Showdown: Legends of Wrestling E3 2004 Preshow Impressions

Acclaim's Legends of Wrestling series has been giving wrestling fans the chance to live out their favorite matches for years now. Unlike other wrestling games, which focus on the hottest stars of the moment, this series stars only the biggest legends the sport has seen over the last few decades (as you might gather from the title). This year will mark the release of the third game in the series, Showdown: Legends of Wrestling, and the game will take some large strides to improve on past years' games while adding new wrestlers and new modes into the mix.

To start with, Showdown will feature no fewer than 73 classic wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Sting, the Ultimate Warrior, Andre the Giant, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, and Diamond Dallas Page, to name just a few. The game will feature a classic matches mode that offers you playable historical matches between certain wrestlers in which factors like location and even the wrestlers' health will be kept accurate. You'll also be able to play the Showdown Challenge, which will let you go through a challenge ladder spanning the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. A ton of match types will be on offer, as you'd expect, including table, iron man, battle royal, steel cage, first blood, elimination, and various tag team types. And of course, if you get tired of wrestling with your favorites, you can use the create-a-wrestler feature to make your own bruiser and attempt to climb up through the ranks.

Showdown's control scheme is being revamped and improved for this new release in an attempt to make the game more accessible. In addition, a gameplay tutorial starring Bret "Hitman" Hart should help ease newcomers into the gameplay. Newbies and veterans alike won't have to wait long--the game is due out in June. Look for a full review of Showdown: Legends of Wrestling then.