In between WWE Raw and SmackDown, wrestling fans (like us) spend quality time watching old school matches from past WrestleManias. Hulk versus Andre, Stone Cold versus The Rock and Randy Savage versus Ted DiBiase matches are so engrained in heads that you could probably nail us with steel chairs and we'd still remember Hogan slamming the 500 pound Giant and Macho Man sailing off the top turnbuckle to drive his elbow into the Million Dollar Man's throat. Now we can relive some of the epic contests in THQ's upcoming Legends of WrestleMania, due out for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 March 17th.
Unlike THQ's other wrestling franchise, SmackDown vs. Raw, Legends of WrestleMania walks you through several big matches from the WWE's historic pay-per-view matches with three primary goals: Relive, Rewrite and Redefine. Relive casts you as the winner of the match and challenges you to complete a series of objectives in order to emerge victorious. In Hulk Hogan's case, you must retain your title at WrestleMania III by defeating Andre the Giant, escaping from his body-squishing bear hug, body slamming his mammoth frame and then finishing him with the devastating leg drop.
Rewrite, on the other hand, puts you in Andre's boots and tasks you with squashing Hulkamania and making off with the championship. Finally, Redefine lets you change the stipulations of the match. Perhaps a steel cage can liven things up.
Whereas SmackDown vs. Raw sports realistic versions of its wrestlers, Legends of WrestleMania's developers have gone for a more dramatic approach. Hulk Hogan, for example, is significantly buffer than he was during his WrestleMania III match. It's a bit strange to see, but it seems like THQ's goal is to recreate our heroes as we remembered them as children, larger than life.
Opening up the history book will also result in attracting a wider audience. To compensate for gamers of all ages, THQ devised a simplistic control scheme that could make or break this videogame with hardcore wrestling fans. During a match, you maneuver your character with the left analog stick and use the face buttons to strike, grapple and block. To kick out of pins, you'll fill a kick out meter by pressing and holding a button, and chain special moves by completing Quick Time Events. Managers such as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Jimmy Hart will get involved in your matches, but you cannot press a button to call for their services. All you can do is walk towards them and hope they'll jump onto the apron.
At this point, easy to learn controls are the least of our concerns. Instead, our thoughts remain on the roster. Thus far, THQ revealed Hulk and Andre (excellent picks) and Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Although we approve of those choices, we need guys like the Macho Man, Bret Hart, Yokozuna, Shawn Michaels, Dusty Rhodes, Jake "The Snake" Roberts and other icons to make this game worth playing.
In addition, Legends of WrestleMania needs an authentic presentation that does its matches justice. We already know that it comes with old footage, interviews and ring announcer Howard Finkel. We still need authentic theme music, the original announcers and accurately modeled arenas.
With its March 17 release quickly approaching, we'll get those answers to our questions. For now, though, Legends of WrestleMania is a fun experiment that may explode into another successful wrestling franchise providing THQ respects the history. Expect more body slamming coverage in the coming months.
Reader Comments (0)