Latest Legends Wrestling Game Offers New Look At Stars

Latest Legends wrestling game offers new look at stars of the squared circle

(CP) - From Abdullah the Butcher to Larry Zbyszko, Showdown: Legends of Wrestling really is an A to Z look at the icons of the squared circle.

But the third edition of Acclaim's wrestling video game, rated T for Teen for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, also represents an attempt to breathe new life into the Legends series.When Acclaim closed its Salt Lake City studio, where the first two games were developed, the title was moved to the company's studio in Austin, Texas. Justin Withers, who had worked on Acclaim's All-Star Baseball games, was named design lead for the new version of the wrestling game.

Six or seven programmers came over with the game from Utah. But all the artists and designers were from the Texas studio.

Unlike other wrestling games on the market, Showdown: Legends of Wrestling focuses on the past, which allows designers to bypass the vagaries of the current wrestling scene. There are 73 legends in the new version.

Withers' goals were to improve the authenticity of the new game, focus more on the rivalry between good and bad guys, and make the controls a little easier to understand "but still be hard to master."

"That was the consensus from Day 1, 'OK let's really try to clean up the game a lot,"' he explained from Austin.

Timing moves in the previous version of the game revolved around a meter, like those used for swings in golf games, and it made for some boring game play.

Plus the wrestlers' moves - and their impact - weren't that different.

So Withers' team collected as many tapes and DVDs as possible of the wrestlers to determine their best moves - and their "appropriate amount of damage."

"There are some significant differences and improvements in the AI (artificial intelligence) from the previous games. To us, that was a major score," he said.

Still, the new version of the game has drawn mixed reviews.

"Although there is still work to be done, Showdown: Legends of Wrestling's new look and play style is a big step in the right direction," said GamePro.com in giving the game four stars out of five. "Fans looking for a walk down memory lane aren't going to be disappointed."

At the other end of the spectrum, GameSpy.com wrote: "I honestly don't remember playing a wrestling game with an engine this bad in years, and I've played quite literally every wrestling game out there."

The game got just two stars.

"There's some people out there who aren't really happy with the game and there are some people out there who really love it," Withers said. "That's really all you can ask for, that people just give you their honest feedback. That's what we read and helps us make the next game better."

To that end, the game manual includes an e-mail for feedback from gamers.

"These guys play a lot of wrestling games," said Withers, who counts Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk as his favourite wrestlers. "To have feedback from people that I consider knowledgeable gamers, that's the best kind of focus group stuff you could ever ask for."

While Showdown foes have the occasional glitch in character movement, the game scores points for easy controls and a plethora of game options.

There's everything from hardcore to cage matches, tag team contest to battle royales, from SkyDome to Madison Square Garden. You can put on your tights and wrestle against random opponents, create your own character or take the persona of one of the legends and wrestle through three decades.

The game even puts you in the middle of real-life (sort of) classic matches. Unlocking the classic matches leads to the Wrestlemania II main event between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant at the Pontiac Silverdome.

The graphics are slightly over the top, but that works in a game that features icons of the sport. Abdullah the Butcher looks like a freshly inflated Michelin Man on steroids. And true to life, he bleeds.

The game is easy to pick up and play. And it's fun.

Legends crosses more than a few age groups with a cast of characters that includes Jimmy (Superfly) Snuka, Superstar Billy Graham, Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, Big John Studd, The Sheik, Iron Sheik and George (The Animal) Steele.

New faces this time around include Sting, Ultimate Warrior, Curt Hennig, Macho Man Randy Savage and Jake (The Snake) Roberts.

Withers says researching the wrestlers was memorable.

"Learning the background and stories of these guys, these are some really interesting people. Their personas in the ring, a lot of them, that's them."

Canadian Brett (the Hitman) Hart is in the game and provided the commentary on the Legends tutorial. Zbyszko and Bobby (The Brain) Heenan serve as announcers.

There was no difficulty in trademarks or the like, with game designers careful not to use assets still owned by the WWE. The wrestlers in the game either have no ties to WWE boss Vince McMahon or, like Eddie Guerrero, signed up for the game before they were under contract with the WWE.

The biggest obstacle was getting information on all 73 wrestlers, not to mention tracking them down.

"We have individual contracts with all these guys because there's no federation that they all belong to," Withers said.

Withers, 29, is an Austin native who ended up in the game business almost by accident.

He joined Acclaim in late 1998 after graduating from university. Unsure what he wanted to do, he moved back home and his mother saw an ad in the paper for a game tester position.

"She jokingly said 'why don't you do this while you look for a real job."'

He got the job and several months later was asked to join the design team on the All-Star Baseball game. He has been there ever since.

"I love making games," he said.

Source: Neil Davidson @ Candian Press