Legends of Wrestling II

"Some old, Some new...Same Old Stuff"

When I looked for this title, I had high hopes that all the problems from last years version had been corrected. Boy was I sorely disappointed. All the prolems from last year are back, along with an improved story mode, TONS of extra stuff, and a general feeling of ''You're getting there, but not quite yet, Acclaim''

GRAPHICS: Not terrible compared to last year, but the character models are still awful. The Legends look more like M.U.S.C.L.E. characters than their real-life counterparts. You want graphics get SYM! The animation is still choppy, but what wrestling title isn't these days?(4/10)

CONTROL: Probably the only strong point, even through the slowdown of tag matches and 3-way dances, the control holds pretty tight. The countering system is still the same, so work on your golf swing. (7/10)

REALISM: Realism in a wrestling game? In this case, no. The movelists are still terrible. Old fogeys are still doing moves that weren't even invented till years after they either retired or died. Some of them are fixed, Sid has his chokeslam, and it doesn't look bad, but on the same token, he also has the Razor's Edge, which makes no sense at all. Were the repertoires really so limited back then, that they couldn't fill out a move set with them today? And where are the no-shows? We're trying to recreate the regional indy feel aren't we? (2/10)

SOUND: It was good to see David Penzer still alive. Other than that, the entrance themes are just so-so. (6/10)

REPLAY VALUE- This game is huge. There are belts to win from Region all the way up, even an Intergender Title, which Latka Grava holds. (Why? He wrestled and made news ONCE!! Does that make him a legend?)But the CAL mode still really stinks, there's no kind of depth for customizing your own Legend. Everything they're doing (customizable movelists, nicknames, etc...) has been done before and better. (Fire Pro series, JBI, to name a couple) If you're into old school the DVD content should keep you entertained for a good while.
(6/10)

WILL YOU HAVE FUN PLAYING THIS?- Depends. If you want action without a lot of flash and Flair, maybe if you can get past it's shortcomings. Or maybe you want to get back at an old past-his-prime-come-to-think-of-it-never-had-a-prime ''Superstar'' who no-showed at your local Bingo hall, this is the game for you.
(Insert your own rating here, hey I asked you!)

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/12/02, Updated 12/12/02