Legends of WrestleMania is the first wrestling game I have liked in a long, long, long time,  mainly because it ditches all of the complicated controls for a simplified button mashing system reminiscent of wrestling games of yesteryear.  No more timing your counter move or waiting for one animation to end before you can start your next move.  No more having my younger brother kick my ass because he plays the game from morning to night memorizing the controls.  I can simply pick up the controller and within a few games have the hang of it.   In fact, this is the first time I have been able to beat him on a wrestling game since PS1 days.

The controls are really the only thing simplified in the latest THQ wrestling game.  They have made a game for the hardcore wrestling fan and the causal gamer at the same time.  The game is loaded with some of the greatest wrestlers of all time from Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and—the greatest of all time—George the Animal Steel.  Wait a minute: they forgot about George but I will forgive them for that.   And if you have a copy of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 then you can import all of the wrestlers from that game on top of the 40+ wrestlers that ship with Legends.  Here is a secret that THQ does not want me telling you:  the wrestlers from the Smackdown game are on the Legends disc.  It looks for a save file from the Smackdowngame and then unlocks them.  So just go rent it if you do not own it for twice the number of sweaty naked dudes!

Now like in all wrestling games comes my favorite part, character creation.  I have loved making characters since my first wrestling game Tecmo World Wrestling for the NES.  My best friend and I would have these epic battles between characters we created,  such as Jesus vs. Satan or Hitler vs.  Lionel Richie.  Don’t you dare laugh—“Dancing on the Ceiling” kicked ass!  So going back to my roots I decided to create Jesus.  With his long flowing hair, majestic robe, and his barefoot wrestling style, who could mess with the Messiah?

So to put the Messiah to the test I jumped in to Legend Killer which is a mode that puts you up against ten random wrestlers for a trophy.  There are six different tiers to conquer to become the ultimate wrestler.  There is also the WrestleMania tour mode which lets you fight some of the biggest matches of all time.  In this mode you can relive, rewrite, or redefine the matches to your taste.  If you don’t like the outcome of a certain match then change it.  On top of those modes there are a ton of exhibition modes such as Steel Cage, Battle Royal, and Royal Rumble just to name a few.  So you can see THQ has done a good job packing in the features for the most hardcore wrestling fan.

My hats are off to the guys at THQ for making a wrestling game that is fun and not overly complicated.   As we all know wrestling is entertainment, and I don’t want to learn a thousand controls just to simulate the beautiful choreography that is wrestling.   Legends of WrestleMania gets a 7 out of 10.