Legends of Wrestlemehnia
Legends of Wrestlemania is in a word, silly. Yokozuna vs. Andre the Giant in a Ladder Match is silly. Koko B. Ware winning the Royal Rumble is silly. The Undertaker vs. Big Boss Man in Hell in a Ce... Nevermind, you get where I'm going.
Beyond the silliness, the most important aspect of a Wrestling game for your average gamer almost has to be the Gameplay. At first, the Gameplay seems like a breath of fresh air and pretty fun. Unfortunately, whatever positive vibes you may have had at first with the Gameplay quickly go down the drain with it's monotony.
Beyond the basic punches and kicks you will start out every match with, Legends of Wrestlemania boasts some impressive combinations. Combinations are done by hitting the corresponding buttons shown on the screen within a set time limit. And they can trigger off some pretty cool things such as Stone Cold's Lou Thesz Press, Shawn Michaels' Flying Elbow, etc. etc.
Alongside the basic fighting moves and various combinations are the "Finishers." You obtain a Finisher by hitting chains of punches, kicks, and tosses until your HUD is in the "3" area. You will then be prompted to hit A+X to execute the finisher. Fighting wise, the Finishers are by and large the most fun things to watch in the game. But as I have already said, after about 3 Hours of playing, the "Coolness" factor of the Finishers had already warn off. You can only see Triple H's Pedigree so many times before you start to get bored of it.
Now, if you are an '80s/'90s Wrestling aficianado, the most important part of this game for you is probably the Wrestlers in this game. For the most part, this game doesn't disappoint. Classic favorites such as Hogan, Warrior, and Andre all make an appearance. (You even get some sweet cameos from Bobby Hennan and Paul Bearer) But fans with a more modern taste are not left out either. In this department, you have The Rock, The Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels. And if you have Smackdown vs. RAW 2009, you can import those characters in here as well.
My only complaints with the Roster is the glaring omissions of "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Also, I feel like some of these Wrestlers don't really belong. Was anyone really clamoring for Michael P.S. Hayes? How about Greg "The Hammer" Valentine?
My favorite part/least favorite part of the entire game was the Legend Killer and Wrestlemania Tour Modes. On the surface, the Legend Killer mode is not a bad idea. But after the first tier, there really isn't that much more to do. It's essentially the same thing just with different Wrestlers. So, unless you want all 1000 Achievement Points, I suggest you steer clear of this mode.
The Wrestlemania Tour mode, on the other hand, is hands down the best part of the game. You have 3 ways to go about it. Relive, Rewrite, Redefine.
Relive puts you in the role of the victor in 1 of 7 classic Wrestlemania matches. After watching some really cool flashback videos, your goal is to not only win the match, but also to execute some moves that actually happened in the match. This feature even made my non-Wrestling fan friend impressed.
Rewrite puts in the shoes of either the Wrestler who lost a famous Wrestlemania match, or the winner who won by DQ. And your job is to reverse the original decision and win the title or the match. This mode is cool in it's nature, but the extra goals are kinda lame. (Taunt, Grapple) Overall, It's 'aight.
The Redefine mode caught me off-guard by how much I enjoyed it. It takes the same formula of the past two mentioned modes, but puts an entirely new spin on the match. (What if Big John Studd vs. Andre the Giant was in a Cell?) Again, the other objectives kinda suck, but it's made up for by the sight of Yokozuna trying to climb out of a Steel Cage.
Overall, this would be a buy for a Nostalgic Wrestling fan, and a Rent at best for everyone else. What's good in this game is unfortunately bogged down by it's accompanied repetitiveness and some modes that just fall flat on their face.
