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WCW vs. nWo: World Tour

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WCW vs. nWo: World Tour
North American Nintendo 64 cover art, and featuring The Giant and Hollywood Hogan
Developer(s)Asmik Ace Entertainment
AKI Corporation
Publisher(s)THQ
Platform(s)Nintendo 64
Release
  • NA: November 30, 1997
  • EU: February 12, 1998
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

WCW vs nWo: World Tour is a professional wrestling video game released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64 game console. Released at the peak of World Championship Wrestling's (WCW) dominance in the Monday Night Wars, World Tour was THQ's first foray into the N64 wrestling scene and is a semi sequel to the lesser known WCW vs. the World for the PlayStation. It is the second best-selling wrestling game for the N64 console.[1]

Asmik Ace Entertainment and AKI approached the title by producing a wrestling game similar to Puroresu and fighting games. The resulting game was well received for its tight construction and ease of play, especially compared to Acclaim's comparatively more difficult and convoluted game, WWF War Zone. In fact, the playing style of World Tour, namely its revolutionary "grappling system," set a standard for pro wrestling video games to be expanded in future THQ titles for many years following.[2]

Its sequel, WCW/nWo Revenge, would build upon the engine tremendously by introducing ring entrances, improved graphics, more arenas, more signature moves, actual WCW championships, attire modification, and other improvements.

Gameplay

World Tour introduced Asmik/AKI's critically acclaimed grappling system, in which all moves are started by holds. Choosing to either tap or hold the A button will subsequently produce either "weak" or "strong" results once the move is performed, while a similar system is used for strikes. Wrestlers can also perform their signature taunts to help elevate their Spirit gauge and perform "Special" front and rear finishing moves when their gauge peaks.

In addition to single, tag team, handicap, and battle royal, match modes not seen in future releases include a WCW versus nWo tournament, round-robin tournament, and league tournaments more familiar to Japanese wrestling. Unlike today's wrestling games, World Tour features no create-a-wrestler mode, story mode, or ring entrances and has a limited amount of actual WCW wrestlers. It also makes no reference to championship belts and, upon the successful completion of a tournament, shows an illustration of a fist raising a gold trophy. A championship belt creation feature was touted prior to the game's release, but this was ultimately scrapped.[3]

Players can also attempt the "league challenge" in which a player must defeat several wrestlers from a given "promotion" in a row. Doing so allows a player to compete for that promotion's championship against a hidden character: Diamond Dallas Page (WCW), Wrath (DOA), Glacier (IOU), Randy Savage (NWO). Once a player has earned every championship they unlock "World Wide Wrestling" a longer challenge consisting of wrestlers from all four promotions. The championship match being against another hidden character: Joe Bruiser (a caricature of Muhammad Ali).

Other features were apparently carried over from the style of the game's Japanese counterpart. This includes the enabling of bleeding despite the practice being forbidden on WCW television due to its more family-friendly presentation. Foreign objects can be retrieved from the audience and used outside the ring. Weapons include a steel chair, half a wooden folding table, a black baseball bat, and a barbed wire bat, the latter not being characteristic of WCW programming but rather Japanese hardcore wrestling.

Reception

WCW vs. nWo: World Tour proved to be one of THQ's biggest hits and was awarded the title of "Fighting Game of the Year" by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.[7] It gained Player's Choice status with over a million copies sold and its 1998 re-release was instrumental in THQ's 59% revenue increase in the year's third quarter.[8] World Tour eventually sold 1.3 million copies in the US, making it the second best-selling wrestling game for the N64 and ranking it amongst the console's all-time best selling titles.[1]

In IGN's 2008 "History of Wrestling Games" article, Rus McLaughlin reflected, "World Tour was just as revolutionary as the nWo storyline it borrowed, with all moves built off holds instead of happening out of nowhere. . . Suddenly, wrestling was all about the grapple again, and players loved it."[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "US Platinum Videogame Chart". The Magic Box. 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  2. ^ a b McLaughlin, Rus IGN Presents the History of Wrestling Games IGN (November 12, 2008). Retrieved on 2-03-11.
  3. ^ a b Matt Casamassina (1997-12-09). "IGN: WCW vs. nWo: World Tour Review". IGN. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  4. ^ "WCW vs. nWo: World Tour for Nintendo 64". GameRankings. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  5. ^ Hendrix, Air WCW vs. NWO World Tour Review from GamePro GamePro (January 1, 2000). Retrieved on 2-3-11.
  6. ^ Josh Smith (1998-01-20). "WCW vs. nWo: World Tour Review for Nintendo 64". GameSpot. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  7. ^ 'Revenge' Tastes Sweet Reward IGN.com (May 24, 1999). Retrieved on 2-13-11.
  8. ^ IGN Staff THQ Posts Pretty Penny IGN.com (October 27, 1998). Retrieved on 2-13-11.
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