On This Day in 1998, One of the Biggest Wrestling Video Video games Ever Was Launched on N64

On October 26, 1998, one of many best skilled wrestling video video games ever made was launched on the beloved Nintendo 64. Of course, I’m speaking about WCW/nWo Revenge—a recreation that was not solely the most effective of its style however completely encapsulated the vibes of the 90s wrestling increase interval.

Ask anybody alive within the late 90s, and so they’ll inform you that the Monday Night Wars produced a few of the finest TV moments of the last decade. And whereas the tides had been actually handing over favor of the WWF in 1998, WCW nonetheless had a whole lot of momentum—and a loopy loaded roster to show it.

Top stars like Hollywood Hogan, Goldberg, and Kevin Nash are right here, and even featured on the sport’s cowl. But it’s the rest of the roster—names like Raven (additionally on the duvet), Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, DDP, Eddy Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr., and Sting—that made this recreation so unimaginable on the time.

If you had a number of buddies at your own home, you can spend hours enjoying some wild matchups with stars that by no means actually confronted off on TV. And when that acquired previous, you can run again Hogan versus Sting, and do it accurately, with Sting clearly standing tall on the finish.

We all had that one buddy who all the time needed to play as somebody bizarre, like Glacier, which made gaming classes all of the extra enjoyable. I imply, what extra might you need from a wrestling online game? Revenge actually had the whole lot.

Remembering WCW/nWo Revenge 26 Years Later

While a loaded roster made WCW/nWo Revenge a blast to play in 1998—and to look again on in 2025—the actual star of the present was the engine that the sport was constructed on.

Developer AKI first developed the engine for the 1997 title WCW vs. nWo: World Tour, a licensed basic in its personal proper. But with Revenge, they additional constructed on what they already had, including extra options to assist create a extra immersive expertise.

We had, for the time, spectacular celebrity entrances, real-life arenas, and even pyro, all within the recreation. When you combine up the gameplay, the roster, and the options, it’s no shock that Revenge was the highest-selling wrestling game on the N64.

In truth, it was the third-highest-selling Nintendo third-party recreation ever. People couldn’t get sufficient of professional wrestling in 1998, and Revenge gave individuals their repair at any time when it wasn’t a Monday night time.

Sadly, Revenge was additionally the tip of WCW and AKI’s relationship. AKI would quickly transfer over to WWF—a lifeless giveaway as to who was profitable the struggle at the moment—and would go on to create two extra classics, WWF WrestleMania 2000 and WWF No Mercy.

Both of the WWF’s AKI titles are broadly thought of the best wrestling video games ever made, no matter console. In truth, AEW’s first foray into the gaming house, Fight Forever, was even supposed to be a non secular successor to the AKI wrestling video games on the 64.

Whether or not they hit the mark is a narrative for an additional day…

Let’s be sincere, in 2025, WCW/nWo Revenge is blocky to have a look at and clunky to play. Despite that, nevertheless, it’s an exquisite piece of nostalgia to look again on, if solely to recollect how good wrestling followers had it in 1998.