WCW/nWo Live

WCW/nWo Live is a 3D professional wrestling game developed by Yuke's and published by THQ. It is based on the American wrestling promotion World Championship Wrestling. Released in 1998 for the PlayStation as an exclusive title.

Gameplay
The gameplay is primarily based on a heavily modified gameplay engine based on Yukes's New Japan Pro Wrestling-based Toukon Retsuden series of Japan-only wrestling games for the PlayStation, with various changes to the gameplay in order to make it easier to pick up and play. Gameplay speed is increased from the Toukon Retsuden games, almost to an arcade-esque pace, making matches quicker and more frenetic.

The game uses a conventional control scheme common in most wrestling games: attacks, grapples, running and blocking are relegated to the face buttons, while finishers, taunts, picking up weapons and entering/exiting the ring are mapped on the shoulder buttons. The game makes use of quick grapples, where grapples are performed with the grapple button + any direction, without having the need to tie up with the opponent first.

Each player has a Special meter, which increases as the player taunts or attacks their opponent. When filled up to the maximum, the player's name bar begins to flash and the player can then perform their finisher by tapping L1. Each wrestler has one finisher, which is dependent on the opponent's position: for instance, Goldberg's Jackhammer can only be performed on a groggy opponent from the front, whereas "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan's Atomic Leg Drop must be performed on a downed opponent in the middle of the ring.

Exhibition
In Exhibition mode, players can create a match of their choice against the CPU or other players. Available match types are as follows:


 * Single Match
 * Tag Team
 * Handicap Match
 * Battle Royal
 * Cage Match
 * No DQ Match

Belt Challenge
The game features the Belt Challenge mode, which allows players to select either a WCW or created wrestler and traverse through a series of matches to win their desired championship belt. The mode is structured much like an arcade mode run in a fighting game, with the player facing 8 consecutive matches per each run, while given a limited amount of retries. The paths available in Belt Challenge include:


 * WCW World Heavyweight Championship
 * WCW United States Heavyweight Championship
 * WCW World Cruiserweight Championship
 * WCW World Tag Team Championship
 * WCW World Television Championship

Create-A-Wrestler
The game includes a Create-A-Wrestler Mode, the second professional wrestling game released in North America to include such a feature after WWF War Zone, released several months prior. Compared to later wrestling games, the mode is rather limited, with the player only being able to select between a selection of pre-built heads, upper body and lower body items, but allows for height and weight adjustment, as well as full moveset customization. The game includes four CAW slots available at the player's disposal.

nWo Hollywood

 * Buff Bagwell
 * Curt Hennig
 * "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan
 * Scott Hall
 * Scott Steiner
 * Scott Norton
 * The Giant

nWo Wolfpac

 * Kevin Nash
 * Konnan
 * Lex Luger
 * "Macho Man" Randy Savage
 * Sting

Raven's Flock

 * Billy Kidman
 * Lodi
 * Sick Boy
 * Scotty Riggs
 * Raven

WCW

 * Bret Hart
 * Booker T
 * Chris Benoit
 * Diamond Dallas Page
 * Disco Inferno
 * Fit Finlay
 * Glacier
 * Goldberg
 * Kanyon
 * Meng
 * Perry Saturn
 * Ric Flair
 * Rick Steiner
 * Stevie Ray
 * The Barbarian

Cruiserweights

 * Alex Wright
 * Guerrero Jr.
 * Chris Jericho
 * Dean Malenko
 * Eddie Guerrero
 * Juventud Guerrera
 * La Parka
 * Psicosis
 * Rey Misterio Jr.
 * Ultimo Dragon

Arenas
The game includes only two arenas: the Monday Nitro arena and a generic PPV arena. However, the game does include a selection of ring mats based on WCW's pay-per-views:


 * Monday Nitro
 * Souled Out
 * SuperBrawl
 * Uncensored
 * Spring Stampede
 * Slamboree
 * The Great American Bash
 * Bash at the Beach
 * Road Wild
 * Fall Brawl
 * Halloween Havoc
 * World War 3
 * Starrcade

Trivia

 * The game engine used in WCW/nWo Live would later serve as the basis for WWF SmackDown!, released two years later in 2000. The game would eventually spawn its own successful series of wrestling games, now known as the WWE 2K series.
 * Both "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and Sting have secret alternate costumes that are selectable by holding L2 + R2 on the character select screen. These hidden costumes are based on their classic Hulkamania and Wolfpac attires, respectively.
 * Upon completing each of the Belt Challenges, the player unlocks parts to create certain WCW wrestlers in the Create-A-Wrestle mode. These include Brian Adams, Jim Neidhard, Eric Bischoff, Larry Zbyszko, Van Hammer and Sting in his classic surfer gimmick during the 80s and early 90s.