Joel the Cat'z No Mercy Survival Guide

Survival is hard. VERY hard. But I just beat it for the first time today, and I'm feeling SPIFFY! So spiffy, that I decided I might as well write out all the tricks and stuff that I used to beat it, and little things that may seem obvious, but sometimes, you forget. If you have any other tricks, feel free to e-mail me at joelthecat@your-house.com,and if they seem valid, I'll add them here!

Part 1: The Basics

No Mercy rocks. It's the best North American wrestling game I've ever played. But I'm lazy, and don't always want to set up matches and determine who I'm facing and stuff. Plus- there's a lot of stuff in the shop, and to amass it, you can play Championship mode, or Survival Mode. The amount you can make in Survival mode is a lot higher than in Championship mode, so if I know I am going to waste time in No Mercy, I head straight to that mode half the time.

Survival mode rewards you for beating guys "the right way." I'm not quite sure how the money system works, but I know you get a LOT more money for pinning someone, making them submit, or knocking them out than for throwing them over the top rope. That being said- the opponents in Survival mode are super-men (and women). They take a whooping, and several finishers to be pinned. So, despite the increased rewards for pins, you mind find that you want to throw out a bunch of people anyway, just so you can survive longer.

And this is personal preference speaking here, but alas, it's such a bitch, that every little thing helps. You might want to consider occasionally pausing, and backing off to maintain your composure. I also usually turn the music off, or really low, and have my own CDs and music going. It helps you get into a groove, and stay calm, rather than listening to the repetitive background music. Staying calm is really important, too. If you get angry at the computer, you're more likely to be reckless and make mistakes. I'm not saying never chase anyone with vengeance, but when you do, be careful. You eat a lot more finishers and stuff that way. Okay, enough fluff... time to mention how to take people out.

Part 2: Eliminations

Punch!! Punch, punch, punch, punch!

See? That's not so hard.

Honestly- it seems to me the best offense is to keep using weak attacks whenever your opponent is near the ropes. Throw off your pattern... don't keep tapping the button in a steady rhythym, and even when the computer is at it's hardest, it still is unable to counter most of your attacks, even if they block them.

Please note- be super careful about characters who reverse punches into armbars or other things! You can reverse a reversed punch, but you can't do anything if they grab your arm, twist it, slam you down by it, or do something else generally mean. There are only a few people who do this in Survival mode- and they are generally the suckiest seeming characters! So: you might want to be careful around: Andre the Giant, Mae Young, Lawler, Brisco, and Pat Patterson. They are evil! EEEVIL!!!

Also! Be wary of folks who have weird punches, or counter moves. It's easy to learn the timing of blocking a basic punch or common kick attack, but there are some freaks on the WWF roster who do moves that'll mess with your timing, and throw you off. The Rikishi sidekick, Rikishi Punch, Rock Punch, Godfather clothesline, Road Dogg jab, Al Snow superkick, Saturn legsweep, Blackman gut punch, and Taka uppercut are all moves to be wary of. Yes- that's a lot- but those guys in particular are good at catching you off guard and messing up an hour's worth of playing!

On the other hand, if you ARE one of those guys- use those moves to your advantage, definitely! Superkicks are great at getting people out the ring, along with the rest listed... even though the computer knows how to counter them better than you inherently can.

The other ways to eliminate people- well, if you have a move that can cause TKOs, definitely use them more often. TKOs can mess up even the "supermen" Survival wrestlers- and if you see anyone near mister man, on the floor struggling to get up- pin them- rather than letting the computer mess things up!

Wrestlers, especially later on, take about 4 - 5 finishers to pin... doing a finisher three times in a row sometimes isn't enough on a fresh wrestler. Try using flying moves immediately after a finisher. For some reason, I suspect because most guys Defense -> flying stat is low, you can pin them more easily. Also- if you have any kind of special pin, or can steal one from your opponent (you can steal ground moves by pressing A + B at their head or feet), do that rather than using L to pin. Even Jericho's one foot, cocky pin is a better cover to the computer than hooking the leg. This'll help you get a couple of extra pins, where before, you were drowning in a sea of baked beans.

And as for submissions- forget them. It isn't worth working on a body part long enough to get the hold- you will likely lose a lot of health working them up to a twisted knee or ankle- as fun as it is to see people writhe in pain.

Drown in a sea of baked beans. Did I say that?

Oh yeah- as far as using the ol' irish whip and clothesline method to get people out- hey- that's a pretty decent one... but if you're not playing carefully, it's also pretty easy to lose that way if they reverse the whip and boot ya out. It's up to you how careful you need to be- I was the Rock when I won the mode, and chose to eliminate QUITE a few wrestlers that way.

Part 3: Self Defense

Yes, survival mode is all about survival, meaning do anything you can to SURVIVE!!

You could be going at it with someone, have them caught in the ropes, and ready to be taken out, but if Hardcore Holly is behind you, or anywhere close to you, you might have to back the hell off! Computer's are alert to people on the apron, and like attacking in that direction if they can- many, many times, I have been taken out by someone from behind, while trying to eliminate someone else. The computer is evil. EVVIIIIL!!!

Sometimes it helps, when your opponent is knocked onto the apron, to keep moving, and shift a little bit just to throw the other two in-ring opponents off, before you strike the apron guy down. It seems to work fairly well for me- though nothing's perfect.

Other than that situation- roll!!! Block! Do EVERYTHING at your disposal to keep yourself safe. Always keep an eye of where you are in the ring, and where you're going to wind up when you finish doing a move. If you're on one side of a downed body, and near the ropes with another opponent there- use the ability to hop over the corpse to your advantage! You never want to be trapped near the ropes. Getting trapped in a corner is bad.. but not the worst place you can be, since you can resort to a cheap corner taunt or- even if you DO get hit, you'll likely get caught on the turnbuckle rather than knocked outside or to the apron. Generally, stay where the action *isn't.* Stick to one guy at a time, and always be conscious of everyone's position.

If, despite your efforts, you find yourself trapped in a huddle of characters, try to grab the wrestler you think you have the best chance of getting a move on- and rather than doing a move immediately, hold onto the grab, and finnagle yourself til you're somewhere a bit safer, using perhaps, even an irish whip to eliminate the dude.

You need to definitely use both L and R to counter and break grabs. Practice, practice, practice with those... fight on the "Expert" difficulty level, and once you feel somewhat comfortable there- you have a decent shot. I don't think it's ever possible to get so good you counter almost everything, but you can break more grabs and counter more moves than you'd think, if you keep pluggin away and get your timing right.

As far as kicking out of moves- POUND!!! It's evil, but the only way. Keep your thumb close to the controller, and keep pounding the buttons, use L and R to try to kick out- and perhaps "your hidden savior," twirl and mess the hell with the directional pad. Viciously doing this allowed me to kick out of a Running Lyger Bomb on the VERY LAST guy (D.Lo) before I won. Afterwards, I paused the game, and proceeded to scream, and curse, and jump. It might be a good idea to not have a kitty at your feet while playing, if you play like I do, you're liable to get jumpy and violent.

Part 4: Assorted Tricks

And now- the other stuff that just kinda helps. Granted, off the top of my head, I can only think of one thing, but lessee...

My biggest "secret" or helpful advice here is taunting.

"Taunting?" You say? DUH! Of course I am going to taunt! This guide is a waste of time!!

Well, maybe.. but there is one key time when you want to taunt that you might not know about.

Other than corner taunts, which are lovely and unbreakable, and useful when.. say, caught in the corner, if you have a taunt that is part evasion, you can definitely take advantage of that. There is a front flip taunt, and a back flip taunt (like that used by Essa Rios). Used in combination with a cartwheel or roll, you will halfway across the ring in a moment's time. So yes, this is useful... but it also tends to put you against the ropes. My Rob Van Dam character has this ability to flip, and I never make it far with him because it's fancy stuff on a whole other level, and I get taken out. Good luck to you if you want to give that a go.

When you REALLY, REALLY want to taunt is when you can't be interrupted. Hopefully, you have a character with nice, long taunt- I discovered this little trick listening to my Jeff Jarrett creation's footsteps.

Right after an elimination, whether you did it or not, there are a few seconds before the screen cuts to the aisle to introduce a new character. If you are in your own little safety zone, away from the other two wrestlers, this is your chance to perform a long taunt, rather than attack.

Long taunts increase your spirit meter greatly, and usually you don't get to see the benefits of this increase because some schmuck gets in your way and hits you. No one can hit you while the screen is on the aisleway, but if you already started a taunt, you will finish it in that time. So.. if you are the Rock... Just Bring it. If you have a ch aracter with a strut- BE... Ric Flair. If you are Stone Cold, find a cockroach or something that's on the mat, and jaw off to it and give it the finger. No matter how long the taunt is, you have the chance to do it, so try to do it everytime you are between wrestlers. It's easy to get into a groove this way, constant punching people out of the ring (which builds spirit), and once their out, doing a long taunt to get your meter up to almost special.. and once you're on special, it's up to you to decide what to do from there.

Having a character with a quick taunt in the arsenal is also good, cuz you can sneak those in during actual gameplay a lot more often. The Rock's "Get up" taunt is a good example of that. And I kind of assume it's common knowledge, but it probably isn't... ducking taunts are worth more to your spirit meter than normal ones, in general, for some mysterious reason.

The boot choke in the corner is also a cheap and easy way to gain spirit... for some reason, your bar rises a lot during it. There are certain moves that are just like that- seek out the ones for your character and exploit the hell out of it.

Another trick that's not really a trick... pick someone strong! if you expect to get through 100 people as a McMahon, or as Howard Finkel, you're psychotic.

I know I tend to freak out when I get to the higher numbers, and start seeing "alternate reality" Hardcore Holly, or Golden Boy Viscera... try your best not to freak out! Playing angry or playing overly jumpy isn't the best idea. Nerves aren't such a bad thing, but in excess, it can really throw your timing off. Pause the game if you have to, have some drinkies nearby... and don't expect to win- you'll feel a lot better during and afterward that way.

Chapter 5: The End

When you're down to the last four guys, it's like a normal Royal Rumble, where the other characters stay outside the ring (and can pull you out, too- EEK!). The game chooses then to slooow down too- which blows, but if you've been playing modes, you might be able to account for the slowdown. I was missing a lot of counters, screaming, and doing just about ANYTHING I could to stay alive. I got a little bit lucky, because D.Lo insisted on doing a 2nd rope elbow, which misses often, rather than pin me- however had even the opportunity to win with a sleeper or armbar came up, I would've taken it. I was able to eliminate him with punches in bunches, and at that point, there was a large moist spot on my carpet.

What do you have to look forward to if you beat survival mode? What cool thing is unlocked, or what secret ending sequence do you get out of it all? Well, I guess the following paragraph is a spoiler, but since personally, *I* would have preferred to know beforehand, I recommend you read to see the surprise in store. If you choose not to know, skip down ' til after the stars. Highlight the text to see it more easily.

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Your prize for winning Survival mode is absolutely NOTHING! Yes, you do get the money you earned from the eliminations, and your music plays, but that's about it. You get the normal "Results" screen, listing your time, and how many people you eliminated and how- but there's not even a special thing on that screen that says "Winner!" or anything cool. If you've already earned everyone there is to earn, you don't earn anyone special- the game simply carries on like normal. Leave it to a good pack of friends, instead, to help you revel in celebration- or perhaps, if you are old enough, a nice bottle of rum, wine, or beer, depending on your taste. Or, if you don't have friends or booze, you can e-mail me, and I promise to mark out for you and say congrats, as I expected my buddy list friends to do for me when I won.

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So that's it, some of the best advice I can offer regarding staying alive in the Hell that is Survival Mode. I have now beat it, and I wrote this, so I can retire myself from that mode, and actually get SCHOOLWORK done, and be a more productive member of society. Who knows, I might come back for more.. but I think I will be spending quite some time enjoying the more versatile Royal Rumble mode, and enjoy finishers actually *finishing* people, backstage and outside the ring brawls, and edit wrestlers playing along to. Hope this was useful, good luck surviving!

All text is copyright Charles Cruz, 2001. Please do NOT steal or use on another site without my permission. The latest version of this text can always be found at http://joelthecat.cjb.net/.

Special thanks to:

Me, for the 8 months it took to win the mode

Rufus Wainwright and Cibo Matto, for providing the appropriate music and mood

Jesse, for being my toughest opponent

and THQ, for making a kick ass (but EVIL!) game.