Official Xbox 360 Magazine - Play new games every month with the UK's number one Xbox 360 magazine

	Secrets of... Fable III Plucky poultry and dead developers
	The FPS Name Generator Name 2011's biggest shooter with a mouseclick
	Bloody Good Time ^{360, XLA} Can it carve itself a place on XBLA?
	Best Xbox 360 games of 2011 A look at what's in store this year

Blog: My game of 2010 - Jem Alexander - http://bit.ly/exBLo3

BROWSE OXM

OXM CONTENT

Contact us
Feeds

Login

Not a member yet? Click here to register!

Video

Launch Player

Afro Samurai ³⁶⁰

Mini Ninjas ³⁶⁰

Preview

WWE Legends Of Wrestlemania

Format Xbox 360

Developer Yuke's

Publisher THQ

Genre Beat 'em Up

11-Mar-2009 Remember the era of Spandex ballet?

5 Comments

As we accelerate towards the grave, with once reliable parts of our bodies rapidly betraying us, we're becoming increasingly nostalgic for the good old days. Sherbet Dip-Dabs, the oeuvres of Rick Astley and Chuck Norris, buying albums on cassette and, of course, those epic clashes between legendary WWF wrestlers.

While it can't be called WWF anymore thanks to some offended pandas, WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania plans on bringing classic matches from wrestling's most famous event to the Xbox 360. In the game's central Tour mode, we've had a chance to take control of Hulk Hogan in his famous bout against Andre the Giant at 1987's Wrestlemania III.

If your memory's a little rusty, Legends provides a video reminder of the events leading up to the match, with the feud between Hulk and Andre developing over several clips, followed by highlights from the match itself. In Relive mode, it's your job not just to win the fight, but to replicate those key moments in-game with points awarded for each objective successfully completed.

If conforming to history isn't your style you can choose Rewrite mode, allowing you to play as the original loser and attempt to win, or Redefine mode, which allows you to shake things up completely with different wrestlers and match options, such as adding a cage.

There'll also be a Create-A-Legend mode for building the two true heroes of wrestling, Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, and more standard single, tag and online bouts.

It's going to be tough for Legends of Wrestlemania to elevate itself above novelty status or, worse, dismissal as a stripped-down SmackDown. For misty-eyed wrestling fans, though, its museum-like dedication to the build-up for each classic match is perfect.

Ultimately we reckon its success will boil down to whether the hardcore grapple-fans can stomach two mechanically similar wrestling games in six short months.

Mike Channell