Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lineup & Career mode alone make this a winner, December 10, 2001
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.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Legends, November 14, 2001
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.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Legends of Wrestling: A definate 4 star game, January 13, 2002
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.
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