[01/03/2006] WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2006

[L.S.D]

Game: WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2006

System: PSP

Emulators: None

 

WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2006, the very first wrestling game for PSP.

I still remember the time when I get WWE Smackdown Just Bring It for PS2. Expecting

a PS2-quality graphics, I was horrified that the graphics was like a PS1 game. A lot of things

needing improvement to make it a very good game. Howver, THQ did improve on the

subsequent sequels of the series. So, how does this PSP version, the 1st of its kind fare?

Read on to find out.

 

Graphics:

After getting mediocre fares from GBA (or NGPC also), I am proud to say that the graphic

on the PSP was excellent. I have played the PS2 version once and the PSP version has been

ported directly from the PS2 version, with success. All the details on the PS2 are on the PSP,

right down to the exact menu settings and arrangement. The wrestlers' models are really beautiful

and capture the exact wrestlers' faces and body sizes (The Rock has fat thighs though), their entrance

are well done, their signature moves all well executed. This is by far the best game in term of graphics

performance on PSP (the only other games that can boast such graphical capabilities are GTA and Ridge Racer).

The downside of the graphics are few. The first thing you will notice is the crowd. Instead of 3D crowd applied

on PS2 version, PSP version get a cardboard cutout for each person in the crowd.

Kinda remind me of Just Bring It The announcer's table was also taken out. You will notice some

jagged edges around the wrestlers. But all these should not dampen the overall great feeling the graphic has bring. After playing through the GBA version, this PSP game is heaven sent.

 

 

Graphics: 9.5/10

 

Controls:

The transition from PS2 to PSP was well made. Although the PSP lack a 2nd analog stick and

the R2 and L2 buttons, the control was modified to accomodate these. Overall feeling on the control

was good and feel responsive. Two major complains here though: It is very hard to press diagonally

on the DPad for PSP. This make turnbuckle moves slightly harder. However, this can be solved

after a few hours of gameplay. The other complain is the lack of manual targetting. This feature

was taken out from the PSP version due to the lack of buttons. In order to target the opponents

you want, you will have to move near to it. This can be a pain in the ass when you are playing

against multiple opponents like the Royal Rumble or the Elimination Chamber.

 

Controls: 8/10 (due to lack of manual targetting)

 

Sound:

Sound is a major plus this year. The PSP version has COMPLETE Voiceovers for the Season mode.

Meaning, you will have every wrestlers' voices available on the PSP version. You will get to hear

Hogan bellow "Whatcha gonna do, bruda, when the Hulkamaniac runs wild on you?" from Hogan itself

etc. This really increase the overall mood when playing this game. And the voice acting was the best

compare to older version. You could almost feel like you are really watching a RAW or Smackdown

programme when playing this game. In-game sound effects was also great with crowd reaction chanting

your wrestlers' names or "Wooooing" to Ric Flair's Commentaries during play was taken out for the PSP

version to save space. It was not sorely missed as commentaries has not been good in the past version

anyway. Replacing the commentaries are bgm playing when you are having a match, music ranging from

rock, hip hop to rap. Not a bad soundtrack for a WWE wrestling game.

 

Sound: 9.5/10 ( no full point because they butchered Megadeth's Symphony of Destruction )

 

Gameplay:

The PSP suffer some downgrade in graphic when they port this game from PS2 to PSP. Amazingly, none was

compromised in gameplay. Every option available in the PS2 version is available here. All the stipulation

for the matches are here: Hell in a Cell, Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, Buried Alive, Fulfill Your Fantasy,

you named it, they have it. The gameplay is totally unchanged from the PS2 version. You have the same upgrade as the PS2 version. Stamina and momentum has been added to the gameplay.

Using a lot of power moves, high flying moves will drain your wrestlers' stamina causing them to move slower

and catching their breath. This call for strategic playing instead of doing moves after moves to keep the opponents down. The momentum is a new implemented system. Raising your momentum to full by doing moves

that the crowd loves or suit you and you will be able to perform a devastating finishing moves on the opponent. Or you can store it for later use but the damage will not be as great. With these new system, it enhances the gameplay greatly compare to the older version where you just do power moves a lot and keep your opponents down. A Power irish Whip is also added so that you can irish whipped your opponents out of the ring with greater effects. 2 new stipulations are in the game: Buried Alive and Fulfill Your Fantasy. Buried Alive was well done where you need to throw the opponent into a casket and close it (done with minigames). Fulfill Your Fantasy was for those pervert boys who like to see their favourite digital divas wearing their nurse, school or maid outfits, slogging it out with pillow with a bed ready at the side for some good ol' spanking. Enough said.

THe Season mode was well done this year with better voice acting and storyline. However, the storyline is more linear and you don't have much diversity in the storyline compare to previous version. Still, it is a very good experience and will warrants a few plays.

THQ also inserted a Challenge mode which was introduced in last year version. There will be objectives where you have to fulfill certain conditions (perform 10 reversals etc) to gain money and unlock secrets. With 5 levels of Challenge, it will take some time to unlock all the secrets. The Challenge mode is very hard, especially on PSP (you can cheat using PS2 by playing in 2P mode) and especially when you play alone. But it is worth the time to play over the challenges. High rank challenges will let you play in previous match from WWE history. Classic matches like Hollywood Hogan Vs Rock, Undertaker Vs Mankind in Hell In a Cell or Hogan vs Andre the Giant was all playable and very fun to play. A thumbs up in this department.

The AI of the game is slightly improved. The Easy difficulty will see your opponents standing like a dummy doing nothing. The Legend difficulty will see the opponents reversing whatever moves you thrown at them. You will find that you will be playing at the Normal or Hard difficulty most of the times.

Another new mode in the game is the General manager mode. Basically, you will choose to be the GM of either RAW or SMACKDOWN and manage the brand by recruiting wrestlers, setting up matches and trying to have the most fans watching your brand. You will have to make sure your wrestlers are happy, look out for injuries, watch your cash flow etc. This is basically data management games ala Football Championship manager. However, this mode is not fully fleshed out. You are still pretty limited as a GM. You cannot flesh out a storyline to make your feud look better. And there are some illogical aspect to the game too (we all know an Eddie Guerrero Vs Kurt Angle match will be highly rated, but they will still lose out to John Cena Vs Batista match :S) Anyway, this is a good starting point and hope that this will be better implemented in future.

Now, the major problem with this game is the LOOOOOONNNNGGG Loading time. This has to be the mother of loading, easily beating Midnight Club DUB for PSP. It take about 20seconds to load a LOADING screen, another 10s to load the entrance, after the entrance, another 15s to load another loading screens then maybe another 15s to load the match. THat is a very long wait. And if you are using your created wrestlers (or CAW), the loading will be longer sine it takes time to load every aspect of your CAW. I could put my PSP down, take a pee, drink a glass of water, come back and the screen will still be loading. I also fall asleep once when waiting for a match to load when I play lying on the bed at night. Trying to create a CAW will be very tiring since every inch of the CAW need to be loaded. However, any wrestling fans worth their salts will definetly wait this through. This is not like Midnight Club, where you load 1 minutes to play a 2 minutes race. Matches in this game can easily go to 10 minutes++. you can even have your own classic matches. I have a Submission match with Ric Flair using Kurt Angle that goes on for 30 minutes! Really worth the loading time to get the great wrestling experience.

 

 

 

Gameplay: 9.5/10 (loading time did not bother me much, and I am not into Create - A - Wrestler anyway)

 

Graphics: 9.5/10

Controls: 8/10

Sound: 9.5/10

Gameplay: 9.5/10

 

Overall Score: 9/10

 

If you are a wrestling fan, get this game. This is the best wrestling game a portable device can ever get. Forget all those ugly GBA ports

This baby lay the smackdown on all those versions.

Edited January 3, 2006 by L.S.D

[Agozer]

For a moment I though that the review was dated for 2003. Oh why did you put the year first?

[L.S.D]

For a moment I though that the review was dated for 2003. Oh why did you put the year first?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh well, just change it for me, will ya?

[Agozer]

For a moment I though that the review was dated for 2003. Oh why did you put the year first?

Oh well, just change it for me, will ya?

You could have done it yourself as well. It's fixed now. btw, tht was a good review, although a bit text-heavy. a little more formatting wouldn't have hurt.

[L.S.D]

although a bit text-heavy. a little more formatting wouldn't have hurt.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are simply too much to talk about And I have edit about 10 times on this review. Original formatting was worse. Very hard to do formatting here.

[Agozer]

although a bit text-heavy. a little more formatting wouldn't have hurt.

There are simply too much to talk about And I have edit about 10 times on this review. Original formatting was worse. Very hard to do formatting here.

I have to agree. I type most of my reviews with Notepad, and just copy-pasting the cintents to the new post window doesn't quite work like you'd expect it to and then you have to start editing it by hand.