Legends of Wrestling II was released in 2002. The first game in the series was decent, but it had quite a few problems. I played the GameCube versions of the first two games, and the PS2 version of the first. I’ll be looking at the PS2 version of this game.
This game looks a little better and has more characters in it. There are a lot of wrestlers who were either retired, were between promotions, or had passed away. It is cool to see many of them in this game. I think this is the first time several of them had appeared in a video game.
Much like the other versions of these games, I wonder how many people knew all of the wrestlers in here. Since this game doesn’t have a license, we get to see a handful of non-WWF wrestlers. Some of this does feel like Acclaim was hoping that Hulk Hogan would bring people in.
There are some differences between the North American and European versions of this game. A few UK-based wrestlers are in the European version. It is fun that Acclaim took the time to do that version.
TLDR: A step up from the previous game in the series.
Narrative
There is a story mode in this game. It is a big step up from the previous game, and there is some variety in what story you get. It is a fun way of putting a story into a wrestling game beyond just having one storyline.
You pick a wrestler, and travel from region to region until you eventually can challenge for the world championship. Each region has a few storylines, but some characters are forced into a story for a specific region. That was something I was perfectly fine with.
This is a very creative way to do a story mode. I like that each territory has a few storylines. It is also great that you can have a different experience each time you play through it.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Legends of Wrestling II is a step up from the first game. The controls are better, it has a larger roster, and there is a better story mode. It isn’t all great, but there is enough in this game to say that it is step in the right direction.
There are 72 wrestlers in the game. Some are locked when you start the game, which gives you a reason to play this as much as you can. Things like this are great! While I wish that you had access to all of the characters right away, it is fun to unlock them.
I love that the developers took the time to add in a story mode. Legends of Wrestling II has you choose a character and then travel from region to region. Each of those regions has a storyline for you. Once you’ve completed each region, you go on to international competition and try to win the World Title. I love this concept!
The controls are better than in the first game. They feel more responsive and are less sluggish than I experienced in the first game on the PS2. This is a huge improvement over the first game and the other Acclaim wrestling games.
If there was one thing that I could point to as being bad, it would be the counter system. I’m glad they tried it, but it doesn’t work for me. It felt too random for me, and more often than not was difficult to time. It is based on Quick-Time Events, and they require some ridiculous reaction time that I definitely don’t have.
This game is a big step up from the previous game from a gameplay standpoint. It is more fun to play, and I enjoyed the changes to it. I don’t like that every match can be a hardcore match. It makes this game feel a little like a WCW game based on the Vince Russo era of that company.
Visuals
Legends of Wrestling II has better graphics than the first game. The characters are more detailed, but keep the charm from the first game. There was one thing that I found a little odd, which had to do with the crowd.
The character models look very good. They’ve kept the cartoon is action figure style that I liked in the first game. This style works well for a game like this. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and my friends would play with wrestling action figures. The ones I remember are the Hasbro ones from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
I didn’t notice the crowd in the first game, which was probably a good thing. In the sequel, there were a few things that I couldn’t ignore. The crowd looks odd, like the developers added it at the last minute. There is a row of spectators that always face the cameras, which means they have their backs to the ring. Once you see it, there is no way to unsee it.
I’m not sure if this is one of the cases where a PS2 game is dark on a modern screen or not. Legends of Wrestling II is a very dark game. This isn’t a big deal, but it can be a little hard to see what is going on.
Reviews at the Time
The reviews for this game aren’t too different from the previous entry in the series. The scores were between a 5 and a 7/10. I didn’t notice any outliers, which is refreshing. I looked at three publications for this.
IGN gave the game a 6.9/10, which was considered an “Okay” rating at the time. The reviewer couldn’t get past the technical issues in this game. They liked the idea of the game and liked that it was different from the WWE games. The inclusion of the wrestling legends was what they didn’t like.
GameSpot gave the game a 6/10. The reviewer said that the “gameplay doesn’t live up to the concept.” They called the roster a significant improvement and said that there were some redeeming qualities.
GameZone gave the game a 6.7/10 and listed an “Average Web Rating” of 5.8/10. I don’t know what that means, but I guess it is a user rating. Their verdict was that this game was a rental instead of a purchase. They praised the improvements to the gameplay, but lamented that there weren’t significant improvements to the controls.
When I read the reviews for this game, I can tell that the reviewers wanted to like this game, and the previous one. I was a bit more forgiving when it came to the controls. I don’t think they’re great, but they were better than the first game.
7.5/10. This game is much better than the previous game. The story mode is better, the controls are a big improvement, and the graphics are mostly better.
Pros
- Decent Controls
- Story Mode
- Good Graphics
Cons
- Repetitive
- Awkward graphics in places
Conclusion
There were a number of improvements in this game. Some were major, but the controls were only slightly improved. That seems to be the biggest reason why the game wasn’t received as well as it could’ve been. There was only one year between the first and second game in the series, which might have caused the game not have been significantly improved.
Legends of Wrestling II is an improvement over the first game. This is an odd series, because it relies on people knowing who these wrestlers are and wanting something other than a SmackDown game. That is one of the biggest things that was holding this game back.
There is one more game in this series. It will be interesting to see what was done to the third game. I’m hoping that it will be better, especially since there was more time between the second and the third game.
If you liked this post, please check out my other wrestling posts. Such as Legends of Wrestling on the PS2 and on the GameCube.