Legends of Wrestling II

The Good
I don't watch wrestling, which to me has always been huge men in tiny tights lunging into each other. But ever since the advent of Create-A-Wrestlers I've loved the games, and one wasted school year was spent in college with a friend recreating the entire theater department in digital, trashable form. And now we have a completely buffed up creation system in Legends of Wrestling II, one that is currently being used to recreate all my coworkers for steam release exercises. While still not giving me the options I need to make truly diverse wrestlers (out of 8-10 different face types, all have the same sneer that screams of lactose intolerance) this year's iteration by far gives the most flexibility of the bunch. Plenty of categories, plenty of matches, lots of moves and styles to choose from, a great package. The graphics are also a thing to love, and I'm proud to say that the PS2 is still having its limits pushed back further and further.

The Bad
Well, it's still wrestling. This one suffers less on my list than most because it's old school. Less smarmy attitude, and there's our childhood hero the Hulkster. The guy who used to encourage all his little Hulkamaniacs to brush their teeth, eat balanced meals, yadayadayada. Okay, so this is still a good point, but you get what you pay for, right? The bad: Controls don't have too much improvement, despite being faster than older wrestling games. When two other fighters are grappling you can have trouble hitting one of them, and it often feels like you're trying to drive a tank around the inside of a thimble to line up shots. The Create-A-Wrestler still has certain limitations that need to be worked on. And finally, it's only for two players, so four-player rumbles will involve moving the furniture out of the way.

The Bottom Line
This is for two groups. People who love old school wrestling with a passion and people with too much spare time like myself. Whether you want to go toe-to-toe with dearly departed Andre the Giant or pile drive your friend without the usual girly whining or lawsuit threats, this is highly recommended if you don't have a current wrestling game already.