Legends of Wrestling on the GameCube is a Weird Game

It has been a while since I’ve played a wrestling game. I’m going to go back to the GameCube for this one and try Legends of Wrestling. This was published by Acclaim, which makes me a little nervous.

Their wrestling games don’t have the best track record, even if I do enjoy a few of them. I’m going to keep an open mind with this one, and hopefully it will turn out okay. The only thing I’m looking for is the game being playable.

This game is all about nostalgia, but I’m not totally sure who it is for. The game was released in 2002, and has a big roster of wrestlers that I’m not sure how many people would’ve known about. For me, I would’ve known about six or seven of the wrestlers on the initial roster.

Back in 2002, my knowledge of pro wrestling was very limited. I was only 18 at the time, and had only watched WWF and a few years of WCW. Today, I know about most of the wrestlers in this game.

TLDR: It grew on me as I played it, but I wouldn’t say it is good.

Narrative

I don’t think there is a main storyline for this game. The manual didn’t have anything in it, so I’m guessing that there isn’t one. It looks like there is a career mode or something like that.

There is a career mode in this game. It is cool that it is here, even if I think it is a little dumb. Not all of these wrestlers worked together at the same time, so there isn’t much connecting them all. I guess you would need to know more about pro wrestling to fully grasp what was going on.

I probably wouldn’t want to see the story that Acclaim, or whoever developed this game, came up with. It is better to use your imagination with a game like this.

Gameplay

I don’t like the controls in this game at all. It might be that I’m not used to the GameCube controller yet, but I doubt it. It feels like you’re moving through cement, and everything feels delayed.

Wrestling moves are easy to do, and there is a cool system for counters and high-impact moves. At least that is what I think they were going for. It took me a while to get the hang of this system, but I did end up liking it in the end.

The roster is pretty interesting. There are over 40 wrestlers and managers in the game, not including any of the unlockable characters, if there are any. Here is the list of wrestlers:

Hulk Hogan	Ted DiBiase	One Man Gang	Harley Race
Bret Hart	Keven Von Erich	Eddie Gilbert	Sabu
Jimmy Snuka	Fritz Von Erich	Billy Grahm	Tito Santana
Jerry Lawler	Kerry Von Erich	Dynamite Kid	Iron Sheik
The Road Warriors	David Von Erich	Ivan Koloff	The Sheik
Rob Van Dam	Michael Von Erich	Rick Martel	Ricky Steamboat
Jimmy Hart	The Rock-n-Roll Express	Don Muraco	George Steele
Lou Albano	Dory Funk Jr.	Bob Orton	Greg Valentine
Tony Atlas	Terry Funk	Brian Pillman	Nikolai Volkoff
King Kong Bundy	Mr. Fuji	Ivan Putski	Koko B. Ware

I’m curious to know how many people knew who all these wrestlers were in 2002. It would be surprising if the people who own a GameCube knew all of them. I think it is a good roster, but back when I was 18, I wouldn’t have had a clue who most of this roster was.

There are no count-outs in this game, and every match is a hardcore match, or can be one. This feels like it took inspiration from the Vince Russo era of WCW, where the rules didn’t matter. This stands out because there are rope breaks in the game, which confused me since it is one of the few rules they cared about.

You can win by pinfall, submission, or knockout. I guess this is okay, it still feels a little strange. I’m guessing they care about the rules in a Tag Team match, but who knows?

If you have a manager with you, then you can have him cheat in matches. This would suggest that there were disqualifications in the game, but I find that hard to believe. It seems totally unnecessary, but it looks cool in the match.

Playing this made me want to go back to one of the SmackDown games, or No Mercy. I would rather play one of the better N64 or PS1 games than this one. There is nothing too wrong with it, but the game feels unpolished and rather disappointing.

Visuals

The graphics grew on me as I played the game. The moves looked good, the crowd was excellent, and the arenas were cool. It makes it look like a series of house shows, which is fitting for these wrestlers at the time of the game’s release.

I don’t think the game looks bad, but it does look goofy. The character models remind me of what the LJN developers used to do. Make one or two character models to save time, and then make minor changes to them.

This part of the game doesn’t surprise me at all. It is part of the cheapness that runs through all of Acclaim’s games. They made some good looking games, but this just isn’t one of them.

After the match is over, you get these little “taunt” screens that show the losing wrestler beaten up. I like this. It reminds me of fighting and boxing games.

The ring entrances look nice. It is a little comical when you see the wrestlers try to engage with the crowd, but because the crowd is largely static, no one is giving them high-fives or reaching out to touch them. It made me laugh while I was watching this.

I’m not sure where to put this, so I’ll stick it here. I found the sound effects to be odd. Each character appears to have the same voice. It feels weird to hear the same grunts and screams in every match.

This is a step up from the games on the PS1, N64, and Dreamcast. I guess that is something the game has going for it. It will be interesting to see what the PS2 game looks like when I get around to that one.

Reviews at the Time

At the time of this game’s release, Legends of Wrestling received average to good reviews. This means that the scores were between a 5/10 and a 7/10. No publication gave it a higher score than a 7.

Game Informer gave the game a 7.10. The reviewer liked the controls and enjoyed this game more than WrestleMania X8. He also points out that most people won’t recognize “75% of the roster.” I do disagree with the idea that the game “grapples with greatness.”

GameSpot gave the game a 5.3/10, which was considered mediocre at the time. The sentiment of the article is that this game was a missed opportunity. While the reviewer didn’t think much of this game, they did hold out hope for future games in the series.

IGN gave the game a 5.4/10. For the most part, the reviewer found the game disappointing. In one of the most honest things I’ve read in a review, they recommended this as “a rental for hardcore wrestling fans” who know about wrestlers of the past. I can’t really argue with this.

In 2001, a five was considered average. I’m not too far off from this. It feels a bit lazy when I look at what the other series were doing around the same time.

6/10. I didn’t hate this game. It isn’t very good, but it is far from being terrible. The controls and graphics are a little weird, and it is strange to see all of these wrestlers in one game.

Pros

• It’s Playable
• Easy to Learn
• Looks Decent

Cons

• Sluggish Controls
• Learning Curve on Reversals
• Lazy Graphics

Conclusion

I might be a bit more forgiving with a game like this one. Legends of Wrestling has problems, but if you wanted to play as a wrestler from the 1970s and 1980s, this would’ve been a good option in the early 2000s. It would be interesting to find out how well this game sold when it was released.

There were two sequels to this game. That tells me that Acclaim made enough from the deal to warrant trying again. I can’t really blame them.

I like the idea of this game, and I find it more interesting now that I’m in my 40s. Back when I was 18, I probably wouldn’t have picked this up. I didn’t even know this game existed until I started playing through the wrestling games on retro consoles.

If you liked this post, please check out my other wrestling content, such as Ultimate Muscle on the GameCube and Gameboy Wrestling Games Ranked.