Customer Reviews

Legends of Wrestling

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Having been recently disappointed by Smackdown: Just Bring It, I went out and picked up Legends of Wrestling. After playing it all weekend, I came to the conclusion that taking certain aspects of both and combining them into one game would create the ultimate wrestling game...but having to pick just one for now, Legends is the best.

The first thing that I saw in the game was the roster, which absolutely blew me away. Characters include such greats as: George "The Animal" Steele, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Terry Funk, Hulk Hogan, Rob Van Damm, Sabu, The Iron Shiek, Rock 'N' Roll Express, Ted Dibiase, Mr. Fuji, Don Muraco, Bret Hart, Tito Santana, Rick Martel, the Road Warriors, Kerry Von Erich (during one of the between-bout loading screens, a picture of the whole Von Erich family is shown, but I'm not sure how many of them are playable characters) and loads more. Those of us who grew up with 80's wrestling will be in heaven here.

Gameplay has two basic modes, exhibition (one match) and career. Exhibition only has four or five different modes, as opposed to the 70-something Smackdown has, and this is the main place where Legends loses out to Smackdown. Career mode is far superior to Smackdown's Story mode, however. In Career mode, you select a wrestler and start their career, working through the various regions of the country to claim the title and move on to the next region. Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart was my manager...Lou Albano is another manager available in the game; managers can also be turned off, as can blood and a few other options. You work through various types of matches, including 4-man elimination, 3-way elimination, single & tag team. The goal is not just to win, but to get audience approval, and therefore popularity. You need popularity in order to get a title shot. Doing things like repetitive actions (working a match doing nothing but chops for example) will deduct from the 'match excitement' level, which is used for determining your popularity increase at the end of the bout. High spots, finishers and move variety will increae the excitement.

Controls are fairly basic and easy to use. The main drawback to gameplay is that the controls can be a little sluggish...the controls in Smackdown, while being a bit more complicated, tend to respond faster than Legends.

Legends also has a create-a-wrestler feature, as does Smackdown, though it's not as comprehensive. Several arena's are also available to use in Legends, though wrestling seems to be restricted to the ringside area; no backstage brawling as in Smackdown. On a positive note, throwing an opponent into the side rail in Legends causes them to be hurt, unlike Smackdown which just stops them and makes them turn around, which bugs me to no end.

In all, Legends is a solid wrestling title which is tons of fun. If it had the numerous exhibition modes, brawling locations, create-a-wrestler enhancements and control tweaks of Smackdown, it would be the ultimate wrestling game; for now, it is pretty darned close and in my opinion, a notch above Smackdown.

From what I have seen in Gamespot's preview section of this game Acclaim has started from scratch with the engine. Also, the weapons will actually do a large amount of damage for once. Which also brings to mind that blood is in the matches which really pleases the crowd. Acclaim is attempting to use a combination system in which we can link moves. Lets not forget that the submissions are tweaked a bit too, now a person has to button-mash like mad to either get out of the submission or to keep it on. On a final note I admit I had my doubts at first but from the sound of things Acclaim has a good chance to redeem itself.

The graphics are exceptionally well done, although there are some major clipping bugs. As Terry Funk, I attempted to climb out of the ring, Funk went through the motions of stepping over the top rope, only to remain in the ring; walk through the ropes while falling through the ring apron to the floor. Another major bug I noticed was in a four way match. While I had Jerry Lawler in a sleeper on the canvas, another wrestler pinned the 4th wrestler in the match, this caused Terry Funk to remain on the canvas in the sleeper hold position. You ask what the problem with that is? Well, Jerry Lawler disappeared. After eliminating the other guy, which would have left myself as Funk and Lawler in the ring to battle it out, where ever I walked Funk would jerk to the right as if there was a ghost hanging around. The only way to end this match was to enter the pause menu and select quit game.

Another thing you will notice about the graphics, is that some of the wrestlers are overly exaggerated. King Kong Bundy is a lot larger than One Man Gang, when in reality in the 80's they were of similar size. Wrestlers are also a lot more muscular than you will remember them. It looks as if Acclaim was going for the 80's cartoonish wrestling look, but that is not to say that the game is at all cartooney.

The entrances are a nice touch, although they get a bit repetitive, easily skipped by using the start button. There are some load times that you won't find in SmackDown, but they're not too bad.

The ring introductions are nicely done, and gives the game a 1980's NWA feel. Both wrestlers standing in the ring, the ring announce introduces the guys one at a time, where he is from, how tall he is and his approximate weight. These can also be skipped, but you need to press the start button about five times on the first one then all after that are also skipped. The music that plays during entrances is basically generic music, although, in the short time I played, Rob Van Dam seems to have his music he used in ECW. Surprisingly, Ricky Steamboat and Jerry Lawler have generic music. The themes are still nice, even though they are not authentic.

It may take only about five minutes before you get a hang out of what each button or button combination does. To run you use R1, striking moves (kicks, punches, stomps) are done with the square button. Using the directional pad, you have access to two other striking moves. Just square is a minimal move, up/down with square would be a different level of damage move, and left/right with square would be another level of damage. This is the system that they use when you use any other attack/grapple buttons. L2 exits/enters the ring, L1 spins your opponent around. The control didn't seem to responsive at first, but it seemed to improve as I got used to the game.

You have several modes to choose from, these include: Exhibition (versus and tag team); versus matches you can select from a regular one on one match, a 3 way dance and a 4 way dance (these are elimination matches). Tag Team is just what it says, a two on two match up. There is no customization of the matches, other than selecting the arena. There are no count outs or ring outs.

The career mode: select your wrestler and you try to take him to that areas championship title. This is all based on how the crowd likes the match, and that effects how they like you. After the match, you'll see that your approval rating will grow. The more you do in a match, the more the crowd will like it. However, you will be penalized if you keep repeating the same moves.

Tournament mode: play in versus, tag team or title belt modes. These are short round robin tournaments that comprise of anywhere between two and six participants; one to three rounds. You can also hold simulated tournaments, CPU versus CPU.

The Create mode: There are numerous options, although it is not as customizable as many CAW modes have been, though, it does have the one feature that has been missing for along time. You start with the appearance of your wrestler, is he fat, skinny, muscular? It's your choice. Is he 5 feet or 7 feet? Again, it's all up to you. Customize the head, add a mask or headband anyone? How about the mid section, everyone needs a shirt, some elbow pads, how about some brass knuckles on that left hand and a glove on the right one, well, it's all up to you. The lower body, grab some trunks, put on some knee pads or a knee brace, select your boots and we're all set to go (you can even select flip flops). How about your ring entrance, want to make it different than your pals? Let's go for it, we can select a robe, we can select a jacket or tee shirt. This is what all games will need in the future, and it is a welcome addition. Style, everyone needs style. Are you a brawler, a high flyer, a technical wrestler? Your masterpiece is nothing without a name, give him one that fits his look. Is he a face or a heel, it's time to choose now. Next it's time to select the entrance theme, this has to be good too. Do you need a manager? If so, it's time to select one. Choose a move set from a legend, or make your own, which ever you want to do. Divide up the attributes and the abilities and we're ready to save the ultimate wrestler.

This is it, the second game to introduce the great genre of wrestling games to the PS2 system. Acclaim, after flopping badly with its ECW games finally makes a strong effort at redemption with Legends of Wrestling. With a new fighting engine and fresh (old) new faces, Acclaim has finally put itself back on the scoreboard.

Though by no means the perfect wrestling game, Legends of Wrestling is definitely a winner and in fact a great start to what could become the next best series of wrestling games on the next generation systems.

NEW FIGHTING ENGINE:
Acclaim has finally revamped its "Warzone" wrestling engine and has introduced a pretty great new system. The "combo/reversal" system is pretty sweet, allowing you to link grappling moves into realistic fluid combos, and produce believable counters to moves, just as you normally see in TV wrestling. Overall, this does produce some pretty intense realistic matches.

The wrestlers themselves have a pretty diverse moveset: three levels of attack, three levels of hit, grapple front, grapple back, grapple leg on mat, grapple head on mat, grapple side on mat, turnbuckle, ring apron, top rope, WEAPONS MOVES (like RVD's Van Daminator) etc. The moves are well rendered and with the combo reversal system look pretty crisp.

Plus, the "cheat button" available is pretty fun to have as your manager or tag partner will either distract the ref or come and interfere during the match for you.

SOLID STORY "CAREER" MODE:
Truly harkening back to the old territory days of wrestling before the WWF monopoly, the game basically follows your wrestler traveling throughout the old wrestling territories (Southwest, Southeast, Mid-West, Northeast and Pacific) winning (and defending) the regional titles before uniting them into a U.S. title and challenging for the World title. If you play long enough you can actually finish the career mode in a day, but it's a blast and is actually a lot more fun than story mode in some of the other games.

OLD SCHOOL CHARACTERS:
With THQ having the WWF license, Acclaim took a trip in the Way-Back Machine, pulling out some stars and "legends" (and some non-legends) from the 70's and 80's, primarily the WWF with some NWA and WCCW, and Memphis territory stars.

In total there are 44 wrestlers to choose from: Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Jimmy Snuka, Jerry Lawler, Hawk, Animal, RVD, Tony Atlas, King Kong Bundy, Ted DiBiase, Kevin Von Erich, Kerry Von Erich, David Von Erich, Mike Von Erich, Fritz Von Erich, Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, Dory Funk Jr., Terry Funk, One Man Gang, Eddie Gilbert, Billy Graham, Dynamite Kid, Ivan Koloff, Rick Martel, Don Muracco, Bob Orton, Brian Pillman, Ivan Putzki, Harley Race, Sabu, Tito Santana, Iron Sheik, The Sheik, Ricky Steamboat, George Steele, Greg Valentine, Nikolai Volkoff, Koko B. Ware, Lou Albano, Mr. Fuji and Jimmy Hart.

OTHER FACTOIDS:
The Create a Legend is the standard feature, right up there with those in the previous Acclaim releases and Smackdown 2.

Locked items: You can unlock various moves and other items for Create a Legend as well as wrestlers (about a third of the wrestlers are locked) as you progress through Career Mode.

The "Career advice" from Jimmy Hart and Lou Albano is basically them managing your wrestler throughout career mode, giving advice between matches and helping interfere in your matches for you. Hart manages the "faces" (good guys) and Albano the "heels" (bad guys). Overall, it's good to help you keep tabs of where you are in the game, but otherwise it gets irritating and worthless after a while...

Ring Entrances and Introductions are pretty cool, the entrance music for most is kinda cheesy, but alright.

THE "NEEDS WORKING":
Modes:
The modes of play are average to be honest. There's basically career mode, tournament mode (round robin style) and exhibition mode. Match types of limited to single (2 vs 2, three way and four way) and tag. If you are looking for various match types you won't find it here.

Bugs:
Also, despite the improvement in game engine, the game play itself is still a little on the slow side so if you're a "speed demon" you may wanna stick with Smackdown3 for PS2. Plus there are some bugs in the game still since at times some straaaaaaaaaange things will happen to your wrestler as moves are executed.

The Choice in Legends: Some of the wrestlers chosen (like Martel, Santana, Atlas and Koko B. Ware), while good, are probably not in most people's minds as ideas of legends. It amazes me how Acclaim skipped some obvious choices (some perhaps for contract reasons) for inclusion (who should probably be put into any future sequels they may produce) such as: Ric Flair, Andre the Giant, Bruno Sammartino, the Fabulous Freebirds - Hayes, Gordy, Roberts and Garvin, the Midnight Express - Eaton and Lane, Sgt. Slaughter, Randy Savage, Paul Orndorff, Jake the Snake, Junk Yard Dog, Curt Hennig, Chris Adams, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, Nikita Koloff, Dr. Death, Larry Zbysko, Verne Gagne, Nick Bockwinkel, Bob Backlund, etc.

Overall, this game is just perfect if you are into old school wrestling. In fact, it is a must have if you are. If you are an average gamer looking for a decent game for the PS2, this is it. The replay value is decent, if not repetitive, after a while. This is definitely worth at least a rental/play. At the moment, this is the best the PS2 has to offer.

Good job Acclaim. Add better legends and more modes in the next sequel and we've got a keeper.

Recommended for Most
Highest Recommendation for 80s fans

After being extremely disapointed by SD3 I was exstatic to see another wrestling release.

The chance to play as Bret Hart was fantastic to begin with and the fact that the career mode lays the smackdown on SD3's Story mode is what makes it better. It may not have as many match types or Backstage brawls like SD3 but you have to bear in mind that in the classic matches the ring was were the action was.

This is a must for any wrestling fan who like me watched it since they were little 4 year olds.... buy this game and go show people why it is the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be!

I love this video game! A lot of the old greats are here, and even though several of the better ones are missing (Roddy Piper, Lex Lugar, Sting, Ric Flair, Andre the Giant, etc), you can create them with the Create-A-Legend feature! This is the thing that sold me on this game more than any other. It's detailed enough to work, yet not so detailed that you have to spend hours figuring out how the thing works. You can create just about any wrestler from scratch in less than 10 minutes once you get comfortable with it, then create the dream matches we never got to see in the 80's. Remember the WWF vs. NWA vs. AWA rivalry? Well, pit Rick Martel against Hulk Hogan, create Ric Flair (the CAW's are all over the internet) and throw them all into the ring at once in a 3-way dance to settle who truly was the best world champion of the 80's! One feature I love is that you can become the referee in the match, so set up any match you want with yourself as the referee and then sit back and watch the fun. The match won't end until you count someone out or end it on a submission hold, so make it last as long as you want to. Here's just a few of the dream matches I've created: Steve Austin vs. Roddy Piper, Sting and the Ultimate Warrior vs. the Road Warriors, "Weird Al" Yankovic vs. Hulk Hogan (ok, that match was just for fun and really didn't last long, but it just proves you really can create just about anybody!). Even if you don't create any wrestlers, the choices here are great for the 80's fan. LOW2 is supposed to come out in the fall and offer more choices of match types (only 5 are supported here) and more fluid wrestler movements - and more wrestlers! Until it arrives though, pick this one up! One request to the developers, how about making sure we can use the legends we created in LOW1 in LOW2, ok? Definitely worth buying!

Ok,I am a huge fan of modern and old-school wrestling and I always thought that I never ever could hate ANY wrestling game on ANY game station (I even liked WCW Nitro on PSOne),but since I experienced this [game],I changed my mind.
First of all,the graphics are beyond bad.Many people complain about the strange look of the wrestlers in Smackdown!3,but THESE look even more strange and additionally,they don't even move their face.
The controls are quite complex and every wrestler has the same moveset.They remind me of WCW Nitro.The moves are animated very well,but that doesn't matter if you can't use more than 12 moves in all.And the dirst review says that you could win a match fast.Well,that's Ok,but that's not what a wrestling game is supposed to give to you.A wrestling game should try to produce balanced matches.Two opponents shouldn't work against each other but WITH each other and I think WWF Smackdown3 does it very well and certainly better than THIS.
The Create a wrestler-mode is poor.Sorry,can't say it in any other way.You can only choose between the body partd that are already given by the "legends" included in the game.
And the most shocking fact is: there are only 12 different match types!Good god,even WCW/nWo World Tour on the good ol' N64 had more. Hands off this game!

When I first saw it, I had to have it because I grew up on old-school 80's and early 90's wrestling. However, the cast of characters and their representation is a bit dissapointing. First, I don't think this game is endorsed by the WWF because if you notice, the entraces don't feature their theme music, which is a HUGE letdown, and also the wrestlers are reffered to without use of their ring names, e.g. Ricky "The Dragon" STeamboat or "The Million Dollar Man" are known only as Ricky Steamboat and Ted DiBiase, respectively.

In addition, a large number of great stars were left out, such as Shawn Michaels, Big Boss Man, Ultimate Warrior, and Macho Man Randy Savage, just to name a few. Also the match types are pretty limited to basic tag teams, one-on-ones, and 4 man free for alls.

But enough bashing this game. It is actually pretty decent if you disregard all the stuff I mentioned above. The gameplay is very solid, and the controls are very much reminiscent of the old NES wrestling games that we all love so much. The career mode is outstanding, too.
In short, if you don't expect too much and just want a game that is fun to play, pick this one up!

I, like a few of the reviewers here, was saying 'what's this ...?' during my first LOW match. I kept playing it though (after I had turned on the Blood and turned off the ring entrances) and uncovered a deep, fun game.

The main problem with this game is that the instruction booklet [isn't good]. If you can pick up the PRIMA strategy guide do so. After reading through it I was like 'OK, so they didn't forget to include this' and 'Hey cool! Tiger Suplex!' Buy the way, this game has hundreds of moves so if you do get a little bored you can always interchange them with others.

Acclaim didn't make it easy for me to get into this game. If any game needed a tutorial mode this would be it. Anyway, stick it out guys and girls. There is a really good game in there.

To put it simply, the game is a bit difficult to learn at first, but after you play it for a few minutes, you get the hang of it. The game can be frustrating at times though. To be honest, I got (mad) the first time I tried to play but it gets easier. THE CAREER MODE IS THE BEST ONE I HAVE EVER PLAYED IN A WRESTLING GAME. This is a great game but takes some getting used to, especially in tag team matches. Overall, it is worth getting.