Showdown: Legends of Wrestling

"A step in the right direction. Baby steps, that is."

It's one thing to be a wrestling fan, but it's completely different to be a hardcore wrestling fan. Hardcore wrestling fans know the difference between a good match and a bad match, a good wrestler or a bad wrestler, or even a good company and a bad company. The only problem is that some of us don't know the difference between a good wrestling game and a bad wrestling game. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that all of us have clung to the hope that the Legends of Wrestling series would take a sudden turn for the best. That somehow, someway, this series would kick it into high gear. So here we are, with Showdown: Legends of Wrestling hitting the shelves. Another attempt by Acclaim to finally step out of the drought. Did they do it?

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GRAPHICS
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It's pretty safe to say that both of the previous LoW games lacked any real polish, graphically speaking. They called it a cartoonish representation of our favorite legends, but I called it lazy. This year, however, Showdown actually succeeds in creating a detailed and believable looking wrestling game. Character models are much more detailed, and while they still retain the slightly cartoony look, it is quite clear that each wrestler matches their real life persona in almost every way. Not only does this game boast great character models, but it also features some of the most dynamic looking arenas ever seen in a wrestling game. Each arena is fully licensed one, including the Tokyo Dome, Boston Garden, to the infamous Madison Square Garden. I didn't think much of this added bonus before purchasing the game, but while playing it, I couldn't help but love the idea. My favorite graphical aspect about Showdown is this unexplainable blur effect used all throughout the game. It makes for sort of a dream like effect. This department was one of the areas that I was most pleasantly surprised to see done so well.

Score: 9 out of 10

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SOUND
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One of the things I loved to hate about the past Legends of Wrestling games was the sound department, or the lack there of. The game was filled with generic music, along with absolutely no commentary. In this year's latest LoW installment, both of these nagging issues have been fixed. While Xbox owners cannot upload music from their hard drive to use as entrance themes, they will still be able to use their favorite tunes for their in game custom soundtracks. The regular in game music is just as generic as ever, and lacks music from real artists, contrary to LoW2. But as long as you've got your favorite CD handy, this shouldn't be too much of an issue. On a positive note, every theme song has been done remarkably well, and are very close to sounding like the authentic ones. It makes the game so much more immersive when the themes sound right, honestly. And we all can finally save our delicate little voices. Gone are the days where we would have to make up our own commentary while playing the game. Now, we've got WCW's three man team of Tony Schiavonne, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Larry Zbysko calling the action. Aside from being slightly repetitive, having these guys included in the game breathes new life into the quiet world of the Legends of Wrestling series.

Score: 8 out of 10

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GAMEPLAY
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The LoW series was in dire need of a change in gameplay. The past two installments were buggy, clunky, slow and well... boring. Showdown: Legends of Wrestling seems to pick things up a notch with slightly more refined controls, and a better pace of gameplay. There are hundreds of reanimated moves, however, some of them still seem poorly done. It's painfully obvious of which ones are reanimated, and which aren't; and it really takes away from the experience of the game. Perhaps the biggest issue found in this game is it's bugs. Sometimes wrestlers will warp to the opposite side of the ring, levitate outside of the ring, and then some. I would expect there to be a few kinks in the gameplay here and there, but sometimes this game gets out of control with it. It's really a shame, because if it weren't for these bugs hindering the game, Showdown would have been so much better than it turned out to be.

Another disappointment in Showdown is no doubt it's Create a Legend mode. I don't think any of us were expecting perfection in this department, but some of the issues in the CAL mode are inexcusable. For instance, as we all know, Acclaim has added hundreds of names into it's database so that the ring announcer can actually call your CAL by it's name. The drawback is that if you want to create a WWE superstar like The Undertaker, they have the "Under" part for the first name, yet no "Taker" part anywhere to be found. Why? Ask Acclaim. Another minor issue is that it is impossible to make a CAL have black hair, unless you try to clone an existing legend to use their hair instead. And going back to recreating WWE superstars, while some parts of their costumes are included in the game, others are not. Using the Undertaker as an example again, they have his old school shirt and tights, but no gloves or boots. So now you've got a halfway Undertaker. Maybe that's why they left out the "Taker" part of the name. They probably knew they only had half of his costume to give, so they gave us just the first part of his name. Oh well...

Fortunately, there is a lot to do in the actual exhibition mode itself. Along with all of the match modes available from LoW2, the inclusion of a table match actually adds to the fun. Table mechanics work surprisingly well, and give a satisfying crunch when used. Ladder matches and cage matches are the same as before, which is a letdown, since no new features where put in those modes to make for a more interesting experience.

The Showdown Challenge is pretty much a poor man's story mode this time around. We basically have to select one wrestler and take him through all of the past decades in wrestling until we ultimately face Hulk Hogan for the "championship." What could have been an innovative spin on a story mode ended up as a meaningless rush job. All we have to do is face five superstars from each era until we're done. That's it. No unlockables, no hidden wrestlers or CAL items. Nothing. And sadly, this continues to be the theme of LoW: Showdown. Acclaim had something going good at first, but they kind of screwed themselves over. It's their own fault for this game turning out so negatively.

Score: 6 out of 10

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OVERALL
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I bought this game expecting nothing. I didn't expect this game to become the holy grail of wrestling games, nor for it to match the WWE Smackdown series. I bought this game simply to play a wrestling game, and amidst all of it's short comings, I still enjoyed it. Acclaim did a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong, but every wrestling game fan's priorities are different. The purpose of this game was to hold me over; to serve as an appetizer for WWE Smackdown! vs. RAW. It got the job done, and now I'll have something to hold me over until the time comes. Showdown: Legends of Wrestling is a good game. It's above average, and it's better than you think. It's just not great. Take it, or leave it.

Overall Score (Not an Average): 7 out of 10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/04