User Reviews (1 - 11 of 59)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Lineup & Career mode alone make this a winner

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 35 / 40
Date: December 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Having been recently disappointed by Smackdown: Just Bring It, I went out and picked up Legends of Wrestling. After playing it all weekend, I came to the conclusion that taking certain aspects of both and combining them into one game would create the ultimate wrestling game...but having to pick just one for now, Legends is the best.

The first thing that I saw in the game was the roster, which absolutely blew me away. Characters include such greats as: George "The Animal" Steele, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Terry Funk, Hulk Hogan, Rob Van Damm, Sabu, The Iron Shiek, Rock 'N' Roll Express, Ted Dibiase, Mr. Fuji, Don Muraco, Bret Hart, Tito Santana, Rick Martel, the Road Warriors, Kerry Von Erich (during one of the between-bout loading screens, a picture of the whole Von Erich family is shown, but I'm not sure how many of them are playable characters) and loads more. Those of us who grew up with 80's wrestling will be in heaven here.

Gameplay has two basic modes, exhibition (one match) and career. Exhibition only has four or five different modes, as opposed to the 70-something Smackdown has, and this is the main place where Legends loses out to Smackdown. Career mode is far superior to Smackdown's Story mode, however. In Career mode, you select a wrestler and start their career, working through the various regions of the country to claim the title and move on to the next region. Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart was my manager...Lou Albano is another manager available in the game; managers can also be turned off, as can blood and a few other options. You work through various types of matches, including 4-man elimination, 3-way elimination, single & tag team. The goal is not just to win, but to get audience approval, and therefore popularity. You need popularity in order to get a title shot. Doing things like repetitive actions (working a match doing nothing but chops for example) will deduct from the 'match excitement' level, which is used for determining your popularity increase at the end of the bout. High spots, finishers and move variety will increae the excitement.

Controls are fairly basic and easy to use. The main drawback to gameplay is that the controls can be a little sluggish...the controls in Smackdown, while being a bit more complicated, tend to respond faster than Legends.

Legends also has a create-a-wrestler feature, as does Smackdown, though it's not as comprehensive. Several arena's are also available to use in Legends, though wrestling seems to be restricted to the ringside area; no backstage brawling as in Smackdown. On a positive note, throwing an opponent into the side rail in Legends causes them to be hurt, unlike Smackdown which just stops them and makes them turn around, which bugs me to no end.

In all, Legends is a solid wrestling title which is tons of fun. If it had the numerous exhibition modes, brawling locations, create-a-wrestler enhancements and control tweaks of Smackdown, it would be the ultimate wrestling game; for now, it is pretty darned close and in my opinion, a notch above Smackdown.

The Legends

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 14
Date: November 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

From what I have seen in Gamespot's preview section of this game Acclaim has started from scratch with the engine. Also, the weapons will actually do a large amount of damage for once. Which also brings to mind that blood is in the matches which really pleases the crowd. Acclaim is attempting to use a combination system in which we can link moves. Lets not forget that the submissions are tweaked a bit too, now a person has to button-mash like mad to either get out of the submission or to keep it on. On a final note I admit I had my doubts at first but from the sound of things Acclaim has a good chance to redeem itself.

planning to get it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 18
Date: August 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Legends of wrestling is going to rock. it will feature 30 classic wrestlers including Bret Hart, Randy savage, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, and Terry Funk. the men behind the mic are Bobby "the brain" Heenan and Captian Lou Albano. Create a stencil will allow you to write your own stuff on the aprons and ring and stuff. Also, you get to fight in the audience, which is cool. I hope you can knock out the ref and cheat like in Smackdown 3:JBI. it will have great matches including ladder and 4 way dance. the one I cannot wait for is the new scaffold match. That's a match where you and your opponent are set on a platform set 25 ft. or so above the ring, and the first man to throw his opponent off the platform wins. also Acclaim IS the creator of create a wrestler and they'res was always the best. All in all, it sounds like perfect, and I can't wait to get it.

Just to balance out the other fake reviews

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 20
Date: November 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Please, amazon, stop taking reviews from people who say things like "I'm giving this game 5 stars, it WILL ROCK!" when the game isn't even out yet! Jeez, people have nothing better to do. Acclaim in the past has made horrible games that made money, and saying a game is good before it's released isn't going to help them clean up their act. Wait, please.

Possibly the best wresling game on the PS2 platform

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: November 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Ok, to start off if you were a fan of wrestling since you were litte like me, you will asouleutely love thi game. If you did not start liking wrestling until recentely, you will lie this game. If you don't usually like wrestling games you will probably still like this game. It has all of the best wrestlers of all time, awesome career mode, great matches, gappling system youll have to get used to but it will fall i real soon. Can't write much else but this agme is a must hav for anyone who ever likeHlk Hogan,or like me Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, he was my idol, or anything about the old days of the sport.

OLD SCHOOL! Good Effort from Acclaim. Needs Work

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is it, the second game to introduce the great genre of wrestling games to the PS2 system. Acclaim, after flopping badly with its ECW games finally makes a strong effort at redemption with Legends of Wrestling. With a new fighting engine and fresh (old) new faces, Acclaim has finally put itself back on the scoreboard.

Though by no means the perfect wrestling game, Legends of Wrestling is definitely a winner and in fact a great start to what could become the next best series of wrestling games on the next generation systems.

NEW FIGHTING ENGINE:
Acclaim has finally revamped its "Warzone" wrestling engine and has introduced a pretty great new system. The "combo/reversal" system is pretty sweet, allowing you to link grappling moves into realistic fluid combos, and produce believable counters to moves, just as you normally see in TV wrestling. Overall, this does produce some pretty intense realistic matches.

The wrestlers themselves have a pretty diverse moveset: three levels of attack, three levels of hit, grapple front, grapple back, grapple leg on mat, grapple head on mat, grapple side on mat, turnbuckle, ring apron, top rope, WEAPONS MOVES (like RVD's Van Daminator) etc. The moves are well rendered and with the combo reversal system look pretty crisp.

Plus, the "cheat button" available is pretty fun to have as your manager or tag partner will either distract the ref or come and interfere during the match for you.

SOLID STORY "CAREER" MODE:
Truly harkening back to the old territory days of wrestling before the WWF monopoly, the game basically follows your wrestler traveling throughout the old wrestling territories (Southwest, Southeast, Mid-West, Northeast and Pacific) winning (and defending) the regional titles before uniting them into a U.S. title and challenging for the World title. If you play long enough you can actually finish the career mode in a day, but it's a blast and is actually a lot more fun than story mode in some of the other games.

OLD SCHOOL CHARACTERS:
With THQ having the WWF license, Acclaim took a trip in the Way-Back Machine, pulling out some stars and "legends" (and some non-legends) from the 70's and 80's, primarily the WWF with some NWA and WCCW, and Memphis territory stars.

In total there are 44 wrestlers to choose from: Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Jimmy Snuka, Jerry Lawler, Hawk, Animal, RVD, Tony Atlas, King Kong Bundy, Ted DiBiase, Kevin Von Erich, Kerry Von Erich, David Von Erich, Mike Von Erich, Fritz Von Erich, Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, Dory Funk Jr., Terry Funk, One Man Gang, Eddie Gilbert, Billy Graham, Dynamite Kid, Ivan Koloff, Rick Martel, Don Muracco, Bob Orton, Brian Pillman, Ivan Putzki, Harley Race, Sabu, Tito Santana, Iron Sheik, The Sheik, Ricky Steamboat, George Steele, Greg Valentine, Nikolai Volkoff, Koko B. Ware, Lou Albano, Mr. Fuji and Jimmy Hart.

OTHER FACTOIDS:
The Create a Legend is the standard feature, right up there with those in the previous Acclaim releases and Smackdown 2.

Locked items: You can unlock various moves and other items for Create a Legend as well as wrestlers (about a third of the wrestlers are locked) as you progress through Career Mode.

The "Career advice" from Jimmy Hart and Lou Albano is basically them managing your wrestler throughout career mode, giving advice between matches and helping interfere in your matches for you. Hart manages the "faces" (good guys) and Albano the "heels" (bad guys). Overall, it's good to help you keep tabs of where you are in the game, but otherwise it gets irritating and worthless after a while...

Ring Entrances and Introductions are pretty cool, the entrance music for most is kinda cheesy, but alright.

THE "NEEDS WORKING":
Modes:
The modes of play are average to be honest. There's basically career mode, tournament mode (round robin style) and exhibition mode. Match types of limited to single (2 vs 2, three way and four way) and tag. If you are looking for various match types you won't find it here.

Bugs:
Also, despite the improvement in game engine, the game play itself is still a little on the slow side so if you're a "speed demon" you may wanna stick with Smackdown3 for PS2. Plus there are some bugs in the game still since at times some straaaaaaaaaange things will happen to your wrestler as moves are executed.

The Choice in Legends: Some of the wrestlers chosen (like Martel, Santana, Atlas and Koko B. Ware), while good, are probably not in most people's minds as ideas of legends. It amazes me how Acclaim skipped some obvious choices (some perhaps for contract reasons) for inclusion (who should probably be put into any future sequels they may produce) such as: Ric Flair, Andre the Giant, Bruno Sammartino, the Fabulous Freebirds - Hayes, Gordy, Roberts and Garvin, the Midnight Express - Eaton and Lane, Sgt. Slaughter, Randy Savage, Paul Orndorff, Jake the Snake, Junk Yard Dog, Curt Hennig, Chris Adams, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, Nikita Koloff, Dr. Death, Larry Zbysko, Verne Gagne, Nick Bockwinkel, Bob Backlund, etc.

Overall, this game is just perfect if you are into old school wrestling. In fact, it is a must have if you are. If you are an average gamer looking for a decent game for the PS2, this is it. The replay value is decent, if not repetitive, after a while. This is definitely worth at least a rental/play. At the moment, this is the best the PS2 has to offer.

Good job Acclaim. Add better legends and more modes in the next sequel and we've got a keeper.

Recommended for Most
Highest Recommendation for 80s fans

New v.s. Old

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: November 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

If your like me and your getting sick and tired of the "new generation" than this is the game for you. Im only 15 years old but when it comes to restling you would think I was 50. i sit around with my dad remembering the "golden ages" of wrestling as we watch thins (stuff) that they try to pass as wrestling. After playing the internet version of this (...) I cant wait until i it comes out. This is now #1 on the things I want for christmas.

Let's check it, first

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 13
Date: September 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I agree that Acclaim has disappointed in the past with it's wrestling games (i.e. WWF Attitude and the ECW games, which just used the Attitude engine); however, seeing how this game is supposed to be for the PS2, I would imagine that they have revamped their engine for wrestling games. Especially since it's going to include some of the all-time greats, as well as the create-a-stencil feature. I'll check out this game when it comes out first, and just may be the deciding factor that makes me sell my PS One and get a PS2. It'll be great to pit Snuka vs Hart in a scaffold match, with the genius of Heenan and Albano on the mic commentating.

Best wrestling game ever developed...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The gameplay is simply amazing. The graphics are stunning. This game is a must purchase whether you are a current wrestling fan or a fan from the past. You will have so much fun playing this game and it will never get old.

Legends of Wrestling: A definate 4 star game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: January 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The graphics are exceptionally well done, although there are some major clipping bugs. As Terry Funk, I attempted to climb out of the ring, Funk went through the motions of stepping over the top rope, only to remain in the ring; walk through the ropes while falling through the ring apron to the floor. Another major bug I noticed was in a four way match. While I had Jerry Lawler in a sleeper on the canvas, another wrestler pinned the 4th wrestler in the match, this caused Terry Funk to remain on the canvas in the sleeper hold position. You ask what the problem with that is? Well, Jerry Lawler disappeared. After eliminating the other guy, which would have left myself as Funk and Lawler in the ring to battle it out, where ever I walked Funk would jerk to the right as if there was a ghost hanging around. The only way to end this match was to enter the pause menu and select quit game.

Another thing you will notice about the graphics, is that some of the wrestlers are overly exaggerated. King Kong Bundy is a lot larger than One Man Gang, when in reality in the 80's they were of similar size. Wrestlers are also a lot more muscular than you will remember them. It looks as if Acclaim was going for the 80's cartoonish wrestling look, but that is not to say that the game is at all cartooney.

The entrances are a nice touch, although they get a bit repetitive, easily skipped by using the start button. There are some load times that you won't find in SmackDown, but they're not too bad.

The ring introductions are nicely done, and gives the game a 1980's NWA feel. Both wrestlers standing in the ring, the ring announce introduces the guys one at a time, where he is from, how tall he is and his approximate weight. These can also be skipped, but you need to press the start button about five times on the first one then all after that are also skipped. The music that plays during entrances is basically generic music, although, in the short time I played, Rob Van Dam seems to have his music he used in ECW. Surprisingly, Ricky Steamboat and Jerry Lawler have generic music. The themes are still nice, even though they are not authentic.

It may take only about five minutes before you get a hang out of what each button or button combination does. To run you use R1, striking moves (kicks, punches, stomps) are done with the square button. Using the directional pad, you have access to two other striking moves. Just square is a minimal move, up/down with square would be a different level of damage move, and left/right with square would be another level of damage. This is the system that they use when you use any other attack/grapple buttons. L2 exits/enters the ring, L1 spins your opponent around. The control didn't seem to responsive at first, but it seemed to improve as I got used to the game.

You have several modes to choose from, these include: Exhibition (versus and tag team); versus matches you can select from a regular one on one match, a 3 way dance and a 4 way dance (these are elimination matches). Tag Team is just what it says, a two on two match up. There is no customization of the matches, other than selecting the arena. There are no count outs or ring outs.

The career mode: select your wrestler and you try to take him to that areas championship title. This is all based on how the crowd likes the match, and that effects how they like you. After the match, you'll see that your approval rating will grow. The more you do in a match, the more the crowd will like it. However, you will be penalized if you keep repeating the same moves.

Tournament mode: play in versus, tag team or title belt modes. These are short round robin tournaments that comprise of anywhere between two and six participants; one to three rounds. You can also hold simulated tournaments, CPU versus CPU.

The Create mode: There are numerous options, although it is not as customizable as many CAW modes have been, though, it does have the one feature that has been missing for along time. You start with the appearance of your wrestler, is he fat, skinny, muscular? It's your choice. Is he 5 feet or 7 feet? Again, it's all up to you. Customize the head, add a mask or headband anyone? How about the mid section, everyone needs a shirt, some elbow pads, how about some brass knuckles on that left hand and a glove on the right one, well, it's all up to you. The lower body, grab some trunks, put on some knee pads or a knee brace, select your boots and we're all set to go (you can even select flip flops). How about your ring entrance, want to make it different than your pals? Let's go for it, we can select a robe, we can select a jacket or tee shirt. This is what all games will need in the future, and it is a welcome addition. Style, everyone needs style. Are you a brawler, a high flyer, a technical wrestler? Your masterpiece is nothing without a name, give him one that fits his look. Is he a face or a heel, it's time to choose now. Next it's time to select the entrance theme, this has to be good too. Do you need a manager? If so, it's time to select one. Choose a move set from a legend, or make your own, which ever you want to do. Divide up the attributes and the abilities and we're ready to save the ultimate wrestler.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next 

Actions