Last year Acclaim attempted a comeback to the wrestling genre by bringing over some of the greatest wrestlers of all time to support it. While the game had the names, the game play and presentation fell short of giving the proper treatment these class acts sorely deserved. The game wasn't a complete failure, mind you, but it could've been much more. When announced that a sequel was in the works, one could only hope for much improved game play physics and game play. Did Acclaim deliver the goods? Not quite.

Graphically the game has jumped up a notch in appearance, but still maintains an over the top, goofy looks to the character models. The animations on the other hand have taken a turn for the worse. It seems that the frame rate has been tweaked up a notch to high, giving the overall look as if in fast-forward. The entrances have been beefed up slightly, but still leave a lot to be desired. One thing the game does still have is the bloodshed. LOW is still the only game to support it. The informative presentation returns, acknowledging the games high/low spots. This really affects the crowd's love for the match and your match's overall rating in the end. Most of the wrestlers resemble their counterparts, but some are way off. All in all, the game looks fine, but Acclaim really needs more time for tweaking in some areas.

Audio remains fairly similar, with the same sound FX, crowd chants, and smacks and cracks of last years. None of the wrestlers do any chants that they were known for in the past. The only voice over is from Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Heart. Each wrestler has entrance music, but without the official licensing, some come try to resemble songs gone by, while others don't even hit the mark. The game does utilize Dave Penzer of WCW fame, who does a fine job in performing his duties, announcing the before game ceremonies. No play-by-play commentary is there, and since it's never really worked well in the past, that's a good thing. The Xbox version uses the Custom Soundtrack feature, but not for what we would hope for. You cannot use the music for your create a wrestler's entrances, only for in game music. All in all the game's sounds are mediocre at best.

Gameplay is where the game takes a serious bump from the top of a 20 ft cage. Last year this game play didn't really work, and the mechanics didn't change this year. To perform moves, you must tap a button, utilize a swing/timing meter, and hit another button. This never feels smooth in its transition. The rest of the game feels tight, but it's the facts that the moves will get repeated more times that not, really hurts the way the game feels overall.

The game does feature a vast wealth of options. Over 65 wrestlers, 10 game modes (Single, Tag, Ladder, Cage, Battle Royal, etc), and a deep career mode, will keep your fingers mashing the buttons for hours on end. Also featured are interviews with a great amount of wrestlers who talk about the business, how they got in, gimmicks, etc. This is the most entertaining part of the disc in this reviewer's opinion. Create a Legend has returned, but seems far more shallow that last years version. The options seem lackluster at best. This is one thing Acclaim was known for best, yet for some reason, cut back this year. If you can get a hold of the game's style, then plenty of game play hours will suffice your needs.

For the most part, Legends of Wrestling delivers a "different" wrestling style and play mechanics. While the options are bigger this year, I thought last year's game felt more complete in overall game play. If you can't hang with the games currently offered from the WWE, and want something to tide you over till RAW 2... then Legends will give you some thrills, spills, and chills, but the hardcore fans of the genre may want to pass.