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Purchase: To ensure a great deal and a speedy delivery I advise you to get the game from Amazon directly, or one of their cheaper market place sellers. Click Here!

I must admit, from the outset I was rather skeptical about a WWE Legend’s game, feeling that it might have been a crass way to cash in on Wrestlemania, just by splitting the unlockable legends from the Smackdown vs Raw series and making you pay for a whole new game. Boy I was wrong!

If there ever was a perfect modern wrestling game Legends of Wrestlemania comes close. It has the pick up and play arcade style controls of TNA Impact, the stunning visuals we’ve come to love from the Smackdown vs Raw franchise, classic video content that could easily warrant its own DVD release, and some of the biggest names in the business that you’ve always dreamed of playing in a video game. Long time wrestling fans should definitely check this out, although it may be lost on the very young fans who are unfamiliar with these past Superstars.

Essentially the main bulk of the game is based around the “Wrestlemania Tour Mode”, which is comprised of three stages. “Relive”, “Rewrite” and “Redefine”. In each stage you are given a list of classic matches and it is your goal to either Relive them (play out the match as it really happened), Rewrite them (change history and have the other guy win), or Redefine them (take part in a completely different type of match and decide who is going to win). What makes these modes all the more exciting is the highlight packages before each bout, depending on which stage you selected. You actually get to watch classic footage of the wrestler’s rivalries, getting you pumped up for the game and educating you if you’re new to the feud.

For each match you are given a list of objectives such as “win the test of strength,” “bust open your opponent,” and “complete two top rope attacks”. If you complete the majority of these tasks and win the match you’ll unlock the next match in the list and win achievements and medals for the Hall of Fame gallery. As new matches are completed the video packages are available for viewing at any time and you also unlock bonus highlights. Although it can get frustrating if you are going for complete gold in each match, reliving the more memorable tasks such as slamming Andre The Giant at Wrestlemania 3, or making a bloody Steve Austin tap out to Bret Hart is extremely enjoyable. (A word of caution, if you can’t bust open Bret Hart with Yokozuna, edit his move-set to include some easy blood moves and restart the match).

The second major mode in the game is Legend Killer mode. Here you create a legend and put them in several gauntlet style tournaments against the real legends. Basically you have to beat 10 wrestlers in a row without a health reset to be crowned the greatest legend, or a different moniker depending on what tier you are fighting for. This is a basic mode, with no necessary objectives of frills, but it does unlock further attributes for your created star and more achievements/medals. If there is any negative about the game it’s that this mode can become rather repetitive if you don’t alter your character every so often. It also disappointed me that I couldn’t play as the imported Randy Orton. It would make much more sense to kill the legends with the real life legend killer. I’m personally not a big fan of create a wrestler mode, but settled on my own created Dynamite Kid.

This brings me to the import feature. As a bonus for those that own Smackdown vs Raw 2009, Legend’s of Wrestlemania allows you to import the current generation superstars in to the game from your save file (including created wrestlers) so you can have fun pitting young against old. Big Show vs Andre? Young Triple H vs current Triple H? The possibilities are endless and it is a great feature. It also gives extra Legend Killer tiers, where you face the current stars instead.

With all these Legends left over that weren’t featured in the main modes and these new imported stars you’ll definitely have to play a few exhibition matches. They stick to the basic formula of past WWE games, although due to the new simpler arcade controls, match types don’t always play out like you might expect. For example climbing the ladder is simply a bash the button process. You don’t really have to do anything, and for some reason Hell in a Cell always starts on top of the cell like you are recreating the Undertaker Mankind incident. The only trouble is I couldn’t get back to the top once I threw my opponent off.

As mentioned the controls take a vintage approach much like the game itself. There are soft and strong strikes and grapples, Irish Whips, top rope moves and corner attacks. The main new inclusion are button sequences which you have to press at the right time to complete a chain of moves. This is also how your finisher is performed. On the outside there are a number of weapon and brawling opportunities that are usually performed by a timed button bash or simply pressing X on a groggy opponent. These controls are easy to pick up, but may become tedious for hardcore players. They do however make online play more enjoyable, which could be a pain in previous titles. Online play itself allows you to fight out exhibition matches with others from around the world. Matches can be ranked or for fun. Just make sure you have no internet lag, because these online guys are tough (hit me up. My name is DrKee).

In conclusion this game is stunningly and audibly beautiful, with perfect looking character models (albeit some are inflated in muscle size *cough* Hogan), and all of the classic entrance themes and songs. The arenas and introductory name plates are exactly like when the events first aired and the little things such as Howard Finkel and the inclusion of managers put the icing on the cake. My only qualms are that they only use the “winged eagle” world title belt, even for events before it was introduced, and you may experience some strange belt transformations during ladder matches. I’m also annoyed that none of the old school commentators are present; couldn’t they have just ripped sound bytes from the original tapes?

If you have ever been a fan of wrestling in the past 10 years then you’ll be thrilled by this little nostalgia shot, and will enjoy the video content; however don’t expect to be playing this game for months at a time. It really is just a quick piece of nostalgic arcade fun; and that isn’t a bad thing for those that have become disheartened by the main Smackdown vs Raw series juggernaut that has been moving along sluggishly in recent years.

More Legends of Wrestlemania:

- Alternate Attire Cheat Codes
- VIDEO: Sgt Slaughter Discusses the game
- Full Roster Announced

Purchase: To ensure a great deal and a speedy delivery I advise you to get the game from Amazon directly, or one of their cheaper market place sellers. Click Here!