant, though entirely
manufactured boost. And, of course, there are no longer any FMVs,
which are, pathetically, one of the best features of Thunder forPlayStation.
For those of you unfamiliar with this game, it plays drastically
different from THQ's Revenge in that it doesn't employ the traditional
"grappling" system, which has won over wrestling fans across the
platform. Instead, it plays more along the lines of Acclaim's WWF
Warzone, meaning it forces players to master sequenced button
combinations in conjunction with input from the D-Pad or Analog stick
to execute moves. The problem is that it features a mere fraction of
the moves present in Warzone and doesn't offer players a practice mode
to adequately learn them.
The clunky fighting system is frustrating at best. Control is jerky
and fairly unresponsive, which often invites players to button-mash.
Wrestlers shrug-off powerful moves and pop right back onto their feet
with no hesitation. Worst of all though, the entire game just feels
like the PlayStation version before it -- a game more than a year old
-- and by no means is that a good thing. Even the game's four-player
Battle Royal, a feature that one would think to be a shoe-in, quickly
grows tiresome as the control system isn't rewarding.
On a brighter side, Nitro does feature a healthy selection of
wrestlers -- 64 in total -- and 16 are immediately playable. Gamers
can jump right in and play as Hollywood Hogan, Bret Hart, Sting, Lex
Luger, Giant, Diamond Dallas Page, Raven, Saturn, Goldberg, Kevin
Nash, Scott Hall, Curt Hennig, Macho Man Randy Savage, Rich Steiner,
Scott Steiner and Jericho. A total of 48 additional wrestlers can be
unlocked by playing through the one-player Tournament mode on normal
or hard difficulty. Upon beating the Tournament a secret wrestler will
be revealed. This wrestler must then be used to play through the
Tournament again in order to unlock the next hidden character. This
extends the game's replay value greatly. Graphics
Once again, WCW Nitro looks very similar to its PlayStation
inspiration. While wrestlers do feature smooth-skinned textures for
seamless polygon meshes, animation is a whole different story;
characters move awkwardly and at irregular speeds. By comparison,
Revenge looks more realistic. That's not to say that the game is ugly.
It's not. Wrestlers, for the most part, look fine and brighten and
darken with a faked dynamic lighting from crowd camera flashes. The
crowd, made up of one giant, gray, blurry blob, animates horribly and
looks just awful. The only thing worse are these ugly gray spots
apparent when the camera pans back to reveal a run-in. Did Inland
Productions overlook this or does it just not care? Also, don't expect
any wrestler intros here as there aren't any.
The Playstation-ness of this conversion is most translucent in the
game's jagged edges and unstable camera system. It's simply not very
smart. Instead of following wrestlers around (when brawling outside
the ring), the camera instead overlooks the action through the ropes,
giving players a semi-obstructed view of their opponent. Had this game
been more than a careless port, something like this would have surely
been corrected. Sound
The game features standard rock guitar riffs, random commentary and
traditional grunts and yells. Nothing especially outstanding and
nothing terrible. The thud of throwing an opponent on the ground
sounds realistic enough and that's good enough for us. Don't expect
the ambient crowd calls or flashy intro music of Revenge here. COMMENTS
What we have here is THQ milking the WCW license at the expense of
Nintendo 64 owners. Nitro (64) is, simply put, a rushed, pathetic port
of the year-old PlayStation version and it shows. Virtually everything
about this game, from its dusty control system to its intentionally
sped-up sense of speed, looks and feels dated and, above everything
else, it just isn't fun. The only redeeming feature this game offers,
in my opinion, is its hidden 48 characters, which must be unlocked
one-by-one by playing through the game over again. But honestly,
what's the point of even bothering if the game is crap? And this, my
friends, belongs in the toilet bowl.
Stay away. Not even the game's multiplayer mode is worth it. --Matt Casamassina
Harsh words, Matt, but I have to say that I agree that this game is a
major disappointment. Nitro on the N64 is basically a rushed port of
the PlayStation game. While the characters don't look all that bad and
the arcade-style speed is a nice break from the regular wrestling
gameplay, Nitro just doesn't do anything better -- or even as well --
as the other wrestling games on N64. The background images are blurry
with badly chosen colors (remember the gray backgrounds in NBA In the
Zone '98?), the animation routines are glitchy, the camera happily
circles the arena looking for the most awkward angle, and the control
is nowhere as good as in THQ's own Revenge and World Tour. Sure, it
doesn't have the analog stick glitch that gets you out of holds and it
has a cool lineup of wrestlers (most of which are hidden), but even
die-hard wrestling fans will notice that this is more a quick and
sloppy attempt to cash in on a popular license than a thoroughly
designed game. Some fun is to be had with four players, but I suggest
you stick with THQ's own Revenge.--Peer Schneider PRESENTATION
Full WCW and NWO license, but generic, rushed and dated look. No work
put into it. 3.0 GRAPHICS
Nice soft-skinned polygon models, but horrible textures and glitchy
animation. 5.0 SOUND
Average thuds, crunches and yells. Standard rock guitar riffs. Notbad. 5.0
GAMEPLAYTedious, unbalanced, jerky control. No practice mode to learn moves.4.0
LASTING APPEAL
Lots of hidden wrestlers, but really, what's the point if you have to
suffer a horrible game to get them? 4.0 4.7
Your King |
