PlayStation 2

Showdown: Legends of Wrestling

The third offering in the Legends series reinvents itself for the better but still has a ways to go to be the champion.

Overall, Showdown: Legends of Wrestling is a must-have for any old-school wrestling fan. However, if you're a more recent fan of the WWE, or you're just a casual fan, there isn't enough depth to the game, nor is the gameplay solid enough to warrant a purchase. Yes, it's better than it was last year, but perhaps a year off for the series to really re-tool is in order because it just can't keep up with the likes of Smackdown: HCTP.

Wrestling games are very much a part of mainstream video gaming. Wrestling itself has rebounded from an industry thought to be on the brink of extinction to becoming a household name again. Part of that has to do with guys like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock getting out on TV and in the movies. The other part does have a lot to do with playing Wrestling video games, then getting involved in the TV shows. Either way, both have become big time again. And when you talk Wrestling video games, usually you only talk about the latest WWE game from THQ. A couple of years ago Acclaim (who at one time actually had the WWE license) attempted to bring a new style of Wrestling game to the market with their Legends of Wrestling franchise.

In the years since its debut, Acclaim's Legends of Wrestling series hasn't exactly had a storied history. As Acclaim's first wrestling title since the ending of the company's ECW wrestling license, the first Legends of Wrestling was a conceptually neat game that was plagued with major gameplay problems. The sequel that followed it managed to correct some flaws, though, on the whole, the game was still highly problematic. For the third installment of the series--titled Showdown: Legends of Wrestling--Acclaim has shifted development duties to its Austin-based studio, and the result is a game that brings more to the table in terms of wrestlers, gameplay mechanics, and features. Unfortunately, the game still suffers from a number of pacing and polish issues that prevent Showdown from being anything more than a marginal improvement, at best.

The more we think about it the more we realize that 2004 is the most crowded year we've ever seen for wrestling videogames. From THQ's Smackdown vs. RAW and Konami's Rumble Rose, to Eidos' Backyard Wrestling 2 and EA's Def Jam: Fight For NY, the sheer number of grappling titles out there is really quite amazing. But with the majority of those franchises not due out until the autumn or winter seasons later in the year, it's Acclaim's Showdown: Legends of Wrestling that's first to hit store shelves just in time for the summer.

Showdown: Legends of Wrestling merkt man wie schon erwähnt an, das es wohl nicht wirklich eine Testphase vor der Veröffentlichung mitgemacht hat und das ist schade, denn das Spiel hat riesiges Potential durch den Roster, die Matcharten, die ganzen Arenen und man merkt, das sich die Programmierer dort sehr viel Mühe gaben. Aber die ganzen Bugs und Grafikfehler trüben das Gesamtbild und ziehen den Spielspaß ebenso wie die schlechte KI nach unten.

Wrestling. Hulks of men, single-handedly responsible for making Spandex a profitable business, engaging in no-holds barred grappling action in a squared-ring for an audience that shrieks with every suplex, punch and kick. Violence - like sex - sells, but the continued success of the World Wrestling Federation (since changed to World Wrestling Entertainment) cannot be attributed to the simulated violence alone; no, wrestling is soap-opera for men.

Many of wrestling's greatest stars gained fame and fortune by their look and gimmick, while not being able to wrestle their way out of a paper bag -- Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, and Superstar Billy Graham come to mind. It's obvious that these individuals are Acclaim's heroes, because Showdown has style in spades but barely any in-ring ability.

Showdown: Legends of Wrestling does its level best to fend off the inevitable. It's a bad game, but it's a bad game with aspirations, and every so often it manages to entertain in spite of its gaping, hideous flaws.