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Some say wrestling is fake but this game isn't. See if the game holds up as well as the wrestlers do in a fight!
November 14, 2003 | 10:00 PM PSTby: Vincent Anderson
Ever since 1997, when I first started watching wrestling, I had always wanted to play a game that featured all of the classic and legendary wrestlers that preceded the wrestlers of today. I just recently got to play a game in which I got to do just that. Legends of Wrestling features a vast amount of wrestling Legends, with their own theme music, moves, animation, and more.
When you first boot up your Gamecube, you will go through the standard set of logos, disclaimers, and other non-essential items. However, right before you come to the main screen, if you do not have enough space on your memory card, then it will ask you to either manage your memory card or to not save the game at that time.
When you finally make your way to the main screen, you'll first notice the menus, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. The menus are very bland. There are very few menus in the first place, and what is there isn't very exciting to the eyes. The menus do their job of getting you through the options, but other than that there is nothing exciting to be said about the menus. You have five options to choose from on the main menu: Exhibition, Career, Create, Tournament, and Options.
In the Exhibiton mode you can pick from regular Versus matches, Tag Team matches, and 3 or 4 Way Dances. After you pick your wrestlers and press the Start button, you will be taken to a load screen, which, just like the menus, is also fairly plain. The entire screen is black except for the middle in which there is a caption, like a comic strip, in which a wrestler is centered on doing one of their famous moves. Their name is at the bottom of the caption, and at the very bottom of the screen is the text "Loading...". Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about this.
After the game is done loading you will be taken to each of the wrestler's main entrances. I know this is sounding repetitive, but their entrances are very bland and boring. Sure, there is some nice music that accompanies each wrestler, but there is no vintage highlights for each wrestler. I would have loved it had there been some sort of collection of highlights from the matches of each respective wrestler, but unfortunately this was never added to the game. The wrestlers just come out to their music, do maybe one or two different poses while going down the aisle, and that's pretty much it. After the entrances comes the introductions, which really aren't that bad, but the wording used is varied much, so after the first time you go through the introductions for a wrestler, most likely you won't want to hear it again.
The graphics for this game are fairly impressive. You can tell that this game was made for a Next Generation system, but sometimes it doesn't show. Examples of this include the crowd, which, as usual, is just a set of background animations with boring and repetitive signs. The wrestlers themselves are very well detailed, but they have a very cartoony look to them, which is why, I'm assuming, the loading screen featured something that resembles a comic strip. The animations for each wrestler, except for when the characters are moving (ie: Not hurting their opponent), are excellent. The animation of each wrestler together and is very smooth.
However, the controls for Legends could definitely be labeled as confusing, to say the least. When you first start out trying to figure out what buttons do what, it is like being a fish out of water. You feel very insecure and vulnerable, and for good reason too, for while you are figuring out your controls, most likely your opponent is beating up on you, unless you were smart enough to change the Hardness of the opponents in the Options screen. For basic attacking, you have the analog stick to move your wrestler, the L button will make your wrestler get in or out of the ring, the R button will make you run, the Z button will let you turn your opponent around, the B button is for block, A is for basic punching, X is for Grappling and Y is for moves.
Hitting the Y button itself will result in a basic attack. Pressing the Y button plus left or right on the analog stick will make your wrestler do their second move, and if you use the Y button plus up or down on the analog stick it will make your wrestler do their third move. The D-Pad is used for different things altogether. Up on the D-Pad is how you pick up a weapon. Left on the D-Pad will call your manager (If you have one). Hitting right on the D-Pad will make your tag team partner (If you have one) go into the ring and attack your opponent, even if you are the legal man. Pressing down on the D-Pad is normally reserved for taunting, but when your Finisher Meter is full, pressing it will make your wrestler do their finishing move. Also, if your wrestler is staggering, you will need to rap the A button repeatedly to make your wrestler movable again and to get out of harm's way.
Career, Create, and Tournament are all pretty much self explanatory. In Career you get to pick a wrestler and go through numerous matches to win that coveted belt. Create is where you get to create either a wrestler or a Stable to put wrestlers in. Tournment can be played in Versus, Tag team, or Tag Belt mode. The tournament is a short round robin style contest where wrestlers battle until eliminated from competition. You can choose from two to six wrestlers and have one to three rounds of competition.
Sound for this game is very poor. The music is virtually non existant, as you can't remember most of it because of how bad it is. The Sound Effects are much better, as you can hear grunts and straininig, and other bodily noises associated with wrestling. the best music comes when the wrestling is making their entrance, because most of those songs you remember or now and love.
Overall, this game certainly has its share of flaws and other shortcomings, I was still able to have fun with it. While it is harder to enjoy the game when you are just playing it by yourself, you will be able to appreciate it better when you have friends to play it with. While you may not appreciate the other things in the game, you'll be able to appreciate that you'll be able to play as numerous Legends of Wrestling.
**Submitted by N-Philes staffer Vincent Anderson for GCA "Medtroid Prime Giveaway Contest"
When you first boot up your Gamecube, you will go through the standard set of logos, disclaimers, and other non-essential items. However, right before you come to the main screen, if you do not have enough space on your memory card, then it will ask you to either manage your memory card or to not save the game at that time.
When you finally make your way to the main screen, you'll first notice the menus, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. The menus are very bland. There are very few menus in the first place, and what is there isn't very exciting to the eyes. The menus do their job of getting you through the options, but other than that there is nothing exciting to be said about the menus. You have five options to choose from on the main menu: Exhibition, Career, Create, Tournament, and Options.
In the Exhibiton mode you can pick from regular Versus matches, Tag Team matches, and 3 or 4 Way Dances. After you pick your wrestlers and press the Start button, you will be taken to a load screen, which, just like the menus, is also fairly plain. The entire screen is black except for the middle in which there is a caption, like a comic strip, in which a wrestler is centered on doing one of their famous moves. Their name is at the bottom of the caption, and at the very bottom of the screen is the text "Loading...". Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about this.
After the game is done loading you will be taken to each of the wrestler's main entrances. I know this is sounding repetitive, but their entrances are very bland and boring. Sure, there is some nice music that accompanies each wrestler, but there is no vintage highlights for each wrestler. I would have loved it had there been some sort of collection of highlights from the matches of each respective wrestler, but unfortunately this was never added to the game. The wrestlers just come out to their music, do maybe one or two different poses while going down the aisle, and that's pretty much it. After the entrances comes the introductions, which really aren't that bad, but the wording used is varied much, so after the first time you go through the introductions for a wrestler, most likely you won't want to hear it again.
The graphics for this game are fairly impressive. You can tell that this game was made for a Next Generation system, but sometimes it doesn't show. Examples of this include the crowd, which, as usual, is just a set of background animations with boring and repetitive signs. The wrestlers themselves are very well detailed, but they have a very cartoony look to them, which is why, I'm assuming, the loading screen featured something that resembles a comic strip. The animations for each wrestler, except for when the characters are moving (ie: Not hurting their opponent), are excellent. The animation of each wrestler together and is very smooth.
However, the controls for Legends could definitely be labeled as confusing, to say the least. When you first start out trying to figure out what buttons do what, it is like being a fish out of water. You feel very insecure and vulnerable, and for good reason too, for while you are figuring out your controls, most likely your opponent is beating up on you, unless you were smart enough to change the Hardness of the opponents in the Options screen. For basic attacking, you have the analog stick to move your wrestler, the L button will make your wrestler get in or out of the ring, the R button will make you run, the Z button will let you turn your opponent around, the B button is for block, A is for basic punching, X is for Grappling and Y is for moves.
Hitting the Y button itself will result in a basic attack. Pressing the Y button plus left or right on the analog stick will make your wrestler do their second move, and if you use the Y button plus up or down on the analog stick it will make your wrestler do their third move. The D-Pad is used for different things altogether. Up on the D-Pad is how you pick up a weapon. Left on the D-Pad will call your manager (If you have one). Hitting right on the D-Pad will make your tag team partner (If you have one) go into the ring and attack your opponent, even if you are the legal man. Pressing down on the D-Pad is normally reserved for taunting, but when your Finisher Meter is full, pressing it will make your wrestler do their finishing move. Also, if your wrestler is staggering, you will need to rap the A button repeatedly to make your wrestler movable again and to get out of harm's way.
Career, Create, and Tournament are all pretty much self explanatory. In Career you get to pick a wrestler and go through numerous matches to win that coveted belt. Create is where you get to create either a wrestler or a Stable to put wrestlers in. Tournment can be played in Versus, Tag team, or Tag Belt mode. The tournament is a short round robin style contest where wrestlers battle until eliminated from competition. You can choose from two to six wrestlers and have one to three rounds of competition.
Sound for this game is very poor. The music is virtually non existant, as you can't remember most of it because of how bad it is. The Sound Effects are much better, as you can hear grunts and straininig, and other bodily noises associated with wrestling. the best music comes when the wrestling is making their entrance, because most of those songs you remember or now and love.
Overall, this game certainly has its share of flaws and other shortcomings, I was still able to have fun with it. While it is harder to enjoy the game when you are just playing it by yourself, you will be able to appreciate it better when you have friends to play it with. While you may not appreciate the other things in the game, you'll be able to appreciate that you'll be able to play as numerous Legends of Wrestling.
**Submitted by N-Philes staffer Vincent Anderson for GCA "Medtroid Prime Giveaway Contest"
November 20, 2009
