- Publisher: THQ
- Developer: Yuke’s
- Also On: PS3
- ESRB Rating: “T” for Teen
- Genre: Pro Wrestling
- Pros: Great presentation; tons of classic WrestleMania moments
- Cons: Simple and boring gameplay; roster is somewhat underwhelming
WrestleMania is a big deal. It is the show that the rest of the year in wrestling is built around. For casual fans and even for non-fans of wrestling, WrestleMania is worth watching if only for the grand spectacle of it all.
Legends of WrestleMania captures this Super Bowl-type feel quite well. It represents the first fifteen WrestleMania events and features all of the arenas they took place in and even mimics the television presentation from each event with different fonts and graphics for the names during the entrances. Little touches like these make all of the difference. The music for the wrestlers is all here as well, and when “Real American” hits and Hulk Hogan walks down the ramp it is hard to not mark out like a crazy person.
The roster includes 38 WWE legends and you can also import the roster from Smackdown vs. Raw 09 if you have a save file from that game, which gives you a pretty darn huge number of characters to play with. I think the legends roster needs to be addressed, however, because there are some massive gaps where main event stars that should be here aren’t. It isn’t that the included roster is bad or those guys don’t deserve to be in the game, but about half of the main events and best match ups from the first 15 WM’s can’t be duplicated here and that is pretty disappointing.
The features list is a bit on the short side, but what is included is definitely cool. There is a “Legend Killer” mode where you create a character and have to fight your way through a gauntlet of 10 opponents. You earn XP in this mode that you can use to make your created character stronger. There is also a “WrestleMania Tour” mode which is the highlight of the entire package. It lets you relive classic matches, rewrite matches by changing the finish, and redefine matches by putting classic match ups into different match types than they were originally. All of these are accompanied by video clips from the real shows and the videos really get you pumped up to play the matches. Sadly, there are only a handful of matches in WrestleMania Tour. You can also play exhibition matches in singles, tag team, ladder, cage, Hell in a Cell, and even the Royal Rumble among others. It definitely isn’t as fully featured as the Smackdown games, but it isn’t bad.
One thing that becomes clear pretty quickly, however, is that this isn’t really a game about making new memories. Legends of WrestleMania is at its absolute best when you are recreating classic matches move for move or playing through “what if?” scenarios with the old guys. The SvR09 roster and even the Create-a-Legend characters just don’t really fit in to the pace and tone of the rest of the game, which makes the gaps in the included roster stand out even more.
Gameplay
One issue is the gameplay. It is completely changed from the SvR games to fit the much slower and more methodical pace of the 80’s and early 90’s. The game simplifies the controls down to a reverse/block button, a strike button, and a grapple button. Pressing two buttons together, pressing the same button twice in succession, holding the stick in different directions, or having your opponent in different positions all result in different moves. There is also a three-tiered gauge that fills up as you fight, and as it moves from level one to two to three you get different moves.At various points around and outside the ring, you can activate Quick Time Events that require you to press a button as it flashes on the screen to perform specific moves. This does things like grabs and uses weapons, lets you climb into the crowd, put your opponent through the announce tables, or perform specific moves on the ropes and in the corners of the ring.
This all sounds good on paper, but it is seriously lacking depth. There are only a handful of strikes and grapples and the frequent QTEs start grating on you almost immediately. On top of that, the QTE stuff is fairly limited so each little hot spot around the ring only does one of a few things. After a few matches you have seen it all.
Simply put, this is a game that is more interesting to watch than it is to play. The game was meant to mimic real WM moments, and it does it very well, but when you venture off the beaten path into new/different matches, the gameplay just isn’t beefy enough to keep you entertained for long.
Graphically, WWE Legends of WrestleMania is pretty darn impressive. The faces all look really good and the animation is great. Little details like the way the muscles move are also startlingly realistic and hard not to appreciate if you take a close look at the game. The wrestlers’ bodies are a bit over the top and aren’t really accurate – they look more like super muscled action figures than these guys did back in their heydays.
Sound
The sound is good for the most part. Howard Finkel does the introductions and sounds great and the entrance music is almost all here and sounds good. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are the announce team, but repeat themselves a lot as it seems like only one set of comments was recorded for each wrestler. It would have been nice to have Vince McMahon or Jesse Ventura or Bobby Heenan on commentary to lend the game some old-school credibility.
Bottom Line
Ultimately, WWE Legends of WrestleMania only halfway accomplishes what it was intended for. It does a great job of showcasing WrestleMania and the stars that made WM 1-15 worth remembering, but outside of the nostalgia it is a pretty mediocre wrestling game. The roster is okay, but some big names aren’t here. You can import the SvR09 roster, but the younger guys don’t mesh all that well with the slower more methodical gameplay style. The gameplay itself is also rather shallow and past the day or two it takes to figure everything out it just isn’t all that fun after a while. I can’t recommend it for a purchase, but old-school wrestling fans should give it a rent.
