Showdown: Legends of Wrestling

Showdown: Legends of Wrestling is the third part of the Legends of Wrestling video game series developed by Acclaim Entertainment for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. A version of the game for the Nintendo GameCube was also planned but was canceled.

Roster

A significant coup for Showdown: LoW was the inclusion of much requested fan favorite legend Ultimate Warrior who, due to ongoing hostilities and financial disagreements with the WWE, had not been featured in video games since WWF In Your House in 1996. The full roster in Showdown: Legends of Wrestling is:

New Legends

These can be used for modding

Mikey Whipwreck
Sandman
Chris Benoit
Mick Foley
Ric Flair
Rob Van Dam
Jeff Jarrett
Buff Bagwell

Bruiser Brody was to be originally included in the game, but was taken out for an unknown reason.

Returning Legends

Music

The theme music in the last two games was composed by "The Mouth of The South" Jimmy Hart. Hart appears as a manager in all three games. He also composed some of the theme music for World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment.

A cover of "Metal Health" by Quiet Riot was used in promo videos for the game and the instrumental is played at the main menu and Create-a-Legend screens.

Reaction

Showdown: Legends of Wrestling was greeted with much derision from critics upon its release. Consumer reaction was negative too, though not excessively so, primarily tempered by the stellar roster available in the game. The inclusion of former WCW commentary team of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Tony Schiavone, and "The Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko was welcomed. However, the commentary system turned out to be a failure, being unsophisticated and repetitive. It has arguably the best roster of popular 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s pro-wrestlers, including many 'legends' who didn't appear in the first two games.

The game was riddled with many serious bugs, glitches, crashes, and lock-ups. This suggested that Showdown: LoW was a rushed product with little attention to quality assurance (game testing) on Acclaim's part. Other major negative aspects of the game are terribly lacking opponent AI, sluggish character movement, and clumsy game controls. Errors and omissions in the accompanying instruction booklet compounded this. The game's box also advertised commentary from Jerry "The King" Lawler which also was omitted from the game.

Features

Some minor new features included a tribute to deceased legendary wrestlers as well as a tutorial fully narrated by Bret Hart.

Arenas

Another major point in the game's favor was the inclusion of many famous arenas used for pro wrestling and many other sports. They included:

Madison Square Garden in New York City
Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan
Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan
The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia
Cow Palace in San Francisco, California
The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan
Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee
Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas
L.A. Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California
Wembley Stadium in London, England
Moscow