Legends of Wrestling II

"The Legends Get Back in The Ring"

Legends of Wrestling II is without a doubt one of the best wrestling titles available at the present time (November, 25th, 2004). Although flawed, it is still a good game.

Graphics: 7/10
Compared to Acclaims previous attempts for the Playstation and Nintendo 64 (WWF Warzone, WWF Attitude, ECW Hardcore Revolution, ECW Anarchy Rules) This games Graphics are a MAJOR step in the right direction. The ring looks great the posts, ropes, ringside area, entrance way and ring floor all got a much needed makeover (but that makeover happened in the first Legends of Wrestling game and just got tweaked a bit here) The wrestlers look good, they walk better than wrestlers in the older Acclaim wrestling games. The wrestlers have a cartoonish look to them which in my opinion just adds more nostalgia to the game, but that's just me speaking. There are now referees to add to the over all realistic wrestling match feel.

Sound: 7/10
Improved sound quality from the old games, but remained equal from the first game. New feature is actual songs playing in the background, songs like ''Headstrong'' by Trapt can be heard. this can be a good thing and a bad thing because there's no way to turn off just the music without turning off voice effects like the referee counting. and when the music is gone the crowd is deafening and you still can't hear much of your wrestlers throwing each other around. Each wrestler has a theme song although some songs are the same, like all the Von Erichs except Kerry Von Erich share the same song as well as most if not all of the tag teams. some themes like ''Rowdy'' Roddy Pipers and Hulk Hogans are the actual themes (Hulks is his ''American Made'' theme from his WCW days) and other themes like Bret Harts and Road Warriors themes are close to the old WWF themes they had. An Announcer says each wrestlers stats, home town, and name, and yes even Created Wrestlers can have there names announced provided you pick first, last, nicknames(optional) and hometown from the list of available names.

Control: 6/10
The game's flaws can mostly be found here. the new ISP system still shows signs of the old system but like the graphics is light years ahead of the old games. the ISP means Intermediate Start Position you start off in a grapple and after hitting a corresponding button you go into the next position (if you pressed the A button for example you'd set up your opponent for a suplex) from there you hit either A, B X or Y to hit one of the 4 moves set for that position (a Suplex position might give you the Suplex, Brainbuster, Snap-Suplex and Spinning suplex. or other moves that you can do when setting someone up for a suplex) the other 3 positions are Piledriver set up (Piledrivers and Powerbomb type moves), Belly to Belly (overhead tosses and those types of moves) and Body Slam (Slams like the Emerald Fusion and scoop slam). You get the same system with back grapples only different positions. The new grapple system shows some real potential and is three times better than the old button combo system that lacked entertainment and was more of a chore. Reversals couldn't be easier, just simply hit the b button as the little bar goes across under your health gauge. its easy to learn but tough to master and can create for some entertaining matches with the AI on ''Legend'' difficulty or a good human opponent.

GamePlay: 8/10
This is the highpoint, as there's lots to choose from even matches that aren't offered in other games like Survivor Series style 4 VS 4 and 3 VS 3 and 4 way and 3 way tag matches. For the first time ever (as far as I know anyway) the Steel Cage match has an interactive door which must be beaten off the hinges (literally) before anyone can escape the cage. The Ladder match is where the game loses a few points because of the complex way you have to set and and climb the ladder, you must press Z to pick up the ladder, Y to set up the ladder, L to Climb the Ladder, X to reach for the belt/gym bag, and A to try and take the prize. Sound confusing? well it is. a cool feature is the ability to finally be able to defend your belts in exhibition mode (which Acclaim has never done before) and the ability to be able to choose if the 4 way, 3 VS 3, 4 VS 4, Tag Team and 3 way matches will be elimination style or not. The Career mode is improved with promoters for each region rather than having a manager you probably didn't want anyway follow you around. you still have to go about doing different things in your matches like use weapons to gain excitement ratings to make you more popular with the crowd. There are now ''Storylines'' but really there just excuses for you have exciting matches. There is now a tournament mode similar to the King Of The Ring tournament (single elimination bracket tournament) there Singles, Tag Team and Tag team Championship tournament that in my opinion are better than the Round Robin tournaments found in the first Legends of Wrestling installment. Unlocking items and Wrestlers has become more difficult as now must you not only go through career mode with certain wrestlers you must also gamble and win coins to purchase the unlockables with. the base coin is the green coin that you get for doing certain tasks like completing a tournament or finishing a region in Career mode, then you must gamble the green coins for Blue coins (one Blue coin is worth two green coin) and Red coins (One Red Coin is worth Five Green coins).

Replay Value: 8/10
You'll want to keep playing the game to unlock the tons of secrets like extra wrestlers, arenas and costumes and the exhibition mode can keep you coming back for more although it do get old eventually. but with all the wrestlers and other items to unlock and requirements to unlock them you'll be busy for awhile.

Rent or Buy?: If you played and liked the original Legends of Wrestling then by all means go and find a good used copy of this game for a good price at stores like Micro Play and Electronics Boutique.
If your a wrestling fan looking for a good game: rent first before buying because you may or may not be disappointed.
Not a Wrestling fan: You should probably avoid because this game is almost for the wrestling fan only, because with the new grapple system brawling and fighting aren't major factors in this game its straight forward wrestling that wins the matches so If you don't like wrestling, stay away.

Overall Rating: averages out to a 7.2 which rounds out to a 7.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/25/03