Legends of WrestleMania is nearly a wrestling fan's dream come true... or at least those of us who have grown up in the era of Hulkamania. The list of sports entertainment athletes included is outstanding and really helps bring back some memories of the glory days when modern wrestling began its boom. Unfortunately, even with the greats that are available in the game,
Legends of WrestleMania could have employed a few more as well, including curiously missing superstars like Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Captain Lou Albano, George "The Animal" Steele, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and Hillbilly Jim. It would have also been great to see a few more managers involved. Had a few more of these greats been included, it would have been even easier to overlook some of the performance weaknesses in
Legends of WrestleMania.
The game allows you to mix it up in the squared circle by jumping into three different game modes: Exhibition, Legend Killer, and Tour Mode. The first is simply a quick way to jump into matches, choosing options like Singles, Tag Team, Cage, and Ladder matches, as well as Handicaps, Battle Royals, and the Royal Rumble. In Legend Killer, you create a superstar that can be used to sequentially dethrone the top legends in the game. Finally, the meat and potatoes of the game lies in Tour Mode. Here, you will have three sub-categories to choose from: Relive, Rewrite, and Redefine. Essentially, you take control of one superstar in events from WrestleMania matches of the past in an effort to fulfill the same outcome, change the outcome, or relive matches with new atmosphere, such as using old school wrestlers in a Hell in the Cell match.
The core gameplay boils down to trying to pummel your opponent enough to make him either submit or lose to a pinfall. I have to admit that this title, as compared to other wrestling videogames out there, does feel a bit less polished and there aren't as many different controls and moves to perform as one would think. I do like the crucial moments in the game where the action changes to real-time cut-scenes that focus on certain actions. In some, you will have to watch for and time simple button presses faster than your nemesis to gain the advantage. In other cut-scenes, special moves will take place or things like manager interference will help turn the tides. Typical of wrestling matches of the past, a manager can actually affect the outcome by distracting a player or even placing a wrestler's foot on the ropes before the final three-count. Classic!
While it is certainly entertaining to be able to relive past matches and control their outcomes in the Tour Mode, I do think that too much of an emphasis was put into this feature instead of developing original content. The best of both worlds would have had storylines as you would see in most recent wrestling titles, yet using these nostalgic wrestlers. There is a Create-A-Wrestler mode present in the game as well. The cool thing about this is that you can take him online and pit him against other created wrestlers or superstars alike.
Taking Legends of WrestleMania online allows for some decent gameplay and there was virtually no slowdown noticeable in my testing. There is, of course, an added difficultly level while playing against online opponents because the computer-controlled wrestler A.I. is somewhat predictable offline. Also included in the game is the ability to import current WWE wrestlers into your game, providing you also have WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 saves on your Xbox 360. Here you can pit new stars against old in the ultimate showdown to see who really is King of the Ring.
