Rating:


Price: $59.99
Reviewed On: Xbox 360

The Skinny: Choose from more than 40 legendary WWE wrestlers and show everyone what Hulkamania really means.

The Good: This is as nostalgic you can get without turning your hoopdie into a time machine. The grandaddy of all the modes—"Relive, Redefine, and Rewrite"—tasks you with redoing classic Wrestlemania matches to your liking and is filled to the brim with fan service. You'll be greeted with videos hyping up and showing you genuine match footage of past events. You'll enter the ring just like your wrestler would, and then you have a specific amount of challenges to complete, i.e. body-slamming Andre the Giant in Wrestlemania III or winning the "test of might" against The Ultimate Warrior, that add a certain of authenticity to the game play. Maneuvers are easy enough to execute, with finishers and power moves done by pressing a singular button when it flashes onscreen.

 

The Bad: There are some questionable selections and omissions from the roster. For example, Koko B. Ware was, at best, a mid-level fighter and pales in comparison to the stature of other wrestlers like "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. There are also some weird graphical and technical glitches that will have your wrestlers performing nearly impossible sequences of maneuvers, like going from a sleeper hold on the mat to, all of a sudden, running from the ropes for a leg drop. It's noticeable, but usually not too obstructive.

Maxim Tip: Even if we had a tip, it wouldn't help you against the self-professed best player of Legends of Wrestlemania, John Cena. (Watch him kick our Mr. Perfect's "absolutely perfect" ass.)

Buy, Rent, or Disembowel: If you ever practiced your Jim Duggan-esque "Hawwww!" and randomly chanted "U-S-A! U-S-A!" in the backyard when you were eight years old, this is a must buy.