Nostalgia That Flat Lines Quickly…
Title: WWE Legends of WrestleMania
Published by: THQ
Release Date: March 24, 2009
Genre: Wrestling
Rated “T” for Terrible
Platforms: Xbox 360 | Sony PS3 |iPhone |iPod Touch
I’m a sucker for wrestling games, yet I am almost always disappointed with them. WWE Legends of WrestleMania was no exception. While it was a noble attempt, the game falls short of my expectations in many ways. For this review, I played the PS3 version.
38 superstars from wrestling past such as the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan sounds like a recipe for success, but they certainly skipped some great wrestlers who should have been in the game. Where’s guys like Randy “Macho Man” Savage or Ricky Steamboat. The game also lacks a definitive lineup of managers and wrestling personalities. One huge bonus is that you can import your entire lineup from Smack Down vs. Raw 2009 and create any missing wrestlers you want in the game.
The Good
- A decent selection of wrestlers was included.
- Old school wrestling videos throughout the game that takes you back to a time when wrestling was great.
- Great throwback music!
The Bad
- The control scheme is simply awful. It’s not even button masher bad either. We’re talking about a control scheme so bad that you don’t even feel like you are in control half the time.
- Combat is repetitive, requires no thought and is simply flat in almost every possible way. For the most part, you can win any match by continually pressing SQUARE and then pinning your opponent when his health is in the red zone.
- The character models are not even close to being realistic. They did a pretty good job on the faces, but the bodies look like He-Man action figures.
- The game encourages mediocre performances. You are awarded points in every match for accomplishing certain tasks. This is a cool idea on the surface, but didn’t work well with this title. A majority of the tasks actually require you to perform poorly. Eliminating your opponent quickly is never good, because you will be punished in the points department for doing so.
- TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EASY!!!
In the end, this is one of those games that starts out fun and exciting, but fizzles out after the first hour. WrestleMania Tour Mode was the only part of the game I really enjoyed. In this mode you can relive, rewrite or redefine moments from WrestleMania past. Other than that, the game is certainly something I’d suggest avoiding or renting. It could be a fun experience for a 1 or 2 day rental. If repetition and boredom are your things, go ahead and spend $60 on it. The absolute best part of the game is the video montages from the old days. When the video montages are the best aspect of a game, you know something is wrong. This game had the recipe for success, but they simply neglected nearly every possibly category that would have allowed it to live up to the hype. I do hope they revisit this idea in the future, because an awesome wrestling game with most of the legends is a great idea. This simply wasn’t what I expected.
My Score: 5/10 (Mediocre)
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