The Art Of N64 Wrestling Games — Review (SkepticalGamer)
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (43 ratings)
I almost became an eSports player once. Then I realized my thumb dexterity peaked in 1999 with a memory pak full of CAWs. The Art Of N64 Wrestling Games reads like a tender roast of that era. It’s equal parts sticky-controller nostalgia and surprisingly sharp game analysis. If you’ve ever argued about whether No Mercy’s create-a-wrestler mode was art, this is your handbook — and your therapy.
What it is
- Subject: A celebration and catalog of N64 wrestling titles and the weird cultural orbit around them.
- Voice: Retro-enthusiast meets historian, with plenty of “remember when” energy and a few digs at our past game-logic sins.
- Author note: Written by RG85 (yes — the same retro channel you keep blaming for your impulse buys).
- Audience: Fans of WWF/WCW-era wrestling, controller-hoarders, and anyone who thinks four-player split-screen chaos is a legitimate competitive format.
Player impressions (actual buyer blurbs)
- “Blast from the past!” — reviewer Nc says the book took them right back to being 9–10 and even introduced a game they didn’t know existed.
- “Nostalgia” — Riggio notes a surprising rush of memory the instant they opened the pages; a good read even if you haven’t watched wrestling in years.
- “Great Book been following RG85 for years” — John S. calls it a perfect fit for his N64 wrestling collection and gives street cred to the author’s other retro picks.
Why you should care (or at least pretend to)
- It captures the feel: the awkwardly brilliant grapple systems, the joy of timing-based reversals, and the sacred ritual of stuffing the C-buttons with frantic strikes.
- It reframes design choices: why WCW/nWo Revenge’s timing windows felt like chess, and why No Mercy’s create-a-wrestler still ruins marriages (or at least friendships).
- Photography/screenshots: enough visual candy to make you boot up an emulator or dig through boxes for that gray cartridge.
Tips, tactics, and retro couch strategies inspired by the book
- Timing > button-mash: N64 grapplers reward a calm, slightly smug timing of reversal rather than the “hit everything simultaneously” approach your cousin used in 1998.
- Ring positioning matters: push for the apron and bait ring-outs when the CPU starts Lariating like it’s auditioning for a demolition derby.
- Create-a-Wrestler hacks: balance stats — high strength with zero speed turns your CAW into a glorified slow-moving wall. Fun to watch, not fun to win.
- Four-player etiquette: rotate controllers before matches. Accept that someone will pick Kane and stomp your hopes and also your living room floor.
- Cartridge survival tip: keep a fresh memory pak or an emulator backup. The only thing sadder than losing a title is losing your CAW’s carefully misspelled name.
Bottom line
If you worship the patchwork brilliance of N64 wrestling — the imperfect physics, the surprisingly deep systems hidden under grainy sprites, and the communal joy of shared controllers — this book is an affectionate, well-paced romp. It won’t rewrite wrestling lore, but it will make you laugh, nod, and maybe call an old rival to challenge them to a No Mercy rematch. Worth the shelf space and the trip down cartridge lane.
- Final score: 4.5 / 5
- Recommended for: collectors, nostalgic players, and anyone who secretly enjoyed evening matches where the referee was clearly on vacation.
