The timeline of pro wrestling/sports entertainment spans more than an entire century, with dozens of memorable moments peppered into every wrestling enthusiast’s head. Whether you look back to the glory days of Terry Funk and Harley Race clashing over the NWA World title, Hulk Hogan defeating the villainous Iron Shiek in the mid 80’s, or the infamous Survivor Series match between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, every fan has their own favorite classic moments and retired wrestlers. Since Acclaim lost the WWF license to THQ (and then the subsequent ECW name), they decided it would be a smart move to capitalize on us wrestling and videogame fans’ cherished memories. And while that concept is a relatively sound one, the developer unfortunately was not up to the task.

Graphically, Legends of Wrestling is fairly unique for a wrestling title. Acclaim’s internal developer (situated in Salt Lake City) chose to go for an almost cartoon look for the game, a style drastically different from their previous work, such as WWF Warzone. The wrestler’s physical attributes have been over exaggerated in multiple areas, as shown by overzealously doughy pecs, abs, jaws, or even bloated stomachs. This, combined with the majority of the fighters with pasty and untextured skin, gives Legends a distinctly original look. While the character models in the ring feature shadows that are often affected by camera flashes, the opacity of the multiple shadows is so high that they’re barely noticeable.

Aside from the distinct modelling, the game features some acceptable texture work and a neat particle system, which allows for blood to not only sprinkle the ring, but also form on unfortunate wrestlers’ heads. When it comes to animation, Legends of Wrestling is truly a mixed bag. You’ll find yourself cringing as you witness Jerry Lawler nearly break a man’s neck with a sit down piledriver as you witness his opponent’s head and legs nearly touch each other with an astonishing amount of fluidity. However, once the two wrestlers are standing up, one witnesses the fighters lumber around the ring as if their feet are melting, eventually locking up in a grapple that shouldn’t have connected, but did, thanks to the irregular collision detection. While Acclaim has definitely improved the animation in comparison with their prior efforts, there are still many facets which remain stiff and unpolished.

Finally, the arenas are fairly dull. The generic stadiums feature roughly twenty ringside fans constructed of a handful of polygons (similar to the fans in NHL Hitz or Sega Soccer Slam), whereas the rest are your standard 2-dimensional, animated sprites. And while the trio of ropes surrounding these rings are animated nicely, the area within the barricades and the ring itself are merely adequate. Acclaim also added special arenas that tend to be a bit more extravagant, ranging from a ring situated within a hotel to a makeshift arena surrounded by apartment complexes. Legends of Wrestling’s visual approach is both creative and bland, two styles that don’t fully mix.

Unfortunately, there’s no mix of good and bad when it comes to the game’s sound, as it’s pretty much all disappointing. First, none of the wrestlers in the game have their original entrance themes, so instead of having Hulk Hogan walk out to ‘Real American’, you get to see the Hulkster come out to ‘Generic Theme #3’. Some of the entrance music attempts to replicate the original (licensed) themes, but nearly always fail miserably. Another sour point when it comes to Legends’ aural offerings is the lack of any sound work when it comes to the featured wrestlers. It would’ve been a great throwback to nostalgia listening to Hogan persuade us into taking our vitamins or Bret Hart’s explanation of why he is the excellence of execution, but no. Instead, the only things we hear from the wrestlers are their unsuitable screams whenever they get thrown to the mat. Whether you’re focusing on its sound effects or musical offerings, the game disappoints.

As previously mentioned, the wrestlers, for the most part, control quite poorly. While the functions during grappling are fairly nicely executed, combatants will awkwardly stomp around the ring when they’re not locked in a hold, as if they were walking in pudding. The control is abysmal as well when it comes to running, as all wrestlers quickly stomp on the mat when they’re running, like George “The Animal” Steele, whether they’re obese giants or skinny managers. However, aside from one glaring flaw, the game’s attack control is well thought out. You have individual face buttons for striking, blocking, grabbing, and what can be called a quick move, which will be explained in a moment. The two shoulder buttons allow for running and climbing out of the ring, whereas the D-pad is used for executing finishing moves, calling your manager or partner to cheat, taunting, picking up weapons, and so forth.

Once again, Legends of Wrestling introduces something very unique, but instead of being just a cosmetic appearance, this inclusion is critical to gameplay. When you successfully land a grapple, you are given the basic options of executing a move, pushing your enemy away, or whipping him into the ropes or turnbuckle. Should you attempt a suplex, a curved bar will appear underneath your opponent’s health bar that features a slider move across the bar. The red bar always includes an area of green, and should your opponent press B when the slider is within the green area, his wrestler will either successfully block your attempt, or reverse it. Should he block it, he will then select a move of his own, and should he attempt to suplex you, the same bar and slider will appear under your name.

Thanks to this system, reversals and combinations of moves can easily be achieved by a touch of the button. Often, you’ll be involved in a sequence of multiple reversals, and since the function of reversing is so simplistic and challenging (the green area becomes smaller and the slider moves faster each time a reversal is executed), it always allows for entertaining sequences, whether you’re fighting the computer on the highest difficulty or your little sister. This new element of grappling that Acclaim has introduced has great potential, but unfortunately was not fully realized.

Legends of Wrestling’s downfall can easily be pinpointed by its utter lack of moves. While the game’s moves library (available for creating new characters or altering the move sets of those on the existing roster) is nice and meaty, the amount of suplexes or holds one can execute while grappling is terrible. Players are limited to only four manuevers per grapple stance (front, back, or bent over), which is miniscule in comparison to the nearly twenty offered in AKI’s N64 titles. While visual styles and entertaining gimmicks can temporarily subside gamers, all wrestling purists know that the abilities in the ring are what make or break wrestling games. Thanks to the completely lacklustre amount of moves available, not only matches become quickly repetitive, but the game does as well. Legends’ other problematic feature is the aforementioned quick move. By pressing the Y button when close to an opponent, wrestlers will pull off a quick attack, be it a body slam, jump kick, or neck breaker. The problem with this function is that it cannot be reversed. When a wrestler enters a grapple or goes for a strike (attack), the bar and slider will appear under his opponent’s name. This does not happen when a quick strike is attempted. I’ve defeated numerous wrestlers without getting attacked once, all by repeatedly pressing Y. I’m unsure how Acclaim missed this blatant detail (which will hopefully be fixed for the sequel), as it ruins all challenge the game attempts to project.

When it comes to options and modes, Legends doesn’t possess much in either category. Aside from multiplayer matches, the only other distractions the game offers are opportunities for a player to be a guest referee in a match, a tournament mode (think a bunch of single player matchups, but with brackets), and a career mode. Compared to the wealth of options offered in competing wrestling games, the lack of ladder, table, iron man, cage, royal rumble, and other special matches really hurts the title’s replay value. However, there is a beacon of light transmitted from the career mode. By choosing this option, you select a wrestler and have him wrestle in major cities across America to build up his reputation. The reason this mode is fairly enticing exists within the crowd excitement meter. During each match, a meter is placed at the top of the screen which replicates how exciting the match is for the crowd. If you continually punch and kick your opponent and offer no variety when it comes to your attacks, the audience won’t be impressed, but by pulling off numerous suplexes, holds, and flying attacks, you’ll have them roaring in no time. The one facet I really appreciate within this aspect is increasing crowd excitement. While variety is the key to keeping them energized, pulling off finishing moves, using a weapon, and even knocking out the ref will result in healthy meter. Though it doesn’t seem to serve more than a novelty purpose, its quality is something that the hardcore wrestling fan inside me really enjoyed.

Legends of Wrestling is basically a game that harbors some very good concepts that do actually work in the game, but not nearly to their fullest extent. Its numerous shortcomings when it comes to options, modes, and moves ultimately cripple what could’ve been an excellent experience. Riddled with numerous load times and a dismal presentation (in regards to both menus and pre-match entrances), Legends just has too many flaws to overlook. Wrestling and gaming fans alike that dream of a Rob Van Dam vs. Bret Hart match, and others like it, should wait and see how the upcoming Legends of Wrestling sequel turns out, because the original just isn’t up to par.