I think that this game is pretty fun. Has a decent gameplay engine as well. The only thing that kinda sucks about the gameplay is that when you are knocked down, it takes a long time and a lot of Button A mashing to get back up... even if you have a turbo feature on your controller.
CAW is really good as well; my only gripe is that there is no option for entrance attire. For example, they have Hogan's entrance as a template, complete with the shirt ripping. However, if you put a shirt on him, he doesn't rip it, and he keeps it on during the match. It would be nice to have custom entrance music like the Xbox, but that is obviously not possible, and you get over it anyway.
Story mode is pretty good, even if the only choice you make is to join either RAW or SmackDown! Also, the story is structured exactly the same in both brands, but with different wrestlers, unfortunately.
Overall, I think I'll hang onto my copy at least until I check out the WrestleMania 21 game for Xbox (can't play SvR because I sold my PS2, since there weren't really many games I liked for PS2, unfortunately). Still, I'm glad that I have the N64 wrestling games. Heck, even WCW/NWO World Tour is pretty fun to play nowadays.
Speaking of the AKI grapple-based engine... I'm wondering something. About 90% of wrestling gamers love that engine and would like to see it in a WWE game again. Heh, I remember various game developers being asked about using that engine, and they all said something like, "Well, that engine was great for its time, but you have to move forward and on to better engines." Geez...
I wonder... what is stopping the developers from using the AKI engine? Most of the wrestling gamers would love it, after all. Could they possibly be sued or something? I wouldn't think so, because there are a lot of games that operate similarly. Would one company be able to sue another because their games both used the same button to jump or run or shoot? Maybe someone here can shed some light on this. I don't see why the AKI engine can't make a comeback even if AKI doesn't work on WWE games anymore.
Sorry for the long post, but I just thought I'd offer my thoughts on things. I certainly do enjoy reading other people's opinions; hopefully you all enjoy the same.