“I'm a real American, fight the rights of every man. I'm a real American, fight for what's right, fight for your life!” If you know these lyrics by heart, then consider yourself the target audience for WWE Legends of WrestleMania that’s releasing in a few short weeks. After visiting THQ Headquarters last week and receiving a close-to-finished preview build, we can assure you that WWE Legends of WrestleMania takes care of its hardcore wrestling fans that have enjoyed every classic WrestleMania match since WrestleMania 1 so many years ago. What sort of beast would WWE Legends of WrestleMania be if it didn’t include every legendary wrestler who has competed at the epic event? All things considered – beyond the few exclusions such as Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and “Macho Man” Randy Savage – the roster is one of the best reasons to buy this nostalgic title when it releases.
From The Ultimate Warrior to the fan favorite Koko B. Ware, the roster is 40 strong and rumors continue to swirl around the title like a buzzard concerning download content in the future that would potentially feature new characters. While THQ wouldn’t divulge any details on if there’ll be downloadable characters, we can assure you that DLC will be released sooner or later to help expand the lifespan of WWE Legends of WrestleMania. How does the game compare to the WWE: Smackdown vs. Raw? Well to be frank, Legends of WrestleMania is about simplicity and sheer enjoyment of using your favorite wrestlers. Gone are the simulation elements in favor for an arcade control scheme.
Using only the four face buttons and the left analog stick, there’s no complex controls or combos to master in effort to defeat your friends and family in the game. After a few punches and grapples, you’ll be all set to unleash your finisher on your opponent that comes in the form of a quick-time event where you must push the correct button that shows up on the screen. Of course, before you can accomplish this, you must build up a meter that’s underneath your health bar that is set in three tiers to open up moves to your character. Beyond the minimalism found in the gameplay, the game modes are somewhat different than what you’ve come to expect from wrestling titles as of late.
The beefy portion of the game is found in the WWE Tour Mode and Legend Killer. WWE Tour Mode is split into three game modes where you can either “Relive, Rewrite or Redefine” classic matches from WrestleMania’s past. With objectives set to meet to earn medals in WWE’s Hall of Fame, which keeps track of all statistics, there’s a lot of replay value found in the Tour Mode. The best attribute that players will be able to take away from this mode is the ability to unlock vignettes made by WWE themselves of the classic matches to show the buildup for each match and how they came to fruition. The Legend Killer mode is a set of matches that players have to win in order of tiers set before them with a created character to become a living legend themselves.
If you’d rather just straight up play exhibition matches, WWE Legends of WrestleMania deploys a handful of typical matches. The most extreme and out-of-the-ordinary game type available to players would be the Hell in the Cell Match. Beyond that, you have your typical cage matches (blue steel cage), ladder matches, battle royals, handicap matches, and a royal rumble to play with. One disappointing feature that won’t be making its way to WWE Legends of WrestleMania is that there won’t be any support for online Battle Royals and Royal Rumbles – so here’s crossing our fingers that it makes into the next iteration of the title.
All in all, WWE Legends of WrestleMania is shaping up to be a quality game aimed for its hardcore wrestling fans who have stuck with the business over the years. To be 100 percent honest, I’d love to see THQ make an arcade unit out of WWE Legends of WrestleMania since it has all the traits of a title you’d play at your local arcade and waste away countless quarters against strangers. We encourage you to return the week of March 24 to read our full review when it goes live. Until then, feel free to discuss this anticipated title in our forums where we will answer any and all questions you have on the game.
Check out our videos direct from THQ headquarters for news WWE Legends of WrestleMania gameplay footage, presented by the one and only Sgt. Slaughter. Click here to see all three!
