Legends of Wrestling II is Good but not Great

Legends of Wrestling II is a much improved over the first game, and the roster includes more recognizable wrestlers in it. This game seems to have included more wrestlers from the 80s and 90s, which casual pro wrestling fans would know. This fixes one of the issues I had with the first game.

There are some other cool things in this game. I like the idea of the career mode and the variety of possible storylines. This is something that I wish more wrestling games would do.

Many of these wrestlers were before my time, or I saw them at the tail ends of their careers. I heard about some of them when I was really into wrestling, but I’ve mostly learned about them in the last 5 to 10 years. Thankfully, many of their careers have been recorded on the internet.

TLDR: An Above Average Wrestling Game with a cool Story Mode.

Narrative

There are a lot of storylines in this game. Some are exclusive to a specific wrestler, which is a nice twist to the career mode. For example, Jerry Lawler has to wrestle Andy Kaufman.

The core of the story is to gather the championship belts and grow your character’s popularity. There are several possible storylines that are randomly chosen when you enter a new territory. It is a cool idea, but it makes writing about it a bit challenging since everyone’s experience with the game will be different.

Legends of Wrestling II has a cool idea that I wish were used in a modern wrestling game. I know there was a wrestling RPG released at one point, but I haven’t played it. The career mode here would be a good starting point for an RPG that was focused on the legends.

Gameplay

I have the same problems with this game as I had with the previous one. It feels like I’m playing a game that took inspiration from WCW from 2000-2001. While there is nothing wrong with a hardcore match in a video game, I just don’t get why every match can devolve into one.

The mechanics from the first game are here, and they are a little more refined than in the first game. I like the counter system in the game. It still messes with me every once in a while, but once you get the hang of it, the game becomes much more enjoyable.

I was really liking the career mode. You pick a wrestler, a territory to start in, and then you get a random storyline. Sometimes a character is forced into a story, but that is rare.

This gives the game a lot of replayability, and it is fun to wander around these territories and collect their championships. Eventually, you’ll end up on the world stage if you play long enough. It is a very cool idea!

The controls are a little sluggish, and the hit detection isn’t all that great. I’ve come to expect this from Acclaim’s wrestling games. In this case, it isn’t too bad, but it is noticeable when you play it.

I like what is here, but it has several problems that are common in most of Acclaim’s wrestling games. The developer did a good job of minimizing the issues. I think this is a solid wrestling game.

Visuals

The game looks pretty good. The characters reminded me of something from my childhood. Nothing in this game looks bad, which is quite the feat for a video game from this era.

The ring entrances are very cool! Many of these wrestlers were before my time, so I don’t know what their normal ring entrances were or if they did anything special. It’s great to see these legends still wrestling like they did when they were younger and more mobile.

The animations on the moves all look great. I didn’t notice anything that was funny or awful. It is a competently made game, which is what you should expect from a game released at this time.  

I have to mention the blood in this game. It is a little strange to see because it just splatters all over the place. I think it is cool that the developers put this in the game, but I think it looks odd. When I first saw it, my mind immediately went to splatter art or something abstract.

The character models reminded me of something from my childhood. It took me a while, but when I was reading one of the reviews, I saw something and yelled, “That’s it!” They look like action figures from the 1980s. The IGN reviewer mentioned the LJN toys, but they look like the action figures from the late 1980s.

I grew up with the Hasbro toys, which had “action features” and were smaller than the LJN toys. I don’t recall many people discussing this, but I also don’t actively seek out vintage toy content unless something gets stuck in my head.

The ring entrances look good, but I think the crowd is a bit of a step backward. It feels like some PS1 graphics were dropped into a GameCube game. It isn’t too bad since this is a game from 2002, but it doesn’t look as good as I was expecting.

Legends of Wrestling II is a good looking game overall. The graphics don’t distract from the game, and it doesn’t feel like you have to fight against them to enjoy it. The character models grew on me as I was playing this.

Reviews at the Time

This game got above-average reviews at the time. Legends of Wrestling II was released at a time when a 5/10 was considered average. The game received scores between 6 and 7 for the GameCube version.

GameSpot gave the game a 6/10. The reviewer called it an improvement over the first game, but it suffers from sluggish controls and being repetitive. While I can see someone calling this repetitive, the controls are another thing altogether. They kneecap any enjoyment I normally find in games like this.

GameZone, which is a publication I hadn’t heard of before, gave the game a 6.9/10. The reviewer called this a game for die-hard wrestling fans. They also cautioned people to rent it first before buying it. I miss when this was an option for video games.

IGN gave the game a 6.9/10. The reviewer raised some odd points. They questioned if the developer used the Warzone engine to make this game, but I think that is only brought up because Acclaim published both games. I didn’t get that when I played this game.

This was a bizarre comment, and it stuck with me. I don’t think Legends of Wrestling plays any differently from other wrestling games. Most of them have a grapple system, and I don’t think it slowed the game down. I don’t see how the IGN reviewer thought this was similar to WWF Warzone.

Looking back at these reviews has been very interesting. I think the reviewers were right on this version of the game. They also raised some interesting points about the controls and graphics. This is a decent wrestling game, which makes me happy that I haven’t stumbled across anything horrible.

6.5/10. This is an improvement over the previous game. It still annoys me that you can just pick up a weapon and bash people. The controls are decent, the graphics are good, and the story mode is very good.

Pros

• Good Graphics
• Awesome Career Mode
• Fun to Play

Cons

• Awkward Bleeding Graphics
• Everything is a Hardcore Match
• Sluggish Controls and Movement

Conclusion

This is a strange series of wrestling games. They feel like an evolution of WCW Backstage Assault, if it were polished up and had better game modes. I know this sounds like a bad thing, but Legends of Wrestling II is a more complete game.

I would be shocked if the developers had played Backstage Assault, but there is something about the way Legends of Wrestling II and the rest of the series plays that reminds me of it. If the developers cared about the rules, then this could’ve been better. I’m just wondering why every match devolves into a hardcore or no disqualification match.

There is something I enjoy about this game. So far, I haven’t played anything that is terrible, but I haven’t played anything great.

If you liked this post, please check out my other wrestling posts, such as Legends of Wrestling or Ultimate Muscle.