Gaming Target - GameCube: Legends of Wrestling II

Written by Kyle Williams on May 13, 2003

Full Review: Another trip into the wrestling circuits of the '80s.

Sometimes, losing a license forces you to come up with a new and unique take on an existing idea. Such it was when the WCW and WWE merged into one big wrestling free-for-all. Acclaim got the short end of the licensing stick as there was no longer a WCW for them to base their wrestling games upon. So, they turned their eyes to their history books and signed the rights to classic wrestlers for last year's Legends of Wrestling. It was great getting to see Jerry "the King" Lawler, Bret "the Hitman" Hart, and Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka back in action. Unfortunately, the game left players wanting more; More moves, more wrestlers, and more match types. So, Acclaim got right to work on Legends of Wrestling II.

The biggest problem with the development of Legends of Wrestling II was that it came out only six months after the original was released. It seems that six months wasn't long enough to make all of the advancements that the game needed. In fact, by adding so much more content to the game, Acclaim has revealed that the Legends of Wrestling ISP system just doesn't have the depth it needs to go the distance. What I found is that I wanted to play Legends of Wrestling II more than I wanted to play the original, but I wound up bored with what my wrestler could perform. Legends of Wrestling II is a great example of what can happen when all aspects of a game aren't balanced well.

On the upside, Legends of Wrestling II adds oodles of new wrestlers including "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, The Iron Sheik, and the late, great Andre the Giant. With the final tally coming in at more than 65 different wrestlers, LOWII is bound to provide you with at least a dozen wrestlers that you remember growing up with. Do you want to recreate the classic Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant showdown from Wrestlemania III? Want to see Jerry Lawler pummel Andy Kaufman again? Now you can. Each wrestler comes with their own unique set of moves that includes a finishing move that is based off of their classic in-ring antics. Unfortunately, the number of moves available to each combatant is limited and you will find yourself stuck performing the same suplex over and over again.

Another big step forward is that Acclaim added a lot of the gameplay modes that were glaringly missing from the original. Legends of Wrestling II has expanded upon the original LOW's limited two, three, and four way bouts and simple two team tag-team match to include Ladder, Cage, Battle Royal, and six and eight man tag-team matches. The new storyline driven career mode is another great addition to the game and actually gives solo players a reason to pick this title up. What all of these new additions come down to is that you will really want to sit down, play this game, and get your hands dirty with the wide variety of gameplay that is included. The biggest challenge will be to get past the repetitive controls.