Legends of Wrestling

"A New Fresh Start for Acclaim!"

Well, after what seemed to be a long layoff in the wrestling game world, Acclaim has finally thrown its hat into the competition once again with the release of ''Legends of Wrestling''. But just how does this game stack up? Read on:

GRAPHICS

The Good: The character models, arenas, rings and weapons all look great. Acclaim went all out on blood this time as well as it stains the ring and accumulates on your wrestlers as the match wears on.

The Bad: The crowd is in 2D, as seems to be the norm these days. While the crowd looks much better than Smackdown JBI, it still needs work. But that is just a minor flaw.

Final Rating: 8/10

GAMEPLAY

The Good: While the game flow may be slower than most other wrestling games, it works well in this title because during the time when most of these wrestlers wrestled, the focus was more on mat technique and in-ring skills versus the more fast paced sports entertaining style of today. Also the way you get your manager and tag team partner involved in the match is great as well and is as simple as flicking the left analog stick. This is a terrific engine for matches of yesteryear.

The Bad: One main thing, the A.I. If you've played the Firepro series are AKI's wrestling games, then you know we've been spoiled with being able to have great computer opponents in those games. It kind of gets old when the computer while go outside of the ring 85% of the time when you first get dizzy instead of following up on the attack. Because of this, weapons became way to prevalent in the game and I know not every match in the past had a weapon involved. Also there are way too many reversal sequences in this game to the point where a whole match can just be all reversals. While this can be good sometimes, it gets old after a while. And the game has its share of glitches and bugs, but it's only minor.

Final Rating: 7/10

GAME OPTIONS

The Good: The game has a terrific Career mode with your wrestler travelling to different territories in the states, winning all the titles, then becoming the U.S. champion, and finally the World champ. It is mixed with tag matches, 3 ways and 4 ways, although most matches will be singles. Also worth a mention is the game's CAW mode where you'll be able to make basically any wrestler. While not as detailed as Firepro, Yukes or AKI games, the goods are still there for your taking, especially the moves that we all know and love. Also the game features a tournament mode for those wanting to take a time out from exhibition or career modes.

The Bad: It's understandable that this is Acclaim's first game with this new engine, but the absence of battle royals and/or cage matches is a disappointment. Battle royals especially, which were great to watch in the past. Also with Firepro D having 8 man tag matches and Smackdown JBI having 6 man matches, the bar is being raised to where just regular tag matches are not enough anymore. While I will not totally blast Acclaim because of this being a new game, they will have to get things right in the sequel.

Final Rating: 6/10

GAME CONTROLS

The Good: Worlds better than any Acclaim game before it. No more pretending like you're playing Street Fighter instead of a wrestling game. Acclaim finally heard all the cries of wrestling gamers worldwide and changed for the better. The game controls are still a bit tedious, but very manageable and simple after just a few matches.

The Bad: While change is good, it does present its own set of problems. First, the controls are not as responsive or dead on as they need to be. Until you get used to playing with delayed response, you will become frustrated. But have a little patience and you'll be a pro rather quickly in this game.

Final Rating: 8/10 (If the control were as responsive as they should have been, this would have been a perfect 10)

SOUND

The Good: The ring announcer, sound effects, entrance music and crowd are terrific. All of them sound life-like.

The Bad: The game music sucks.

Final Rating: 9/10

REPLAY VALUE

The Good: With CAW, you can create whoever isn't in the game and have them take on the legends. With over 40 legends from the start, you will want to at least wrestle once with most if not all the superstars. Plus unlike other games, your focus is not on how updated the roster is, but on reliving the old school days.

The Bad: More match options would've helped as you'll find yourself reaching for Firepro, VPW 2 or No Mercy after you've done everything in the game. The lack of match options will make the gaming experience a little stale after a while.

Final Rating: 7/10

FINAL COMMENTS

I great start for Acclaim but they've got some work to do if they are to release a sequel. WCW Mayhem seemed to have something good going for it, but Electronic Arts chose not to fix all the bad areas of the game and released their sequel ''WCW Backstage Assault'' that had all the same problems returning from the first game. Hopefully Acclaim will take this in considering.

Is the game worth $50? Well, if you're a fan of wrestling's past like I am and you're looking for a game playing experience that resembles more of a simulation versus the arcade style on Smackdown JBI, then this might be worth a try. But rent it first. There are still other games out there (Firepro X, S, G, D,; VPW 2, No Mercy; Giant Gram, Yukes) that are far better. Plus this is a game focused on the yesteryear of wrestling, so creating guys like Edge, Tajiri and the Rock might backfire because they wrestle a more fastpace than the game can support.

Acclaim is on the right track though and the future looks bright for them. The game will intrigue you and also frustrate you but hands down it's still a winner.

OVERALL RATING: 45/60 = 7.5/10 (average)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/07/01, Updated 12/07/01