Legends of Wrestling Preview
We examine Acclaim's nostalgic wrestling game, which will soon be making appearances on the GameCube and Xbox.
Wrestling games draw a wide variety of fans, ranging from those who enjoy the popular WWE televised and pay-per-view events of today, to those who reminisce fondly about the great strongmen of yesteryear who focused more on performance within the ring than without. Acclaim's Legends of Wrestling is an attempt to capture in video game form the drama and spectacle of the house shows and independent federations that housed the pioneers of modern sports entertainment.
The playable wrestlers in Legends of Wrestling are made up of perhaps some of the most powerful personalities to ever grace the squared circle. Included in the formidable lineup are talents that took wrestling to the peak of popularity back in the '80s, such as Bret "The Hitman" Hart, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, King Kong Bundy, The Iron Sheik, Ted DiBiase, and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Also included are a slew of athletes who trailblazed the sport years ago but are still remembered as huge stars nonetheless, such as Harley Race, Jerry "The King" Lawler, George "The Animal" Steele, Dory Funk Jr., Ivan Putski, and "Superstar" Billy Graham. Some of the most memorable tag teams of all time are also available for competition, including the high-flying The Rock 'n Roll Express and Hawk and Animal, The Legion of Doom. Fans of more modern superstars will find a pair of welcome faces--Rob Van Dam and Sabu of ECW fame.
Perhaps most impressive of all is the inclusion of arguably the most influential man in wrestling history, Hulk Hogan. While other games have made available the Hulk Hogan of today, in his recent Hollywood Hogan motif, Legends of Wrestling captures Hogan in his prime, when the Hulkster had the world talking about Hulkamania, the yellow and red, saying your prayers, training hard, and his famous 24-inch pythons, the largest arms in the world.
While the strengths of these characters' personas are formidable, it's important that their abilities in the ring are equally up to par, and Legends of Wrestling gives you the opportunity to enact brutal matches in arcade wrestling fashion. Each player has the ability to run, strike, initiate a grapple, use weaponry, and call to the outside for assistance. The core grappling mechanic in Legends of Wrestling is called the Intermediate Start Position (ISP). When characters initiate a grapple and lock up, this is known as an intermediate position, and the commanding player can then move to a secondary position, such as belly to belly with the opponent. From one of these positions, you can choose the move to execute, although the player or CPU on the receiving end has a chance to counter. Countering moves is accomplished through proper timing of a swinging meter beneath the wrestler's name, much like in a golfing game. This swinging meter may also be stopped prematurely by an astute offensive player in the hopes of fouling up the defender's chances of a successful counter.
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