Anyone who's read my Smackdown reviews knows what I look for in a wrestling title-gameplay and realism. At the beginning, when Acclaim hit us with the first Legends of Wrestling game, many people didn't know what to expect. We knew we were in for a major dose of nostalgia, but how would it play compared to the likes of Smackdown or No Mercy? Unfortunately, it sucked. Badly.
Normally, the purpose of a sequel is to correct any mistakes in the first title, while at the same time making many other in-game elements better, right? I believed in this theory of mine when I borrowed Legends of Wrestling II from a fellow wrestling fan. Although I was reluctant to grab this game from the start because something deep down told me to leave it-I don't know if it was the fact that the first one was so horrible or what, but I left it.
Well, now I know for a fact that it was because the first one sucked, because Legends of Wrestling II is a debacle to all wrestling games. And you thought WWF Raw on Xbox was bad...
Features
Legends of Wrestling II is just that-a wrestling game where you can use some of the greatest competitors of all time. On the plus side, this game offers a huge roster of over sixty-five legends to choose from, and this installment has many wrestlers that were left out of the first game.
LoWII is seriously lacking in its number of match types, and that drives the replay value even further in the dirt. You do have multiplayer tag matches (up to eight-man tag), ladder, cage, and battle royale. These are not enough to keep a player entertained, even if you're a fan of this series.
By far, the most disappointing feature is the create-a-wrestler mode. I am a believer of this feature in wrestling games, and this is the first time where I actually said, "Screw this," and bypassed it. The feature gives you little to no freedom in character creation, with the exception of designing your own face paint, but even that is a troublesome task. Here you have an interface that is similar to that of the MS Paint program. Granted, it's a clever and unique idea, but it's simply not worth the time and effort. When creating a freak (and I say "freak" because that's how he/she/it will look like, no matter how you hack it) you are reduced to selecting from a short list of body types, faces, hairstyles, etc. After being able to freely tweak my creating fighters in the Smackdown series, this is totally unacceptable.
Gameplay
Here is where Legends of Wrestling II flops the hardest. We, as avid gamers, understand how important gameplay is. I mean, it's the very essence that makes a game a game. And I also understand that in order to break into a genre, a company sometimes has to make the gameplay and controls unique. It's one thing to create unique gameplay, but it's a whole other ball of wax when you make it unforgiving, and that goes for any game out there. LoWII is virtually unplayable, maybe even more so than the first game, and part of the reason is the horrible controls. The controller setup is so clumsy, you may find yourself mashing buttons. However, all the button-jagging in the world will not save you, for the computer will counter everything
Just like before, all of your moves, whether you are attacking or countering, is all based on a moving meter. This is a major gameplay foul, especially for a game with a fighting concept. What was Acclaim thinking? Meters are for sports games and RPGs, not fighting/wrestling games. You have to pay attention to a swinging stick and try to stop it on a certain spot. Needless to say you'll have to take your attention away from the action, and that's something no one should be tasked with especially for a game such as this. Acclaim should have simply left out the meters and based countering on timing and moves on positioning, just like every other wrestling game out there. It's good to be original, but face it, sometimes there's no other way around it.
Speaking of lack of realism, let's get into the characters' moves. Granted, many of these superstars' move lists are fairly accurate, but I have to tell you all what happened while I was playing that made me hate this game even more. I was just messing around in a cage match; I was using Hulk Hogan and wrestling against Rick "The Model" Martel. I was climbing the cage after I had knocked Martel on his back. Out of nowhere, Hogan cuts a back-flip off the cage wall and lands on Martel (the move is called a moonsault for you non-fans). Now, anyone who knows wrestling is well aware that Hogan does not perform acrobatic moves like that, or let his feet leave the mat for that matter.
Example number two: I had Bret "Hitman" Hart and was going up against Dory Funk Jr. As many may not know, Dory wrestled back in the 1950s, so one may think he'd probably use a lot of old school grapples and slams, right? Yeah, right. Dory went off on me with a flurry of martial arts-style kicks before he finished me off with a Stone Cold Stunner! And he gave me the finger before he did it, just like Steve Austin would.
I don't know what Acclaim was trying to do, but if they want to make a game based on legends, they should have stuck to their original moves. There were no Stunners in the 40's, Rock Bottoms in the 50's, or chokeslams in the 60's. And there was definitely no obscene finger gesturing, cripes!
Graphics
Legends of Wrestling II may be a poorly made game, but it's not necessarily graphical nightmare. The problem is that they are not realistic by a long shot. Each wrestler does indeed look sharp, but much like in the previous game, they are all unreal and heavily out-of-proportion with their real-life counterparts. Each competitor was rendered so smoothly and glossed-over, they look like steroid-injected action figures. The creators should have taken this element for more seriously than they did because this is a major hit on the game's authenticity. And anyone will tell you--when you take away the realism behind a game that is based on real-life personas, it negates just about everything within it. If this were a game based on imaginary characters, this element may have worked, but definitely not here.
It seemed as if they were all cut from the same mold, as each wrestler was crafted with about five different body types, ranging from "Superstar" Billy Graham slender to the King Kong Bundy obese. If you really wanted to be picky about it, you can stand Scott Steiner and Hulk Hogan side-by-side and swear they had identical bodies, (muscular cuts and all) just a different face. The outfits they wear are very accurate, ranging from past looks to the present. Too bad all their clothes look like they were applied with a airbrush... you know, kind of like what toy companies do with action figures (there's that term again). Nice try, but that is just plain lazy.
The arenas you compete in are off in just about every category, especially in the crowd. Like I said in the WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth review, it's important to put the graphics and animation where it's needed the most-in the ring... but really. If you want to have an animated crowd, animate it. Two frames of movement just doesn't cut it nowadays, not to mention they all look like just walked over from an 8-bit wrestling match. What a jagged mess.
Sound
LoWII's sound is somewhat overall dull and de-energized. The in-game sounds are by no means impressive. Every single in-ring sound seems faint and unrealistic. All you hear is a bunch of "ows" and lame thuds.
I say "somewhat" because the only aspect of the game's sound that earns it points is the soundtrack. As a matter of fact, the soundtrack is far better than any other wrestling game out there. You get today's hottest bands performing their music during each match, and that's a plus that comes few and far between for this game. Maybe it doesn't quite fit that whole "legends" theme, but it works.
Conclusion
Don't get me wrong, folks. Legends of Wrestling II tried to carry a great concept, but Acclaim seriously screwed the product. Here's the bottom line-if you see this game on the shelf, avoid it like the plague. I don't care how big a fan you are of wrestling or how much you crave nostalgia, because there's no lust great enough that should convince you to buy or rent this title. Face it... to all you Smackdown haters out there... Smackdown is the bar as far as wrestling games go. I can swear that this game is not for the true fans of wrestling.
