LoW 2 Thoughts

[Professor S]

I know this goes for all systems, but with the lack of a General Gaming forum I thought I'd post this here since I own an XBox

IGN has an article with a slight preview of the upcoming release of Legends of Wrestling 2. I never thought that this would happen considering how friggin bad the original is, but after reading the article I discovered that it had sold over 600,000 copies. 600,000 COPIES.

This makes me more angry than you can ever know and is a PERFECT example of why there are NO good wrestling games on consoles being released anymore. The fact is, its OUR FAULT wrestling games suck now. We keep on buying them no matter now God awful they are, just because they have recognizable personalities or a WWE liscence.

Developers and Publishers have realized that it doesn't matter what kind of engine they use in a wrstling game, because if it looks good and has the liscences that I mentioned above, the masses will eat it up.

Asmik/AKI made their legendary games under the false impression that it was their time and effort in producing a sublime grappling system, and then improving that system very release that made their games sell well. I have now come to the conclusion that their effort didn't mean diddly SQUAT in terms of sales. Thats pathetic.

The last bastion of wrestling gaming lies in the hands of Spike and their Fire Pro series they loyaly adopted from Human. They have been able to survive through the loyalty of their fans and the simplicity of they grappling engine. In the world of 3D gaming, they have thrived by releasing 2D games on the strength of their engine and nearly endless options (10 man tag team, barbed wire death match, glass light tube death match, electrified barbed wire exploding ring cage of death match!!!).

So please, think next time before you purchase a crap ass wrstling game just because you want to play as RVD or whoever. Read the reviews first. Make sure the developers aren't just throwing you a bone because they know you'll buy it. Make them be accountable for their crimes against wrestling games.

And make sure to send a message to them as well, by buying the next Fire Pro game that is released and make the developers and publishers realize that it DOES matter what they release.

oh, and FYI, here are the wrestling games I view as good and the ones I view as bad for your reference:

Great: WCW vs The World (PS2), WCW vs NWO World Tour (N64), WCWvsNWO Revenge (N64), Wrestlemania 2000 (N64), No Mercy (N64), Virtual ProWrestling 2 (N64 Import), Pro Wrestling (NES), Giant Gram 2000 (DC Import), Tetsuon Retsuden 4 (DC Import),anything with "Fire" and "Pro" in it.

Average: Raw (XBox) This game isn't bad simply because your opponent would actually stay on the mat for a little while after a big move and the engine ain;t half bad after you learn it. Its simple but complicated at the same time.

And the BAD: Legends of Wrestling (Multi) Royal Rumble (DC) anything made by Acclaim, anything with motion caturing for moves, anything with the word "Smackdown" in it. (yes, I know these games are insanely popular, but the word "insane" is appropriate when describing its success. Its button mashing fighting game, not wrestling, and not a very good one at that. Its honestly like watching Brittany Spears earn millions and become a media darling while actual musicians with talent slip away never getting the credit they deserve. Its infuriating.)

[Jonbo298]

Originally posted by The Strangler

Great: WCW vs The World (PS2)

I don't remember that being on PS2.

[Professor S]

haha, yeah, I meant PSX.

Do you remember that game, though? I think it was the first 3D wrestling game ever made, and it was GREAT especially if you're a fan of the international scene. They had what is to this day one of the largest number of wrestlers available with plenty of unlockable legends such as Mil Mascaras, Antonio Inoki, Andre the Giant, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara.

At the time it was the best wrestling gaame around, and it still hold up today as being a fun game.