Game Card
WWE Legends of WrestleMania (Xbox360)
- Publisher:
- THQ
- Developer:
- THQ
- US Release:
- 24.03.2009
- EU Release:
- n/a
- Number of players:
- n/a
Review
We play WWE Legends of WrestleMania...
THQ and WWE are attempting to herd in the countless wrestling fanatics who want to remember their childhood with WWE: Legends of WrestleMania. From the likes of The Ultimate Warrior to the craziness of Koko B. WWE: Legends of WrestleMania is a brilliant starting point to a budding franchise. Of course, it isn’t without its own flaws, but for the most part, we are looking at a beautiful painting of wrestling history.
Why should any wrestling fan pick up LOWM? If the inclusion of more than 40 wrestlers and managers isn’t enough, then maybe the ability to relive, rewrite or redefine classic matches will attract your attention. The WWE has put together individual video packages that highlight close to 18 different matches that help bring back all the prestige and nostalgia of wrestling’s biggest matches from WrestleMania’s infancy.
In WWE Tour Mode, you can relive – a.k.a. taking the winner from the original match – the greatness of WrestleMania 13’s Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin. You can also rewrite matches where you take the loser and give him a victory such as WrestleMania’s 12’s Iron Man match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Lastly, you can redefine matches where you take any wrestler you want and fight in different circumstances such as the first WrestleMania’s Big John Studd vs. Andre Giant in a Hell in a Cell match rather than a Body Slam match. Having WrestleMania’s history from 1-15, there’s a lot of memories to revisit.
As for the gameplay, LOWM is an arcade title till the bitter end. Don’t expect any simulation aspects to come into play as you can kick and punch your way to victory without ever having to grapple. There are also QTEs (quick-time events) to take advantage of, especially when you are performing your finisher, that’ll string together a combination of moves, but for the most part, expect to button smash your way to victory. Matches, without moving the sliders, normally take under 3-4 minutes to finish, so don’t expect a lot of longevity to come out of the matches.
There are a handful of game types to experience such as: Single, Tag Team, Triple Threat, Handicap, Ironman, Submission, Ladder, Steel Cage, Hell in a Call, Battle Royal and Royal Rumble. You can modify the Single’s match with adding in managers who have their own traits of interfering by standing on the apron and distracting your opponent to allow you to get up from a downed position and much more. The Royal Rumble is probably the best game type out of what they’ve provided, but sadly it’s not available to online matches – a real downer!
As briefly stated earlier, the cast of wrestlers brought together is one of the best ever in a WWE video game. You have your typical legends such as The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and Andre the Giant showing up in the fittest form ever (Hogan is overly exaggerated in size). Then you also have the legendary The Ultimate Warrior, “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka and Yokozuna making their appearances known too. If those don’t satisfy you then maybe the addition of lesser known legends such as Arn Anderson, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and Nikolai Koloff will please your tastes. Sadly, there are no appearances by Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat or Rick “The Model” Martel, nor are there any great tag-teams included such as Demolition or The Steiner Brothers outside of The Road Warriors.
Technical aspects are well done with good looking character models (besides Hulk Hogan’s) and great commentary by Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler. Ross and Lawler weren’t commentators back in the early days of WrestleMania, so they had to go back to video footage and adlib their commentary to the times of those particular matches . The soundtrack is superb too; you’ll never grow bored for hearing the 40 or so tracks provided that take you back to a time when wrestling was much simpler.
So what’s left to say about LOWM? Well, it won’t please everyone. Hardcore fanatics may become upset at a few changes to wrestlers (different wrestling attire for The Undertaker) and casual video game fans who don’t appreciate WrestleMania won’t find LOWM too interesting. WWE: Legends of WrestleMania is a video game aimed specifically at wrestling fans and thus, it’s a standout title for the group it caters to.
Top Game Moment: Rewatching the video package of Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels in their 60 minute Iron Man match.
Why should any wrestling fan pick up LOWM? If the inclusion of more than 40 wrestlers and managers isn’t enough, then maybe the ability to relive, rewrite or redefine classic matches will attract your attention. The WWE has put together individual video packages that highlight close to 18 different matches that help bring back all the prestige and nostalgia of wrestling’s biggest matches from WrestleMania’s infancy.
 |
 |
|
| Managers play a big part in matches. | Andre was larger than life. |
In WWE Tour Mode, you can relive – a.k.a. taking the winner from the original match – the greatness of WrestleMania 13’s Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin. You can also rewrite matches where you take the loser and give him a victory such as WrestleMania’s 12’s Iron Man match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Lastly, you can redefine matches where you take any wrestler you want and fight in different circumstances such as the first WrestleMania’s Big John Studd vs. Andre Giant in a Hell in a Cell match rather than a Body Slam match. Having WrestleMania’s history from 1-15, there’s a lot of memories to revisit.
As for the gameplay, LOWM is an arcade title till the bitter end. Don’t expect any simulation aspects to come into play as you can kick and punch your way to victory without ever having to grapple. There are also QTEs (quick-time events) to take advantage of, especially when you are performing your finisher, that’ll string together a combination of moves, but for the most part, expect to button smash your way to victory. Matches, without moving the sliders, normally take under 3-4 minutes to finish, so don’t expect a lot of longevity to come out of the matches.
 |
 |
|
| Austin makes The Rock feel the pain. | Do you smell what The Rock is cooking? |
There are a handful of game types to experience such as: Single, Tag Team, Triple Threat, Handicap, Ironman, Submission, Ladder, Steel Cage, Hell in a Call, Battle Royal and Royal Rumble. You can modify the Single’s match with adding in managers who have their own traits of interfering by standing on the apron and distracting your opponent to allow you to get up from a downed position and much more. The Royal Rumble is probably the best game type out of what they’ve provided, but sadly it’s not available to online matches – a real downer!
As briefly stated earlier, the cast of wrestlers brought together is one of the best ever in a WWE video game. You have your typical legends such as The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and Andre the Giant showing up in the fittest form ever (Hogan is overly exaggerated in size). Then you also have the legendary The Ultimate Warrior, “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka and Yokozuna making their appearances known too. If those don’t satisfy you then maybe the addition of lesser known legends such as Arn Anderson, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and Nikolai Koloff will please your tastes. Sadly, there are no appearances by Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat or Rick “The Model” Martel, nor are there any great tag-teams included such as Demolition or The Steiner Brothers outside of The Road Warriors.
 |
 |
|
| Titles can change hands at the blink of an eye. | It's lights out for The Rock. |
Technical aspects are well done with good looking character models (besides Hulk Hogan’s) and great commentary by Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler. Ross and Lawler weren’t commentators back in the early days of WrestleMania, so they had to go back to video footage and adlib their commentary to the times of those particular matches . The soundtrack is superb too; you’ll never grow bored for hearing the 40 or so tracks provided that take you back to a time when wrestling was much simpler.
So what’s left to say about LOWM? Well, it won’t please everyone. Hardcore fanatics may become upset at a few changes to wrestlers (different wrestling attire for The Undertaker) and casual video game fans who don’t appreciate WrestleMania won’t find LOWM too interesting. WWE: Legends of WrestleMania is a video game aimed specifically at wrestling fans and thus, it’s a standout title for the group it caters to.
Top Game Moment: Rewatching the video package of Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels in their 60 minute Iron Man match.
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Manager Functionality Trailer
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Royal Rumble Trailer
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Xbox 360 Tutorial Trailer
Posted 26.03.09
Length 03:11 Views 346
User Comments
By slaythat (SI Member) on Apr 15, 2009
