Ah yes, this game. It could have been so much better. I almost unlocked everything but couldn't stand the collision detection and AI. I was able to get in touch with the legendary John Tobias as he was the lead designer and director of Studio Gigante and he told me a lot of breakthrough information about the game. -The game was VERY rushed. It was rushed to tie in with the WrestleMania 21 pay per view airing on Sky Sports. -There were supposed to be more match types and multiplayer playability but was cut out due to time constraints. -The Create A Wrestler was supposed to be more in depth. -There was little to no QA testing done on the game. -Supposedly there were legal problems with WWE/THQ with the roster and soundtrack. -The game was actually in development from late 2003. -Someone found in the games files that over 10 playable wrestlers were planned to be in the game but were cut out due to leaving WWE or unknown reasons. This was confirmed by an artist who worked in Studio Gigante. -A modder also found that in a Polygon article one of the creative directors said that they wanted to make Tao Feng 2 whilst THQ gave them the rights to work on this game. Some disagreements between budget and development occured and that led to Tao Feng 2 to be scrapped which then caused the team to grow careless whilst trying to get this game finished and released. The wrong build of the game was accidently released in stores.
Eh kinda. The difference appears to be that on the Switch version, if you can put up with the low framerates of multi man matches, they are fun to play since the AI mostly works and the features from 2k18 are still there. With Wrestlemania 21, it’s a crapshoot no matter what
"We don't need Wrestlemania 21 getting any more messy than it already is" **Cuts to Jim Ross performing a seductive dance** Love the editing you did there...
the arenas on this game were so good. That’s about it. I think the graphics & some models were great for 2005, but looking back they didn’t age all that well.
It is truly a chore, why does the Ray mask cost the price of 3 career playthrughs when you can unlock it with a cheat code to be equipped. Not to mention it's like 80 matches and only half can be cheesed.
@@inybisinsulate man the unlocks are garbage in this game. Like why do you need to unlock an entirely different Rey Mysterio and Big Show with hair when they could've just been alternate attires?
It manages to make the first Raw game look polished by comparison. That is an accomplishment by itself. Didn't actually know it was recalled and fixed kind of like No Mercy except no patch could fix the overall quality.
@@bbgobble yup. there is a thoroughly infamous release of it with a saving glitch.. pretty sure it either corrupts or flat out erases your data. but I can't remember exactly, was never a huge N64 person anyway
I never had an xbox, but i was soooo into the hype of this game when it was announced. And remember thinking it looked amazing. I contemplating getting the game to play on my cousins xbox, but then learned the game was horrible so bullet dodged
I remember playing this as a kid, didn't know there was a buggy version, but honestly, I really enjoyed it tbh. Only glitch I really found was that they made me 'lose' a match, even though I had won lol. But besides that, I found it a pretty fun wrestling game. Despite it seemingly being a weird mess in some sense compared to SvR at the time.
@@TheMrmatthewparker Uhhh that's actually a spinoff WWE game based on the Undertaker's "American Badass" gimmick (that's my interpretation of it anyway)
Looking forward to the No Mercy episode! My favorite wrestling game of all time and it’s been in my N64 for about a year now. So stoked I’ve kept my N64 since 1996
If anything ever taught me is that never have high expectations because sometimes the things you expect may not ever live up to it and it sucks that this didn't live up to the expectations of good games like no mercy WrestleMania 2000 smackdown hctp etc
I can't get my head around fire pro, I got it on the PS4 and I just cannot play it, the controls are weird and I just can't get I to it. Everybody absolutely loves it, am I missing something?
@@bricktop. i don't think you're missing anything, I have friends that can't get their heads around it either, I'd argue that it's even more simulation based the modern 2K WWE games. It's not a "pick up and play" kind of game that's for sure, it's a real "you either love it or hate it" kind of deal.
The one major thing I remember about this game was the fact that it didn't have the WrestleMania 21 arena......despite the name. That would be like WrestleMania 19 on GameCube but not have the Mania 19 arena.
I need a damn explanation for that and the fact that when u face Orton for the IC title its raw instead of survivor series idk if many picked up on that bug but I did
I never had the issue of the game freezing or that issue you had in story mode. But I mostly remember this game being very slow compared to the SVR or Day Of Reckoning. But I did enjoy the story mode , especially that brutal beat down evolution gives you in a parking lot lol
My favorite memory from this game involved the commentary before the match, and then the crowd noise after it had loaded. My best friend and I were playing it back in 2005. I believe it was HBK vs Bret? Anyway, so JR says "We're coming to you live from Calgary, Alberta, Canada." Then a guy in the crowd immediately says "Yee-haw!!!" We were rolling on the floor laughing, and still quote it to this day.
This was one of my first wrestling games I played and probably the first as a fan of wrestling so It's kind of sentimental to me to the point I see past all the glitches I have a lot of memories with this game and was shocked when I found out It was recieved so poorly Maybe I was blinded by nostalgia but I picked It up and found It played perfectly fine and the graphics looked next gen for the time Love the career mode, unlockables and one of my biggest regrets Is I got Internet after we sold the Xbox and while the 360 was coming out, the original xbox live was shut down and I was always bothered that xbox live option was there on the menu taunting me I looked online and not a single video or screenshot exists apart from a gamespot review saying the online wasn't working when they tried It But I was contacted by someone who played the online back In the day and they said they prefer It to the original SVR which came out around the same time and offered two match types online Luckily SVR has fan servers and Insignia are working to bring the original xbox live back so I might Just get my wish
It's definitely sentimental to me as well man. I had this game in 05 but I must have gotten it after they fixed it because I was able to complete the career mode and I don't remember any bugs or glitches really. I just remember it being a slow and clunky game but I still played lots of hours. But I also had a gamecube and so I had WrestleMania 19 and day of reckoning to compare to it which blew this out of the water really. I didn't have Xbox live either with my original Xbox. I didn't even know what online gaming was or that it even existed but it would have blew my little mind back then and it's one of my regrets is not being able to experience that...
Love these game reviews. I didn’t have an Xbox so I was always curious about these titles! Looking forward to more of the Smackdown ones. Nothing will ever beat HCTP right…?
Nothing will . HCTP and SYM were both awesome and are still the best ones. Both 20 year old games now but I take them over any of the stuff they chern out today . Glad I got a PS2.
I don't remember having that problem as a kid, when I first played the game, but that did happen to me with a different cartridge several years ago. It was tragic...
I have 2 vivid memories of this game, I'm not sure which version I had, but I won a Ladder match where my opponent knocked the ladder down and I just floated there and won. The other was in story mode in a tag match against Triple H and Ric Flair, I couldn't win because they would break up any pin, but I finally won after numerous attempts because Triple H's foot caught the rope like it was made of elastic, like the rope stretched with him, and then snapped him back out of the ring like a cartoon and he hit the floor and I won.
I have fond memories of this game but perhaps its out of nostalgia. I had found the original Xbox when my family bought our vacation home and this was one of my go-tos on late nights
I got this game when it came out, I remember my mom taking me to walmart to get it as a reward for doing alot of chores or something. I have great memories with it, but I didn't play any of the smackdown games so I didn't really know what to compare it to. I went from No Mercy to this and between those two I had plenty of wrestling video game fun.
I had absolutely no Idea about the patches or the modpack One weird line In career mode before you fight Andre your character asks "What the hell are we doing here?" to which Bischoff responds "Don't talk to me about hell, hell Is what I had to go through to arrange this match" So.. Bischoff found Andre In hell?
Yessirr, honestly I had a good experience with this game. The occasional bugs & crash were crazy. I made the best out of it & this game was there for me at low times so I appreciate it for what it is
Another awesome upload, from the greatest wrestling channel on the planet! I was more of an N64, then later PS2 gamer. Therefore never got round to owning an XBox. Therefore have never played the games. Thanks for the videos though. I think you could make a video on any type of wrestling content and it would be interesting. Keep up the good work.
I got this game as a 10 year old. I only had an Xbox, so I loved this game. Honestly it shouldn't have been released, but at least the soundtrack (pretty much the smackdown vs raw soundtrack but with a a black eyed peas song) was amazing
My biggest problem with this game were the ladder matches,. I never once won one, my character would just dangle in the air holding on to the belt and never actually retrieve it. I swear, I'd sometimes hold on to that belt for minutes, only waiting for my opponent to knock me off and the CPU grabbing the belt in seconds.
I remember this was the first WWE game where I noticed that the story cutscenes looked a lot more “fluid” and less “rigid”, I guess, than the previous games I played like SYM, HCTP and the first SvR. And that was really all I remember this game had going for it lol I let my friend borrow it and while he did return it to me, I forgot to take it out of my backpack for the rest of the school year and the disc got all sorts of messed up.
Thanks for this video and for the series as a whole! It was really nice to see how these games evolved through the years, and seeing how others react to the games I enjoyed. After falling in love with RAW 2, I was excited when WM21 came out and I bought it with high expectations. Sadly, I was quite underwhelmed. I remember going through the story mode and being disappointed that I only ever got an Undertaker name-drop, but never an encounter or match. I had to go to exhibition to do that and it just didn't feel as great. As always, great job! I look forward to your next videos!
For anyone who's never played the older games and wants to try a few from this generation, I would reccommend: Day of Reckoning 1/2 and Wrestlemania 19 for the gamecube, and Smackdown vs Raw 2007-2011 for the PS2.
No one really talks about it anymore but the first shipments of No Mercy were broken too. I also completely missed out on recall. All of your saves would be deleted in about 2 weeks. I didn’t have a proper copy of the game till I picked one up at a used store for around 6 bucks in 2015.
I remember my friend and I struggled at one point in the story. But at a certain point, we realized we could get the CPU to DQ itself by just leaving weapons in the ring. They would hit us with them. We win. Story continues.
I’ll never forget my friend had only this game and NFL Fever for his X-Box. When he got to come over and play Halo, Amped, DOA 3, and Cel Damage he was so overjoyed. We both loved wrestling, but we just played Wrestlemania 2000 instead lol
One of the most odd thing about this game was that the game is called WrestleMania 21 but Story Mode actually ends at WrestleMania XX, the same PPV that both Brock Lesnar and Goldberg had their final matches before leaving the WWE.
The early Smackdown games and the THQ/AKI N64 games worked. They had controls that let you suspend disbelief and truly slip into the wrestler you were controlling. Once the new wave of wrestling games came, the only thing I can compare it to is when I fight in my dreams. I feel like I am moving in slow motion and can't do things that I can normally do with ease. Clunky and frustrating. Also not every game needs quick-time events.
I got a Funny story about this game when it 1st came out hated it so I returned it even after I opened it. So it didn't have to plastic covering but I still had a receipt and I told the game stop employee that my cat ripped it off the plastic covering and it worked and replaced WM 21 with Jade empire.
Man I remember the hype an buildup for this game got a copy an WOW tried hard really to love the game. But limited moves glitches here an there it just was a no go Graphics at the time were Amazing. Great Vid
At the time when I played it as a kid the graphics are what blew me away. They just looked sharper then svr07 on ps2 . The game def felt weird asf to play but I still got into it and learned to play prty well
I always preferred WM2000 to No Mercy. They were both awesome when they came out. However I preferred the gameplay of WM2000. Plus I owned the glitched version of No Mercy where the game would get scrubbed at random times. Most annoying.
I had a PS2 and an Xbox back in the day so unfortunately had the displeasure of playing it lol good video though and some nostalgia looking back keep up the good work
Sweet video, I like your work. Is that suppose to be the Patriot? What is up with Triple H's model in 19:10? LOL! It's like he is about to T-Pose. Lastly have you considered reviewing WWE's Battleground? I would still like to see you do the Rumble Roses series or the Wrestle Angles series.
@@brashashxao7550 I think games nowadays are too much about graphics rather than game play. Plus how much money the company can make from the gamer. I still own a PS3. I think the generation after the PS3 was when it started to swing too much in the wrong direction for the gamer.
I remember buying this game in high school and hyping it up with to my friend. we head to my house and turn it on and man was I upset lol i couldn’t believe they really sold an unfinished game. My friend was laughing his ass off at my discontent the first time playing it. The only enjoyable moment I had in this game was creating a character mocking a friend I was beefing with that week lol
I can't think of another wrestling game I was so excited for only to be so immediately let down by... I also had the launch version and it was pretty quickly discarded. I loved the graphics and some of the animations which I still think look great today, but the rest was a complete mess. I have a vague memory of certain unlocks not actually unlocking when you spent points on them too, but I'm not 100% sure that's right. Anyone else remember something like that? This game as a whole kind of feels like a weird fever dream to me. It came and went in such a small space of time, if you told me it never existed I'd believe you. Really enjoying your video game videos, would love to see more of these. Funny and entertaining as always and looking forward to No Mercy!
I like when WWE games had the view with the stage in the background. Cool lighting. And graphics are kind of cool too. Games had a certain look back then it’s hard to put into words.
I was gonna say this game was amazing the ring changing colors on finishers depending on the brand the superstar was in was awesome. At the time also the best graphics
@@ajk not sure if was just PAL regions or elsewhere too, but the first batch had a bug that would wipe all story mode progress. I also remember it started glitching out for me with super sized weapons, and weird out of bounds issues. I ended up getting a refund for that version, I think it was hooked from shelves for a small period. Then one day I saw the game on shelves in a game store, I asked the clerk and he was adamant this was a new version. I bought that and never had any issues, but blood was also removed from that version. As a kid I was annoyed but happy this one didn’t have the save data bug and no glitching out.
@@pixelatedpigeon4617 Interesting, thanks for that...wonder why blood got pulled 2nd time around. Also as an aside, glitch or not, the idea of super sized weapons is pretty cool honestly lol. I'd have been good with that glitch staying in an updated version lol.
@@ajk It was pretty hilarious, the bugs wouldn't reliably occur, but I remember when they started to crop up they got progressively worse if you carried on playing. The giant things bug wasn't just weapons, I vividly remember one occasion playing with friends when a giant wrestler ran out, glitched through the ring and into the crowd, and just carried on running through darkness while the camera progressively zoomed out more and more. It was a trip.
I tried my hardest to like this game. I remember trading 3 games to gamestop to lower the price so i could afford it. I wish i kept those 3 games. I wanted to make the best of the situation so i dealt with it. I discovered that there was some enjoyable moments, if you turn off your brain a bit.😂
Imagine not having a ps2 during this era and missing out on Shut Your Mouth,Here Comes The Pain and the early Smackdown vs Raw Games.
Those where literally my childhood ahh good times 🥲
I agree but once the 360 released playstation became irrelevant to me.
GameCube had some bangers too, Wrestlemaina XIX, Day of Reckoning 1 and 2!
Yes this was me
My childhood right there!!! Played this game a bunch and other wrestling games like Legends of Wrestling
"There's just no way a game could get release in the state WrestleMania 21 did"
WWE 2K20: (Coughs)
Backstage assault.....
True 😭💯
I actually like 2K20
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
2k20 was glitchy. WM 21 just flat out had horrible gameplay even when functioning properly.
Ah yes, this game. It could have been so much better. I almost unlocked everything but couldn't stand the collision detection and AI. I was able to get in touch with the legendary John Tobias as he was the lead designer and director of Studio Gigante and he told me a lot of breakthrough information about the game.
-The game was VERY rushed. It was rushed to tie in with the WrestleMania 21 pay per view airing on Sky Sports.
-There were supposed to be more match types and multiplayer playability but was cut out due to time constraints.
-The Create A Wrestler was supposed to be more in depth.
-There was little to no QA testing done on the game.
-Supposedly there were legal problems with WWE/THQ with the roster and soundtrack.
-The game was actually in development from late 2003.
-Someone found in the games files that over 10 playable wrestlers were planned to be in the game but were cut out due to leaving WWE or unknown reasons. This was confirmed by an artist who worked in Studio Gigante.
-A modder also found that in a Polygon article one of the creative directors said that they wanted to make Tao Feng 2 whilst THQ gave them the rights to work on this game. Some disagreements between budget and development occured and that led to Tao Feng 2 to be scrapped which then caused the team to grow careless whilst trying to get this game finished and released. The wrong build of the game was accidently released in stores.
Awesome info!
@@ArtseyHayton06 This Game could slap a tornado and dry up a sea.
@@ArtseyHayton06 Yeah looks like the V1 version of the game was the wrong build lmfao.
THQ = To Hell with Quality
Man I wished for Tao Feng 2 😭
I love the idea that JR was approached and was like, "yeah, i'll allow my image to be in the game... but I want Val Venis' theme music"
"And the most skin-tight 3-piece suit to be in a video game. Bah-gawd, I want to be seen as 'Stupid Sexy' Ross!'"
Jim Ross be like "I want to be seen shaking MY ASS!"
@@MoonlightStrider BOOM BOOM
I can hear him saying this but only with JohnBlud's impression of him
Jim Ross?? More like Thiccc Ross
This game really proves that gameplay is more important than fancy graphics
"Stick to 1-on-1 matches when possible." Same advice can be given for WWE 2K18 on the Nintendo Switch.
i basically do that on wwf no mercy as well.
Omg I'm switch owner such a shame
Eh kinda. The difference appears to be that on the Switch version, if you can put up with the low framerates of multi man matches, they are fun to play since the AI mostly works and the features from 2k18 are still there. With Wrestlemania 21, it’s a crapshoot no matter what
"We don't need Wrestlemania 21 getting any more messy than it already is"
**Cuts to Jim Ross performing a seductive dance**
Love the editing you did there...
Hahahahaha I read your comment and that part happened like right after hahahaha
Hahahaha
the arenas on this game were so good. That’s about it. I think the graphics & some models were great for 2005, but looking back they didn’t age all that well.
You are tripping this game has aged great in terms of graphics in both models and arenas
The gameplay hasn’t aged well but these graphics are great
@@terrellhatch8191 yes the graphics are great but not all the models look good.
This game was so glitchy during story mode and it lacked so much compared to Raw 2 which had so many features.
It is truly a chore, why does the Ray mask cost the price of 3 career playthrughs when you can unlock it with a cheat code to be equipped. Not to mention it's like 80 matches and only half can be cheesed.
@@inybisinsulate man the unlocks are garbage in this game. Like why do you need to unlock an entirely different Rey Mysterio and Big Show with hair when they could've just been alternate attires?
Turd vs Polished Turd
Seeing JR doing the Val Venis dance is pretty hilarious.
Happy birthday 🎂
"Here comes Tazz coming out to Val Venus's music."
"Hello Brudda."
It manages to make the first Raw game look polished by comparison. That is an accomplishment by itself. Didn't actually know it was recalled and fixed kind of like No Mercy except no patch could fix the overall quality.
Was No Mercy recalled and fixed? I used to hack that game like crazy back in the day.
@@bbgobble
yup. there is a thoroughly infamous release of it with a saving glitch.. pretty sure it either corrupts or flat out erases your data. but I can't remember exactly, was never a huge N64 person anyway
I actually enjoyed this game. It has its issues but the story mode is engaging
I literally got an xbox for this game and thought it was great🤷♂️
@@guitarlord8782 it's okay to enjoy broken buggy games
@@iamarabicandiloveamericanp7137 sums up the people that still enjoy FNAF Security Breach.
i actually enjoyed most of Sonic 06 for god sake.
Yeah the story mode saved this game.
The only reason I bought this mess, before the recall, was because I actually went to Wrestlemania 21.
Happy birthday 🎂
Piece out
I never had an xbox, but i was soooo into the hype of this game when it was announced. And remember thinking it looked amazing. I contemplating getting the game to play on my cousins xbox, but then learned the game was horrible so bullet dodged
Same here man I was thinking the same thing haha
I remember playing this as a kid, didn't know there was a buggy version, but honestly, I really enjoyed it tbh. Only glitch I really found was that they made me 'lose' a match, even though I had won lol. But besides that, I found it a pretty fun wrestling game. Despite it seemingly being a weird mess in some sense compared to SvR at the time.
Of course you enjoyed it you were a kid. You’d have enjoyed a wrestling game by the developers who brought you ride to hell retribution
@@TheMrmatthewparker Uhhh that's actually a spinoff WWE game based on the Undertaker's "American Badass" gimmick (that's my interpretation of it anyway)
What's the problem with doing constant submission moves? Imagine how many chinlocks you could do.
Raw 2 made me a little jealous of my Xbox-owning friend. But I couldn’t stop laughing (inside) when he got this.
Seen this on sale at a pawn shop for unbelievably dirt cheap a week after it was released. I had my fun.
Edit: Video explains why...lol
This game made Raw on xbox look legit.
STRENGTH BEYOND STRENGTH
Had this one a few years after it came out. Played it once or twice and never touched it again lol. Thanks for the video Bios.
Playing this as a kid the career mode was amazing
I remember my brother have this game I was 5 years old when this game came out on Xbox 17 years ago my brother was 12
@@tayshunsmith666 lol yep 5 years old exactly
Looking forward to the No Mercy episode! My favorite wrestling game of all time and it’s been in my N64 for about a year now. So stoked I’ve kept my N64 since 1996
If anything ever taught me is that never have high expectations because sometimes the things you expect may not ever live up to it and it sucks that this didn't live up to the expectations of good games like no mercy WrestleMania 2000 smackdown hctp etc
I'm looking forward to the No Mercy video, it's easily up there with Fire Pro World and Here Comes The Pain as the best wrestling game ever.
I can't get my head around fire pro, I got it on the PS4 and I just cannot play it, the controls are weird and I just can't get I to it. Everybody absolutely loves it, am I missing something?
@@bricktop. i don't think you're missing anything, I have friends that can't get their heads around it either, I'd argue that it's even more simulation based the modern 2K WWE games. It's not a "pick up and play" kind of game that's for sure, it's a real "you either love it or hate it" kind of deal.
The one major thing I remember about this game was the fact that it didn't have the WrestleMania 21 arena......despite the name. That would be like WrestleMania 19 on GameCube but not have the Mania 19 arena.
I need a damn explanation for that and the fact that when u face Orton for the IC title its raw instead of survivor series idk if many picked up on that bug but I did
Same for WWF Wrestlemania 2000 on N64.
I never had the issue of the game freezing or that issue you had in story mode. But I mostly
remember this game being very slow compared to the SVR or Day Of Reckoning. But I did enjoy the story mode , especially that brutal beat down evolution gives you in a parking lot lol
My favorite memory from this game involved the commentary before the match, and then the crowd noise after it had loaded.
My best friend and I were playing it back in 2005. I believe it was HBK vs Bret?
Anyway, so JR says "We're coming to you live from Calgary, Alberta, Canada."
Then a guy in the crowd immediately says "Yee-haw!!!"
We were rolling on the floor laughing, and still quote it to this day.
Well they DID have the Calgary Stampede....so kinda works.....lol
This was one of my first wrestling games I played and probably the first as a fan of wrestling so It's kind of sentimental to me to the point I see past all the glitches
I have a lot of memories with this game and was shocked when I found out It was recieved so poorly
Maybe I was blinded by nostalgia but I picked It up and found It played perfectly fine and the graphics looked next gen for the time
Love the career mode, unlockables
and one of my biggest regrets Is I got Internet after we sold the Xbox and while the 360 was coming out, the original xbox live was shut down and I was always bothered that xbox live option was there on the menu taunting me
I looked online and not a single video or screenshot exists apart from a gamespot review saying the online wasn't working when they tried It
But I was contacted by someone who played the online back In the day and they said they prefer It to the original SVR which came out around the same time and offered two match types online
Luckily SVR has fan servers and Insignia are working to bring the original xbox live back so I might Just get my wish
It's definitely sentimental to me as well man. I had this game in 05 but I must have gotten it after they fixed it because I was able to complete the career mode and I don't remember any bugs or glitches really. I just remember it being a slow and clunky game but I still played lots of hours. But I also had a gamecube and so I had WrestleMania 19 and day of reckoning to compare to it which blew this out of the water really. I didn't have Xbox live either with my original Xbox. I didn't even know what online gaming was or that it even existed but it would have blew my little mind back then and it's one of my regrets is not being able to experience that...
Love these game reviews. I didn’t have an Xbox so I was always curious about these titles!
Looking forward to more of the Smackdown ones. Nothing will ever beat HCTP right…?
Nothing will . HCTP and SYM were both awesome and are still the best ones. Both 20 year old games now but I take them over any of the stuff they chern out today . Glad I got a PS2.
SvR 2006 was the best.
21:31 "JIM ROSS IS EVERY WOMAN'S DREAM AND EVERY MAN'S NIGHTMARE!"
I've waited for this. Great coverage WB!
I always thought Studio Gigante was going to be a big deal because it was founded by John Tobias (MK)
No Mercy has one of the worst bugs where all your progress is randomly wiped. I had this and it ruined the game for me.
Yup. I definitely remember that. I made so many alternate attires and one day I turned the game on and everything was gone.
I don't remember having that problem as a kid, when I first played the game, but that did happen to me with a different cartridge several years ago. It was tragic...
I've experienced that and another glitch where I temporarily lost control of my character. Like it just decided to autopilot.
Mines is still there haven’t played NM in 5-6 years & my caws still there
I have 2 vivid memories of this game, I'm not sure which version I had, but I won a Ladder match where my opponent knocked the ladder down and I just floated there and won. The other was in story mode in a tag match against Triple H and Ric Flair, I couldn't win because they would break up any pin, but I finally won after numerous attempts because Triple H's foot caught the rope like it was made of elastic, like the rope stretched with him, and then snapped him back out of the ring like a cartoon and he hit the floor and I won.
When this game came out, I actually really, REALLY liked the way it looked! But it's bugs were just too much!
Ive always wanted to know how this game really was dude, this is 1 Ive been waitin for! Big respect for making these
I have fond memories of this game but perhaps its out of nostalgia. I had found the original Xbox when my family bought our vacation home and this was one of my go-tos on late nights
being a kid when it came out and just randomly seeing it in game station I had zero exceptions and I really enjoyed it lol
I loved this game back then. I dont recall many glitches in mine. Great stuff as usual. Any chance you might do a video on the TNA and Triple A games?
played this game as a kid right when i was really starting to get into wrestling. had no idea it was so buggy. absolutely loved it as a kid
I got this game when it came out, I remember my mom taking me to walmart to get it as a reward for doing alot of chores or something. I have great memories with it, but I didn't play any of the smackdown games so I didn't really know what to compare it to. I went from No Mercy to this and between those two I had plenty of wrestling video game fun.
I had absolutely no Idea about the patches or the modpack
One weird line In career mode before you fight Andre your character asks "What the hell are we doing here?" to which Bischoff responds "Don't talk to me about hell, hell Is what I had to go through to arrange this match"
So.. Bischoff found Andre In hell?
Not sure what's worse.......Orton's Eddie is in hell line to Rey Mysterio around this time, or this lol
Loved this game so much I didn't know people didn't like it
21:31 Jim Ross stripping to the War Zone menu theme is something you cannot unsee.
Yessirr, honestly I had a good experience with this game. The occasional bugs & crash were crazy. I made the best out of it & this game was there for me at low times so I appreciate it for what it is
Another awesome upload, from the greatest wrestling channel on the planet!
I was more of an N64, then later PS2 gamer. Therefore never got round to owning an XBox. Therefore have never played the games. Thanks for the videos though. I think you could make a video on any type of wrestling content and it would be interesting. Keep up the good work.
I loved that game’s soundtrack though. New Medicine, Funeral For A Friend, Strata, PreThing and Papa Roach comes to mind.
I got this game as a 10 year old. I only had an Xbox, so I loved this game. Honestly it shouldn't have been released, but at least the soundtrack (pretty much the smackdown vs raw soundtrack but with a a black eyed peas song) was amazing
This game had some potential
21:35 I dunno, it seems worth it for that sweet JR Venis dance.
2005: “there are only 2 match types, single, and bra and panties”
Hey Yo u do keep us reliving the old days Damn this is the best channel wrestling bios x
WM21 was awesome. Career mode was one of the best in a WWE game. Loved it.
Buying Xbox+this game was the first big mistake of my life.
Wrestling Bios ALWAYS deliver great content
My biggest problem with this game were the ladder matches,.
I never once won one, my character would just dangle in the air holding on to the belt and never actually retrieve it.
I swear, I'd sometimes hold on to that belt for minutes, only waiting for my opponent to knock me off and the CPU grabbing the belt in seconds.
Love these video game uploads man, really good stuff
I remember this was the first WWE game where I noticed that the story cutscenes looked a lot more “fluid” and less “rigid”, I guess, than the previous games I played like SYM, HCTP and the first SvR. And that was really all I remember this game had going for it lol I let my friend borrow it and while he did return it to me, I forgot to take it out of my backpack for the rest of the school year and the disc got all sorts of messed up.
Thanks for this video and for the series as a whole! It was really nice to see how these games evolved through the years, and seeing how others react to the games I enjoyed.
After falling in love with RAW 2, I was excited when WM21 came out and I bought it with high expectations. Sadly, I was quite underwhelmed. I remember going through the story mode and being disappointed that I only ever got an Undertaker name-drop, but never an encounter or match. I had to go to exhibition to do that and it just didn't feel as great.
As always, great job! I look forward to your next videos!
I really appreciate what u go through 2 put these videos out.🙂👍
Fun fact this game is the last game release by Mortal Kombat co creator John Tobias
For anyone who's never played the older games and wants to try a few from this generation, I would reccommend: Day of Reckoning 1/2 and Wrestlemania 19 for the gamecube, and Smackdown vs Raw 2007-2011 for the PS2.
Dude these videos are epic, please do wrestlemania 17 ,18, 19 and days of Reckoning basically all the GameCube wrestling games
Oh man I can't freaking wait for you cover No Mercy!
I like how Bios' CAW is masked.
No one really talks about it anymore but the first shipments of No Mercy were broken too. I also completely missed out on recall. All of your saves would be deleted in about 2 weeks. I didn’t have a proper copy of the game till I picked one up at a used store for around 6 bucks in 2015.
I remember my friend and I struggled at one point in the story. But at a certain point, we realized we could get the CPU to DQ itself by just leaving weapons in the ring. They would hit us with them. We win. Story continues.
Glitchier than glaciers debut build up
One Of The Saddest Thing Is WrestleMania 21 Don't Even Have WrestleMania 21 Arena! :(
I’ll never forget my friend had only this game and NFL Fever for his X-Box. When he got to come over and play Halo, Amped, DOA 3, and Cel Damage he was so overjoyed. We both loved wrestling, but we just played Wrestlemania 2000 instead lol
One of the most odd thing about this game was that the game is called WrestleMania 21 but Story Mode actually ends at WrestleMania XX, the same PPV that both Brock Lesnar and Goldberg had their final matches before leaving the WWE.
The early Smackdown games and the THQ/AKI N64 games worked. They had controls that let you suspend disbelief and truly slip into the wrestler you were controlling. Once the new wave of wrestling games came, the only thing I can compare it to is when I fight in my dreams. I feel like I am moving in slow motion and can't do things that I can normally do with ease. Clunky and frustrating. Also not every game needs quick-time events.
I got a Funny story about this game when it 1st came out hated it so I returned it even after I opened it.
So it didn't have to plastic covering but I still had a receipt and I told the game stop employee that my cat ripped it off the plastic covering and it worked and replaced WM 21 with Jade empire.
Man I remember the hype an buildup for this game got a copy an WOW tried hard really to love the game. But limited moves glitches here an there it just was a no go Graphics at the time were Amazing. Great Vid
At the time when I played it as a kid the graphics are what blew me away. They just looked sharper then svr07 on ps2 . The game def felt weird asf to play but I still got into it and learned to play prty well
WrestleMania 2000 for the N64 was my all time favorite!
I always preferred WM2000 to No Mercy. They were both awesome when they came out. However I preferred the gameplay of WM2000. Plus I owned the glitched version of No Mercy where the game would get scrubbed at random times. Most annoying.
@@martynodonnell8467 yeah I prefer WM2000 but everyone seems to love No Mercy over it.
@@Matthew-LAMF it’s because it’s the sequel. Updated game, more options, game modes and bigger roster. However I still prefer WM2000.
I had a PS2 and an Xbox back in the day so unfortunately had the displeasure of playing it lol good video though and some nostalgia looking back keep up the good work
I loved Raw 2, at the time. When I bought WM21, I quickly went back to Raw.
I actually did enjoy this game but I DO remember it randomly not working anymore! I was hella confused and upset about it honestly 😂
Sweet video, I like your work.
Is that suppose to be the Patriot?
What is up with Triple H's model in 19:10? LOL! It's like he is about to T-Pose.
Lastly have you considered reviewing WWE's Battleground? I would still like to see you do the Rumble Roses series or the Wrestle Angles series.
This is actually one of my favorite wrestling games from that generation. Wrestlemania 21 was the first time I had watched wrestling in a long time.
thanx for uploading this. I still have raw 1 and 2 but I had no idea this game even existed lol
I've never been this early love your vids you're the best Ryan
Here comes the pain and wwf no mercy were my favorite wrestling games as a kid
Here Comes The Pain really was an awesome game. In many ways it was a sequel to No Mercy, although it was Sony not Nintendo.
@@martynodonnell8467 it was just such pure fun thats what alot of games are missing is just pure arcade style fun
@@brashashxao7550 I think games nowadays are too much about graphics rather than game play. Plus how much money the company can make from the gamer. I still own a PS3. I think the generation after the PS3 was when it started to swing too much in the wrong direction for the gamer.
Also JR doing the Val Venis taunts is surreal and hilarious at the same time.
Pros: graphics, the story in career mode.
Cons: Everything else.
I remember buying this game in high school and hyping it up with to my friend. we head to my house and turn it on and man was I upset lol i couldn’t believe they really sold an unfinished game. My friend was laughing his ass off at my discontent the first time playing it.
The only enjoyable moment I had in this game was creating a character mocking a friend I was beefing with that week lol
I can't think of another wrestling game I was so excited for only to be so immediately let down by... I also had the launch version and it was pretty quickly discarded. I loved the graphics and some of the animations which I still think look great today, but the rest was a complete mess. I have a vague memory of certain unlocks not actually unlocking when you spent points on them too, but I'm not 100% sure that's right. Anyone else remember something like that?
This game as a whole kind of feels like a weird fever dream to me. It came and went in such a small space of time, if you told me it never existed I'd believe you.
Really enjoying your video game videos, would love to see more of these. Funny and entertaining as always and looking forward to No Mercy!
I like when WWE games had the view with the stage in the background. Cool lighting. And graphics are kind of cool too. Games had a certain look back then it’s hard to put into words.
loving these vidoes. keep em coming!
Can't wait for the no mercy video. Any chance of doing the legends of wrestling series of games?
I didn’t discover online gaming until 2008 Halo 3 was my first multiplayer game.. crazy to think of how many online games I missed out on
21:36 Beware of the Big valbowski Jim Ross BBQ LOL😂
I was gonna say this game was amazing the ring changing colors on finishers depending on the brand the superstar was in was awesome. At the time also the best graphics
Really interesting stuff. The bug in the first batch of discs in particular. Reminds me of the bug in No Mercy and recall that went on there.
What was the No Mercy story? I don't remember that and I had the game back in the day.
@@ajk not sure if was just PAL regions or elsewhere too, but the first batch had a bug that would wipe all story mode progress. I also remember it started glitching out for me with super sized weapons, and weird out of bounds issues. I ended up getting a refund for that version, I think it was hooked from shelves for a small period. Then one day I saw the game on shelves in a game store, I asked the clerk and he was adamant this was a new version. I bought that and never had any issues, but blood was also removed from that version. As a kid I was annoyed but happy this one didn’t have the save data bug and no glitching out.
@@pixelatedpigeon4617 Interesting, thanks for that...wonder why blood got pulled 2nd time around. Also as an aside, glitch or not, the idea of super sized weapons is pretty cool honestly lol. I'd have been good with that glitch staying in an updated version lol.
@@ajk It was pretty hilarious, the bugs wouldn't reliably occur, but I remember when they started to crop up they got progressively worse if you carried on playing. The giant things bug wasn't just weapons, I vividly remember one occasion playing with friends when a giant wrestler ran out, glitched through the ring and into the crowd, and just carried on running through darkness while the camera progressively zoomed out more and more. It was a trip.
The soundtrack for this game is awesome but the Gameplay is so slow that bothers me so much TBH
Good video I didn't know they made a mod with Goldberg that's cool
None of that ever happened to me when I played mine only ever had to deal with slow glitches from time to time love this game still lol
I tried my hardest to like this game. I remember trading 3 games to gamestop to lower the price so i could afford it. I wish i kept those 3 games. I wanted to make the best of the situation so i dealt with it. I discovered that there was some enjoyable moments, if you turn off your brain a bit.😂