WWE Legends of Wrestlemania

THQ and Jukes are back again, this time bringing some of the WWE's best ever superstars back to the ring so that you can "relive, rewrite and redefine" some of the greatest moments in wrestling history. Growing up watching the golden era of wrestling when I was a kid, this game is like a dream come true.

THE GOOD
- Very realistic graphics - all of the wrestlers look extremely life-like and you can even see the sweat as the matches go on! All of the Wrestlemania arenas are there too from WM 1-15 including Caesar's Place, Trump Plaza, the Silverdome and Madison Square Garden.
- A really good roster of superstars including favourites like Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, The Undertaker, Jake the Snake Roberts, Andre the Giant, Big John Studd, Yokozuna, Legion of Doom, Bret Hitman Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Ultimate Warrior, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Hunter Hearst Healmsley as well as some surprises like Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Kamala, Bam Bam Bigelow, Dusty Rhodes, Brutus the Barber Beefcake, The Big Boss Man and Mr Perfect.
- The connectivity to Smackdown vs Raw 2009 is pretty cool as it increases the roster by double.
- Plenty of game modes to choose from including one-on-one, tag team, Royal Rumble, Hell in a Cell, Cage, Ladder, Battle Royale and a few others as well as the one player Legend Killer mode where you create a wrestler and then try to beat the legends. Also the Wrestlemania mode where you replay classic matches.
- The video intros are brilliant, giving the history of the classic matches and also shows you what happened (I also forgot how funny Bobby Heenan was!) Perfect for fans from back in the 80s and 90s - it bought back a lot of memories! The presentation, including the original graphics used for the real-life Wrestlemanias is also excellent.
- Very easy to just pick up and play with a great learning curve and online mode is really good fun.
- It features all of the entrances and original music.

THE BAD
- So many classic superstars are missing! Where's Macho Man Randy Savage, Demolition, Mick Foley/Mankind, Diesel, Razor Ramon, Earthquake, Lex Luger, The Nasty Boys, Akeem, Tatanka, Rick Martell, Tito Santana, Owen Hart, Marty Jeanetty, Doink, The Barbarian, Haku, IRS, The Big Show and Ricky the Dragon Steamboat!?
- There's quite a few wrestlers like Arn Anderson and Michael Hayes for example which I can never really remember as being legends in the WWE (maybe in WCW)..
- The controls aren't great - they should have stuck to the Smackdown vs Raw controls rather than the old school button bashing that is here, as I felt like a lot of the moves you pull off are quite random.
- It is stupidly easy on one player - I flew through Wrestlemania mode on Normal difficulty in no time. Nearly any pin will be successful.
- Some of the entrance music is the newer music and not from the era, like The Big Boss Man and Bam Bam Bigelow.

It seems that there are as many good points as there are bad, so this does summarise this game as pretty average unfortunately, especially for fans from this era like me who perhaps expected a little more from this as it had the potential to be the perfect wrestling game. I actually think that the Showdown: Legends of Wrestling game on the PS2 was a lot better than this in all honesty as although it didn't have the WWE/WWF branding on it, it did have about 40 more wrestlers on the roster and was a bit more fun.

Overall it is a fun to play game with the best presentation I've seen in a wrestling game, but has way too many flaws to be perfect. Worth try if you used to watch WWF in the 80s and 90s but expect to feel slightly underwhelmed on the whole. And that's the bottom line, because KM said so!

WWE Legends of Wrestlemania (PS3)

I am not one for reviews, I read what people say and I take it on board but in general I keep my opinions to myself. The negative reviews of this game that you can see make some valid points but they are missing the point of this game altogether. Last night I cracked open the game and a couple of my mates came round and we had a laugh and tonight my brother, another friend (and rumour has it my dad too!)are coming round for more of the same.

The game plays smoothly enough, the commentary is character specific, the video clips of Tour mode are fantastic and actually when you delve into Relive, Rewrite & Redefine - there is plenty to do on your own without a couple of bottles of Grolsch, Doritos and your friends.

The game is designed to be picked up and played, all abilities can get involved and yet it still allows for a further layer of expertise as you get more proficient allowing you to string together some great combos as well as some nice finishers - from Ravishing Rick Rude's Rude Awakening to to Ultimate Warriors Big Splash - the end of a fight is easy enough to do that we all get the satisfaction of finishing a fight off in the most spectacular style.

Note - the chance to opt out of pinning someone by accident when you haven't finished your objectives or simply finished pummelling your opponent is very helpful - nice touch!

Downsides are the crowd can get a little dodgy from some angles in the ring but you will only ever notice momentarily and does it really matter?
Secondly, the rendering of the characters is a little exaggerated to say the least (King Kong Bundy looks toned!) but this is how they are meant to be remembered - as wrestling gods.
Lastly - I think we can all name wrestlers that would be great to have on here that aren't- Sid Justice, Lex Luger, Tugboat/Typhoon & Earthquake, Bushwackers, Nasty Boys, Doink and more managers but these could be unlockables or there will be someone who has mapped out how to build them but I have a feeling that we could be in for some updates/downloads to add to this as we go along...

If those are the only downfalls and you were a fan of wrestling in the 'olden days' then this game is an absolutely must have... just don't let your dad know about it!

WWE: the legends of wrestlemania is another lucrative installment from the WWE company, its game play remains the same as all the other games in the series and across all the platforms. In fact the controls seem to have been simplified on this one so that punch is one button block is one button and grapple is one button. there are no more move combos which makes the game more about mashing the buttons than a challenge.

that being said there are a few exciting bits that will test your might and dexterity. the online game portion is the best bit about the game and its worth buying just for that alone.

The game itself is fun you can relive and recreate past matches and also create your own superstar. In esscence if your a big fan of WWE youll love the game, but for me its a bit hit and miss.