Well, three games on and it seemed that Acclaim had finally understood how to create a great wrestling game. Didn't they? They had worked out the bugs from the first two games and finally pulled a five star classic out of the bag. Hadn't they? You would all be forgiven for expecting little from Showdown: Legends of Wrestling; after the first two games were such huge disappointments very few people held their breath over this third instalment. The general consensus was that this would be yet another failed attempt to replicate the success and stellar gameplay of the now dominant Smackdown series.

However, then we all saw the screenshots. We saw that while they still did not look 100% accurate, they did look good. Then we read about the roster. In fact, it is probably the roster that has sold this game more than anything. Rumour has it, this was the best-selling game by Acclaim in 2004. No doubt it was also the most traded-in game of 2004 too! With the previous games the roster has been their main selling point. People, like myself, bought them to play as Piper and Road Warriors and ignored the low 4/10 ratings that they were receiving. We wanted them for this reason and this reason alone. With Smackdown continuously (as they still are) letting us down and teasing us with one or two legends. it was simply wonderful that in one game we could have all our heroes. This game was no different. In fact, it was even better.

Yes, this game sees the return of the Ultimate Warrior. Not just that, but also Sting, Macho Man Randy Savage, Jake 'The Snake' Roberts and Ravishing Rick Rude. With this game you could recreate almost any Wrestlemania match from its first ten years. Name a classic and it is here for the playing. This is actually classed as a feature of the game, but it's odd how they put so much emphasis on the fact that they will set you up for Andre vs Hogan when a few clicks and you can do it yourself. We must assume that the designers felt that gamers (particularly younger gamers) had no idea of classic matches. I found this a little insulting; sure, they have true classics like Savage vs Steamboat (Wrestlemania III) Warrior vs Hogan (WM VI) and Owen Hart vs Bret Hart (WM X) but then we get into the obscure, to the pointless, Sting vs DDP?? Okay, I am all for including a great Sting match and obviously without Flair we have to pick someone, but DDP? Maybe you could choose the biggest PPV of WCW's history; Starrcade 1997, Hogan vs Sting? Although, I think after six Hogan matches maybe the designers felt we'd had enough. That is one of the major problems, not just with this game, but with all the wrestling games in general; they're designed for the wrestling fan and we love completeness. If you are going to include classic matches and make that one of your selling points then we need to be given hundreds upon hundreds of matches. With over 73 wrestlers on offer, there are literally thousands of match variations on offer and yet we are only offered a few dozen. It makes no sense and makes this aspect of the game half-hearted and a little pointless.

Anyway, as I said at the beginning, upon receiving the first screenshots you would be forgiven for thinking, "This looks great." It does, in fact it is the best looking of the series (which isn't actually saying much). By this time, the designers had discovered how to create proper tone and muscle to the characters, although they are still not perfect. Problems with hair, which plagued many of the original Smackdown games, are on show here, particularly on Bret Hart and Warrior, who at times looks like they have custard on their head. The entrances are the best we have seen and I will not again explain what the familiar theme music would do to improve them, had this been an option. A lot of work has been put into creation of the arenas and the crowd and it all looks impressive, although you feel that this extra work could have been put to more use on the wrestlers themselves. Maybe the extra animation on the crowds has slowed down the characters, as this is probably the worst in terms of code errors and glitches of the series. It became a common occurrence that during Battle Royales (yes that's what they're actually called!!) the wrestler would go to run against the ropes and actually run through the ropes to the outside and thus be eliminated!

As with the other games, the sound is a mixture of rock/rap/remix stuff that is one of the first things I adjust (by switching off) when playing. However, in someone's infinite wisdom, following the immense success of the commentary on Smackdown's: Just Bring It and Shut Your Mouth, Acclaim decided to give it a try. Now, the thought of hearing Bobby Heenan is a true joy with him coming out with some classic Weasel comments. However, the inclusion of Tony Schiavone and "The Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko was idiotic and in some cases suicidal. Many will know that this was the WCW commentary team, but this does not make for great listening. Further more, I have probably said this before, and I will say it again until someone listens: play by play on wrestling games doesn't work. There is too much going on! Listen to the latest Smackdown game and all you will get is half sentences being interrupted by half sentences, being interrupted… and so on and so on…

JR: Boy, JBL sure is a piece of… (Blocking a move) Well, that went nowhere.
Jerry Lawler: I wonder if Smackdown's going to have anything… (Submission)
JR: Submission being expertly applied there.

It is not wanted, needed or any good!

The game itself is odd to play. The concept, as with all the other games, is perfect. You choose a wrestler and you wrestle through three decades. This involves five random matches from the Seventies through to the Nineties, ending with a Championship match against Hogan. Now, we could complain that this is just typical, even in a game Hogan is hogging the spotlight, but this can be excused, as we all must agree that if you ask anyone who was the most successful champion over the last three decades, every single person will say Hogan. Sure, Flair was a better wrestler, but no one individual signified wrestling more than Hogan.

One problem I always had with the previous two games was the length of the season. It was so long that it is doubtful that anyone played it all the way through more than a few times. With this game you can complete it within fifteen matches. Fifteen? So they went from a season of well over fifty matches to fifteen. Interesting. The designers said this was to allow people to play the season with more of the characters. This is a nice theory, however, if you played those fifteen matches and hated the way the game played then you might not want to do that. If you complete the game in under an hour and then receive no bonuses for it whatsoever, you may never want to play the game again. See where I'm going with this?

Yes, this is still a bad game to play. The controls have been tweaked with more emphasis on combo moves to the point were you don't care about grapples. The problem here is that the game is not Killer Instinct or Mortal Kombat. A real match would never have several punches followed by a move; it just makes for a bad game. Carrying out special moves has been improved, but many will still never be achieved. Everyone knows that the easiest Special in Smackdown is a top rope move. Just beat down your opponent, get to the top rope, press and bingo! Even if you don't hit it properly, you will still hit the opponent as they stagger to their feet. This is not the case with Showdown. To achieve, for example, Randy Savage's Elbow-drop, you need to first deplete the other character of 97% of their energy and then slam them about a character length from the post, climb the rope and then wiggle the right analog stick. Unfortunately, this never happened. It seemed no matter how much I tried, I could never actually carry it out.

It had got to the point when playing this game that I actually felt like giving up. Sure, it had some good points, but when one of the bad points is that the game is unplayable it makes you wonder why the developers bothered at all. Once again, in the multiplayer mode there are many options and match types that leave you scratching your head. Maybe if they spent more time on making just one match type playable then we would be happy, but even a straightforward match can be the most frustrating thing to perform. It is sad that Acclaim made even the thought of re-enacting Warrior vs Hogan or creating classic dream matches that never happened unappealing.

Though it is a shame that Acclaim went out of business, it could be said in terms of this series that it was a blessing in disguise. After two failed games it might be too much to ask for an excellent follow up, but a playable one would have been nice. We will just have to wait until someone at THQ finally takes note of these mistakes and what a goldmine lies within a 'WWE Legends' game. Then the fun will really begin!

Reviewed by David Simpson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).