Terribly placed obscure WWE references aside, Legends of Wrestlemania (let's call it LoW) has been designed to cater to 'old school' wrestling fans. Not just those of us who remember seeing Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania, but the old school gaming fans too who remember playing Royal Rumble on the SNES. Where Smackdown vs. Raw offers numerous amounts of ridiculous move combinations which came paired with a complicated and not-so-user-friendly controls scheme, LoW is simplicity at its best, relying entirely on the face buttons and control stick for all moves and counters.
This is where the magic happens.
While at first we thought it may actually be a little too simple, we found that it works quite well within the game and will definitely appeal to the more casual gamers, offering an easy to learn control scheme that will still take a bit of time for the more hardcore gamers to successfully master. One button handles all countering, moving the control stick either forwards or backwards depending on whether you want to switch around a grapple or a striking attack. While certainly nowhere near as detailed as we're used to for wrestling games, it still works and is easy enough that anybody will be able to start countering moves with the correct timing without much of a hassle.
On top of that, finishing moves aren't a simple button press. Once initiated, a competitive quick time event starts, where the person executing the finisher must press the buttons that appear on screen consecutively if they want to complete the move correctly. It's not just about them hitting the buttons though; if the opponent getting hammered manages to hit the buttons before the person executing the finishing move, the move will stop before being completed, settling for a much weaker attack instead. Submission holds are handled similarly, where applying more pressure to the move is a quick time event as well, and a counter occurs if the person getting twisted manages to hit the right button faster. It works well and once again prevents the game from being a simulation, really finding its heart in the arcade zone.
Moving out of the way right now would be good...
Nostalgia creeps in as you play LoW. The menu music is a mix of entrance themes from classic superstars, and the details of the game are all classic as well, including of course the fairly detailed roster. Hogan is there of course, as well as favourites such as Ultimate Warrior and Bam Bam Bigelow. There are a few modern ones as well so the modern wrestling fans aren't left out, including 'Legends' like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. What's cool is that anybody who has WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 will be able to import wrestlers directly from that roster and into Legends of Wrestlemania, so that you can mix young and old and have some fantasy matches if that's your cup of tea.
On top of that as well, there are modes that are built to give you that sense of nostalgia and bring a tear to your eye (that's only if you're really hardcore, of course). Before taking part in classic match-up's, you'll be shown actual video footage of the build-up as it was when the match was about to take place, along with footage from the matches themselves. It gives you a nice build-up to what you're about to take part in, and on top of that comes across nicely as a history lesson for the younger crowd of WWE fans, while being a moment of recognition from us old school fans who can watch the footage and go 'wow, I remember that.' The example we saw featured King Kong Bundy vs. Hulk Hogan in their infamous cage match, and afterwards you are given some requirements to fulfill based on what happened in the actual match. It might be busting King Kong Bundy open, hitting your finishing move, or even just showing off - but you'll get more credits and unlock more goodies from doing these things, which is cool to say the least.
Legends of Wrestlemania could indeed be the breath of fresh air we need in the genre, ironically featuring superstars that are old instead of new. We look forward to spending more time with the game before it is released later this month!
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