Legends Of Wrestling II - Gamecube

Legends Of Wrestling II by Acclaim Acclaim present their latest wrestling game for the Gamecube, continuing the Legends Of Wrestling series, offering a mix of superstars across a range of promotions and eras that no other game can match... I had played and reviewed the Playstation 2 version of the game prior to playing it on the Gamecube, so I approached it with some apprehension. I had my concerns over the PS2 version, and I was expecting the Gamecube version to be exactly the same, but I was pleasantly surprised... There are a number of game modes on offer both as a single and multiplayer game. In the one player mode, you can have a singles match, 3-way and 4-way matches, a battle royal, a cage and a ladder match. When it comes to the multiplayer, there are three and four way tag matches as well as 6-man and 8-man action. It would have been nice to have seen a hardcore option included, or matches with some interaction with the arenas, but there's enough to satisfy most gamers. Rather than the limited career mode offered by previous Acclaim wrestling games, there is finally a story mode present in Legends Of Wrestling II. Here, you start off with your chosen wrestler choosing who your manager will be for the course of the game. You'll then take part in a range of matches across the US, with storylines building up around your actions. It's fairly limited compared with the PS2's Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth though, and this is something that will always be in the back of your mind while playing this if you've played it on Sony's console. The range of wrestlers on offer is impressive with no less than 65 wrestlers being available to the player. These cover a number of current and former WWE wrestlers, ex-WCW stars, and many wrestlers who are still active today on the independent circuit. The most notable is, obviously, Hulk Hogan, but there truly are some wrestling legends here including Scott Steiner, Andre The Giant, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Bret "Hitman" Hart, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Rowdy Roddy Piper and many more. The chances are that you'll find at least a few of your personal favourites amongst those on offer. Another nice touch with the choice of wrestlers is that there are a number of wrestling families represented here with Rocky Johnson (father of The Rock, Dwayne Johnson), and "Cowboy" Bob Orton (whose son, Randy Orton is currently in the WWE). In addition, the game has been customised for the UK market with the addition of four British wrestlers - Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Mick McManus, and Kendo Nagasaki. I can't see these being too popular with today's wrestling fans, but it's a nice touch to see them in there. The game also offers a create a wrestler mode, although this seems to be expected nowadays from wrestling games. However, it doesn't offer the finesse or flexiblity offered by Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth and it seems a pointless addition. Saying that, there are plenty of wrestlers to choose from anyway to keep you happy. One thing I found rather innovative during the game was the way you unlock many of the hidden extras. As you win fights in the exhibition mode, or in the season mode, you earn cash that you can use to buy the hidden extras. The cash is awarded in three different types of coins each with their own value with each extra requiring specific coin combinations. If you find that you don't have enough of a particular coin, you can then use some of your smaller green coins to game and try to get some of the more valuable blue and red coins. I've never been too impressed with Acclaim's wrestling titles when it comes to the controls but this one seems to be a massive improvement. It's fairly easy to get to grips with, and it makes good use of the Gamecube controller. While you won't master the controls in a matter of seconds, it won't take too long and you'll soon be taking on all comers in the ring. The controls are not as fluid as in the PS2 Smackdown series, but it is far superior to Wrestlemania X8. Some of the moves are a bit repetitive, and the choice of moves on offer seems limited at times, but other than that, it plays quite well. One innovative element of the controls is the stamina meter that you use to get out of holds which means lots of button bashing to get off the canvas or out of a grapple, needing more bashing as your wrestler tires and it does add something to the gameplay. I'm not too sure about the graphics in Legends Of Wrestling II. While they do look good, I'm not sure that the pseudo-cartoon style really works that well in a game like this. Some of the wrestlers bear little or no resemblance to the stars themselves, and while the character 3D is impressive with an obviously high polygon count, they seem a little stilted and lifeless. One thing where this scores over the PS2 version is that unlike it's counterpart, this version has shadows for the wrestlers. It's only a minor point, but it does add to the graphics, although the animation isn't as smooth or fluid as on the PS2. Sound is generally good with a thumping rock soundtrack, but there is no in-match commentary and speech is limited to the ring announcer as the wrestlers approach the ring. Also, the entrance music for most of the wrestlers has been changed - no doubt due to copyright reasons - but it does put a dampener on the atmosphere when your favourite themes aren't present. Some are the official themes - including Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan (featuring his WCW entrance music), but the majority use generic tracks. The game isn't as impressive as the PS2 version when it comes to the extras though. Because of the limited capacity of the Gamecube discs, all of the wrestler interviews have been omitted and the only things that remain are the behind-the-scenes illustrations from the making of the game, and end of game videos for each wrestler. Sounds promising so far? Well, there are things about the game that let it down dramatically. The entrances are rather basic and rather than having any video footage on the screen, it's a quite crude display using a few stills of in-game graphics and text. When it comes to the controls, many of the default moves seem to be the same no matter what wrestler you choose. I played a few games with different characters and every single one of them had the Pedigree as a standard readily available move. Then there were other quirks. Apart from the create-a-wrestler mode, there are no women characters in the game - any WWE fan would be able to list more than a few top women stars, so it seems a strange omission here. The biggest problem with Legends Of Wrestling II however, were a few bugs that were discovered while playing the game. First, in some matches you can find your opponent standing still and doing nothing - not reacting to your attacks or even hitting back. After a while it corrects itself, but it can prove frustrating. But that wasn't the worst one we discovered... While playing a two player game, Matt and I were using a couple of the larger wrestlers - King Kong Bundy and Big Daddy. Matt went to lift King Kong Bundy ready to slam him to the canvas but something strange happened. Rather than being thrown or falling to the ground, he stayed in mid air, even when Matt moved his wrestler away. Nothing we tried could get him to fall, and none of the attempted hits seemed to connect so he wouldn't budge. Even walking into him just pushed him around in the air and he was suspended above the ring like a balloon! The only way to sort this out was to quit the game and start again. Very frustrating. Overall, despite its shortcomings, its the best wrestling game available for the Gamecube at the moment, and as such, is well worth considering for any Gamecube owning wrestling fan. The massive range of wrestlers do help to keep the game more interesting, and it's generally a fun game to play, and even better with two players even with the bugs. Overall - 81% - Reviewer: Simon Plumbe

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