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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       16th February 2002: Legends of Wrestling  The best wrestling game I've ever played! (erm, is that ok, Mr. Hogan?) Posted by Marc Hull - PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe Ah, Wrestling; a sport on which the population is divided into those who think it's fake and those who don't care as long as it's entertainment. Personally, I've never taken to it (far too much spandex there for my liking), but never let that stand in the way of making a good videogame out of it, which Legends of Wrestling from Acclaim hopes to do. Having never touched a wrestling game before in my life, I was actually pleasantly surprised by this title, which was actually easy enough to pick-up-and-play that I managed to pull off some pretty impressive moves in my first bout! Before having the teeth knocked out of me, that is. The main 'fun' in Legends of Wrestling (and possibly its most innovative feature) is the fighting system itself, which takes a half-realtime, half-QTE style approach. To explain further, in a simple one-on-one match, both fighters can move freely inside the ring until one gets close enough to successfully execute a move. Once this happens, a 'time bar' appears below your health at the top of the screen, and its divided up into sections in which you have to press certain buttons (think of Parappa The Rapper style play and you'll have the idea). If you're the attacker in this situation, and you successfully press the correct buttons in time, you'll execute a much more powerful move than if you mess it up. Conversely, if you're defending and you tap the buttons successfully you'll be able to block the attack and even set yourself up for a counter. While THQ may hold the licence for some of the latest band of wrestlers in America, Acclaim have managed to get some of the most famous wrestlers in history, including (possibly the only one I knew of before playing the game) Hulk Hogan. They also win the count on quantity, with forty fighters being either initially selectable or unlockable by completing certain parts of the game. Which semi-naked protagonist you pick also has a large bearing on how the game plays, in that some take more damage, have slower elapsing 'time bars' (making move execution easier), are more agile or have more powerful special moves. However, the best bit of the game has to be the 'Create a Legend' feature. While initially you can choose between some preset models, there's also a great deal of fine customisation that can be performed to make a wrestler unique. Take, for instance, the upper body, which can be made big and muscular or weak and skinny as you see fit and can be altered to add a jacket and a skin type (including 'scarred' and 'diseased'). Now you decide to go further and zoom into one of the arms, on which you can add an elbow pad, a wrist band, a custom tattoo (yes, there's a miniature drawing program in there too) or some general arm-paint, as well as making both the upper and lower arms different sizes. Then, you decide to go even further and zoom into one individual hand, and get to change its size, add a glove, alter skin colour... there are absolutely loads of options! In the end you can get some really wierd combinations (partly thanks to some of the unusual skin paint images the developers have thought to add), which you can give certain fighting attributes, custom moves and then save to a memory card and use in the main game - brilliant! Graphically, the game is detailed and smooth, but the fighters themselves almost look too clean to be realistic. The animation could also do with some attention, especially during the player introductions where it seems that only a few set sequences are repeated again and again. However, the European conversion is good, with both a 60hz mode and a good 50hz mode to choose from, although the screen adjust option is absent, which may frustrate some widescreen TV owners. For sound, the game mostly consists of punching noises, groans and crowd cheers, with some commentary during the player introductions. The only background music is reserved for the menus, and is quiet and unintrusive as you'd expect. Overall, Legends of Wrestling suffers a bit from some uninspired sound and graphics that don't quite match other games in the genre, but it makes up for this with an innovative fighting system and a good player creation feature. While non-fans may tire of the repetitive nature of the sport after a while, those who really do know who Bret "Hitman" Hart and David Von Erich are should get a good amount of replay value out of this. Marc Hull             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  Legends of Wrestling contains a unique QTE-style fighting system, forty 'well-known' wrestlers and a variety of play modes such as Exhibition, Tournament and Career. While it may not be the best wrestling game in terms of graphics and sound, the amount of depth provided by the player creation mode and the ease of play (allowing for good 'after pub' bouts) make up for this.  Related Games:  Legends of Wrestling for PlayStation 2  8  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information.
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