WWE Legends of Wrestlemania (PS3)

[aruljothi]

   Release Date: 03/15/2009
ESRB Rating: Teen
Genre: Sports
Publisher: THQ
Developer: THQ

Though previous attempts at wrestling titles focused solely on past superstars have fallen flat, THQ has decided it's time to give nostalgia-crazy fans what they've been clamoring for for years. With the WWE license, years of experience developing wrestling games and one of the more solid wrestling engines, Legends of WrestleMania should be a no-brainer, right?

For starters, the roster of legendary wrestlers is simply massive, reaching from The Junkyard Dog and Hacksaw Jim Duggan all the way up to Hogan and The Rock. There are a few glaring omissions, mainly the likes of the Macho Man Randy Savage and Ricky The Dragon Steamboat, who together had arguably the greatest match in WrestleMania history... but of course not everything is within THQ's control.

While the 40+ Legends are great, you can actually more than double the game's roster by simply importing a SmackDown! vs. Raw 09 save game from the main menu. This is sure to rub a lot of people the wrong way, with the SvR save obviously acting as a key to unlock content already on the disc. It's probably a safe bet that SvR's rental numbers will spike in the coming months as a result.

By basing the game entirely on the most popular superstars from the WWE's past, THQ is hoping to pull in not only existing wrestling game fans, but also the casual, every day gamer who hasn't touched a wrestling game in 20 years. The SmackDown! vs. Raw controls have been completely scrapped here, leaving room for a far more simplified, somewhat dumbed-down control scheme. In what's seemingly an homage to the WWE's early arcade titles, the game utilizes only the left stick and four face buttons -- strikes, grapples and reversals are all assigned to individual buttons, with the final button acting as a sort of context-sensitive catch-all. Although there aren't any major issues pulling off moves with the straightforward control scheme, it's a shame the developers didn't at least assign something like running or taunting to one of the triggers.

The basic gameplay in Legends of WrestleMania is a mix of SmackDown! vs. Raw and an old school button masher. Like in most recent wrestling titles, beating on your opponent causes a momentum meter to fill, allowing access to taunts and finishers; but unlike a lot of today's games, a basic health bar keeps track of which wrestler has the upper hand. The simple strike and grapple gameplay does the job adequately, but sadly, the team at Yuke's felt the need to crowbar in Quick Time Events throughout. I'm not just talking about the occasional test of strength, but everything from Irish whips to picking up weapons hidden below the ring is met with a QTE. It's impossible to finish a match without hitting at least a handful of these interactive cut-scenes.

There are other little annoyances, too. Things taken for granted in other wrestling games, like walking anywhere in the arena or finding weapons, now require a grapple be performed at certain arena hot-spots -- some of which are followed by, you guessed it, more Quick Time Events.

[pradeep prem]

i like this game very much
this should be have smackdown my famous