What is the best wrestling video game ever made?

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Wrestling games have a long and loyal following. From early arcade games with tiny sprites to modern simulations with hundreds of wrestlers and detailed creation tools, there has been a wrestling game for almost every generation of console. Many fans can still remember the first time they put together a custom match with their favourite stars. Some can still recite the button combinations for finishers they learned twenty years ago

A few titles come up again and again in these debates. WWF No Mercy on the Nintendo 64 is often called the greatest of all time, thanks to its grappling system and huge creation suite. The SmackDown games on the PlayStation, especially Here Comes the Pain, have a big following too. Others prefer the Fire Pro Wrestling series, the Day of Reckoning games on GameCube or the arcade fun of WWF WrestleFest

Modern games have their fans as well. The WWE 2K series has improved a lot in recent years after some rough releases, with deep career modes and an impressive amount of content. AEW Fight Forever tried to recapture the feel of the classic N64 games, with mixed results. Creation suites have become a big part of the appeal, letting players recreate wrestlers from any era or promotion

My vote goes to No Mercy. The gameplay still holds up, and my friends and I spent an entire summer playing it, creating ridiculous wrestlers and running our own pay per views. The season mode had branching storylines that felt huge at the time. I still have the cartridge, and it still works

What is the best wrestling video game ever made? And what made it special for you?