WWE 2K22 Royal Rumble Mode Could Learn a Lot from No Mercy

gamerant.com:

WWE 2K22 is less than a month away from launch, and it seems many WWE fans are cautiously optimistic about the game. WWE 2K20 was a disaster at launch, with the game suffering from numerous technical issues that made it become the worst-reviewed wrestling game ever made, so it's no surprise that some are skeptical about WWE 2K22. However, what's been shown of WWE 2K22 so far has been impressive, and since it had some extra development time, fans are holding out hope that it will get the franchise back on track.

There once was a time when WWE-licensed games were some of the highest-rated in the entire industry, earning widespread critical acclaim and selling millions of copies. Interest in the titles has waned in the last decade, especially after WWE 2K20, but the early SmackDown and SmackDown vs. Raw games were all critical darlings. And then there's WWF No Mercy, which stands out as one of the most popular wrestling video games to this day.

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WWF No Mercy on the Nintendo 64 is often held up as the perfect example of how to make a professional wrestling game. Part of the reason why it was so popular at the time of launch was due to how it would surprise the player, either through its twisting storylines for each championship pursuit or through surprises on its roster. Whereas most modern wrestling games either have all the wrestlers unlocked from the start or require players to purchase them as DLC, WWF No Mercy had secret, unlockable wrestlers that players had to earn in-game, and this lent itself particularly well to the Royal Rumble game mode.

The Royal Rumble match, for those who may be unfamiliar, is traditionally a 30-man battle royal where entrants