[Show as slideshow]

http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/tna-cross-the-line-ndspsp/thumbs/thumbs_TNA-3.jpg

The relationship between Nintendo consoles and wrestling games has been a rough one since the glory days of the N64. The Gamecube gave us the cruel joke that was seemingly half-finished Wrestlemania X8, then followed it up with Wrestlemania XIX a game centered on having WWE superstars attack security guards and construction workers.

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

After those, the two mediocre Day of Reckoning games seemed like masterpieces. They are not. For example, if you spend all match beating down Shawn Michaels with Bret Hart, HBK will start no selling, kipping up like crazy, and super kicking everything in site.

(Then again, maybe it was Bret Hart who screwed Bret Hart.)

The Wii’s track record hasn’t been any better. Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008 featured some of the worst motion controls around, and no variety when it came to moves, move sets, match types, or pretty much anything. Moreover, it was just weird in the things you could and couldn’t do. JBL could do springboard moves and wrestlers couldn’t leave the ring during tag matches for some reason. You could use your character’s cell phone to hit on Divas, start and end relationships with them, but there were no managers or valets allowed in the game. These things could be forgiven if it played well or was fun, but alas, it was not. SVR 2008 was the first wrestling game I ever traded in for store credit, and mind you I still own WCW Mayhem.

SVR 2009 saw some improvements, and greatly expanding on such areas as types of matches, and adding interactive entrances. As a whole, though, the game still suffered from an unresponsive motion control system, and was frustrating more often than not. Plus, it featured some godawful nonsense such as zombi-fying Fit Finlay in the Undertaker vs. Boogeyman storyline.

With all these things in mind, let’s see what this year’s model does.

1. Story/Modes
In terms of story, we have three options: The Road to Wrestlemania, Career Mode, and Create a Storyline.

With the Road to Wrestlemania you can choose between a handful of mostly linear story lines that take place from the time right before the Royal Rumble all the way up to Wrestlemania (duh). Here is what you can expect from these things.

1. The create-a-wrestler storyline involves you chosen CAW answering an open challenge from comedy character Santino and winning a championship belt. This action, for some reason, makes Vince hates you. He saddles you with a bad gimmick and outfit that would make Al Snow long for his Leif Cassidy days. Logic is ignored almost as much as it would be in an actual wrestling plot, and a chicken suit is involved. You can’t play this mode with a female CAW.

2. If you do demand to wrestle as a Diva, the Road to Wrestlemania offers you a storyline with Mickie James. You wrestle as Mickie, and Natalya develops a girl-crush on you. It is an odd retelling of the Trish Stratus/Mickie James storyline, with Mickie in the Trish role. You also date the (long since fired) Brian Kendrick, in a relationship just as Sapphic as the one with Natalya. The storyline branches exactly once, when you are forced to choose between your two potential love interests. I chose Natalya, who seemed to be the more masculine of the two.

3. Edge’s storyline is basically a rehash of his Vickie Guerrero storyline, with Maria in the Vickie role. His main foil is (the long since fired) Kennedy, and (SPOILER ALERT) he seems to lose the title match at Wrestlemania to Kennedy no matter how well you play. I don’t know whether to call this Bogus or call Shenanigans on the whole game at this point, as Edge is my role model.

4. In the Brand Loyalty Storyline, you get to choose between the internet’s two favorite wrestlers Triple H and Cena. (See what I did there?) Basically, those two and the Big Show see who can better bury the undercard. Cena and HHH together get to squash the entire ECW roster. (Is it art imitating life? No. Video games aren’t art.)

There are also storylines for HBK and Orton. Basically, each story is linear; there is about one choice to make per story. You have to meet certain conditions to unlock items, but not to advance the story. Most of the unlockables are extra outfits or wrestlers you couldn’t possibly care about (read as: Jesse and Eve).

So, onto career mode! This is pretty much the same as it was last year. You start off on one title path. You need to accumulate a certain number of stars by having matches with a short list of opponents. Once you get enough stars, you can challenge to be the number one contender. Win that, and you can challenge for the title. Win that, and you can start the whole thing all over again with a different title.

Career mode isn’t very satisfying. You just book yourself to the top of the card. There is no story whatsoever, and all the title wins feel fairly empty. Once you win all the titles you care to win, you can choose to defend those things, or just ignore this mode entirely.

The story designer mode feels equally empty. You can put together episodes of Raw, ECW or Smackdown by setting up scenes, matches, backstage antics, etc. The problem is that there is no feedback. There are no TV ratings or buy rates to say if you are doing a good job. No snowflake rating system to the matches you wrestle. You can’t share the stories online, so basically you can spend two hours creating a story that you spend two minutes playing through (or watching the computer play through). You can’t even book who wins shy of wrestling to get that result.

In short, the Road to Wrestlemania isn’t open ended enough, whereas Career mode and Story Designer are too open ended.

Still, judged as a fighting game or a sports game, the sheer variety of modes makes up for the lack of story. For heaven’s sake, there are multiple types of ladder matches! You can choose between a six man Money in the Bank, a TLC match, or a regular Ladder match. There are inferno matches, extreme rules matches, an ELIMINATION CHAMBER, Hells in Cells, and all sorts of gimmicks to keep us busy.

2. Graphics
The graphics of this game are a mixed bag. The big name guys look pretty good, especially their entrances. During Road to Wrestlemania mode, however, characters resemble horrifying clown monsters whenever they try to emote.

No, seriously. Mickie James tends to look absolutely terrifying during her story. I was afraid to go to sleep for fear that she would eat me.

There are other problems aside from sad clowns, though. If you ever look out into the crowd, you will notice a large number of people have replaced their hands with giant irregular pentagons. I don’t know what you call that surgery, but I don’t want it.

There are also plenty of instances where long hair travels straight through any given wrestler’s deltoids and/or clavicle. This sort of thing happens far too much, even during Edge’s entrance. There is no excuse.

3. Sound/ Music
Wrestlers and shows have their proper and respective theme music. (This is a good thing.)

There are also some extra rock tracks for your CAWs. (This is also a good thing. )

The mostly useless voice mail messages are a quaint mixture of bad acting and over acting. (This is a thing.)

The announcers are worse than a drunk Tony Schiavone during the third hour of Nitro. (This is a bad thing.)

Moves are routinely miscalled. Not just a little miscalled, mind you. It’s not like confusing a side slam and a sidewalk slam. The announcers confuse clotheslines with head scissors. They confuse chokes with scoop slams. They call men “she” and women “him”, yet still manage to overuse “their” as a gender neutral singular pronoun. Michael Cole routinely pimps WWE.com and brags about Raw‘s longevity for no good reason.

I didn’t think it was possible, but virtual Michael Cole is even worse than regular old, homunculus Michael Cole.

Also, the CAW voices are just silly.

4. Control / Gameplay
When I started up SVR 2010 for the first time, I was surprised when the Wiimote didn’t do anything. I realized that I had my Wavebird plugged in, and that you can use Gamecube controllers in this thing.

I tried with the Wavebird for about 2 minutes before resetting the game. It stunk. The A button was used to strike, the C-stick was used to weak grapple and the C-stick with the Z button (!) was used to strong grapple.

Seriously? The C-stick? Isn’t that ignored in every Gamecube game unless you want to move the camera? And the Z button? Half the time I don’t even remember that the Z button is there!

It looks like you can change those settings, but I was too angry to do such a thing. Those are the most counter-intuitive wrestling controls this side of Three Count Bout.

The Wiimote – Nunchuk combo was a lot easier to grasp, but not without it’s problems. It uses the A button to strike and the B button to weak grapple, which is backwards compared to everything that Nintendo has told me about wrestling since WCW/NWO Revenge.

Also, all reversals are performed with the B button. Since this button is already used for weak grapple, this is a bit of a problem.

Strong grapples are performed by hitting A and B at the same time. It usually works, but you also might end up weak grappling or reversing. Strong grapples have multiple parts and based on the direction of the control stick when you held A+B you will either start with a collar and elbow tie up, an arm bar, a headlock or a rear waist lock. After that, you hit some more buttons to do some more moves, and about half the time do what you intended to do.

Hitting A+B is also how finishers are performed. B and down is used to pin.

The C button is for running and for changing the position of an opponent.

The Z button does almost everything else from picking up weapons to dropping weapons to removing a turnbuckle pad to climbing a ladder. C+Z Irish whips a standing opponent. C+Z also picks up a downed opponent. C+Z and a direction drags a downed opponent. C button by itself flips a downed opponent over.

So good luck with all of that. I managed to pick up opponents when I tried to drag them, flip over opponents when I tried to pick up, and run when I tried to flip an opponent over.

Oh, by the way, there is no training mode this year. Plus, neither the manual nor the in-game button guide tell you how to work an Inferno Match. You get thrown into one of those in the CAW Road to Wrestlemania storyline, so good luck with that, too.

The saddest part of these lousy controls is that this game controls so much better than the last two Wii SVR games. There are so many more moves and they work more often than both previous WWE Wii games.

New to the Wii this year are over 20 Superstar Abilities. These include things like Dirty Pin; where you can pin somebody with your feet on the ropes, Referee Shield; where you can hide behind the ref, Move Thief; where you can steal an opponent’s finisher, Springboard Dives, and Outside Dives. You can assign a certain number of these things to your CAWs, though some need to be earned by increasing the stats of your CAW. Usually there is a trade off involved. For instance, rolling out of the ring can save you from a finishing move, but will cost you some momentum.

5. Replayabilty
Even bad wrestling games are fairly replayable. SVR 2010 is a better than average wrestling game, and it is ridiculously replayable.

There is a sizable roster. There are a number of things to unlock via Road to Wrestlemania mode, each one requiring two go-rounds to unlock everything. You can decide heel and face alignments, make up stables, reenact famous matches, and change who is on which brand.

It is easy to waste a couple of hours making and fine tuning a CAW. Then you can waste another hour or so making his/her moveset. After that, you have to spend hours leveling up him (or her), and by doing that unlocking new abilities. I have a long term plan to make a Brock Lesnar/ Great Muta tag team and having them run wild all over the WWE.

6. Balance
Oh, wrestling games and balance, what is the best you can hope for here? Like usual, easy is pants on head retarded easy. The opponent just stands there and waits for you to kick the crap out of him.

It is pretty much the same thing on more difficult levels, except that the computer now stands around like an idiot, but has gained the ability to reverse every single move you throw at it. After that, he will destroy you with an endless sequence of moves. You will tap B (also like an idiot) but accidentally weak grapple him. That will be reversed and second verse same as the first. Basically, if you like doing strong grapples, leave it on Easy.

Normal and hard settings aren’t impossible. I won most of these matches by wrestling like a Memphis heel. The computer can reverse most of what you throw at it, but is highly vulnerable to top rope moves. If you have a five star frog splash in your regular moveset, it is easy enough to spam it and get the subsequent auto-pin.

On the positive side of things, Royal Rumbles are possible once again. Throwing an opponent over the top rope is accomplished via a d-pad-mashing mini-game, and there are Rumble specific finishing moves for tossing opponents out of the ring.

The D-pad mashing mini-game is terrible, but at least these matches are winnable for the first time since the N64.

7. Originality
While this is a much better wrestling game than previous installments, it is much less original in many regards. Gone are the interactive entrances. Gone are the motion controlled taunts. Gone is the ability to call up a diva to start a relationship.

The Story Designer is nice, in theory, but is more trouble than it is worth.

But, heck, there is an Inferno Match. That is a first for a WWE Nintendo game, eh?

8. Addictiveness
I could probably play this game every day and have fun with it. I have no irresistible impulse to do this thing. Creating a wrestler is a tad too time consuming and tedious to be as much fun as it should be. Matches are either far too easy or frustrating.

Mostly, though, this game would be a lot more addicting if there weren’t a hundred other wrestling games before it.

9. Appeal Factor
The ratings aren’t what they used to be, but the WWE is still a strong brand. It is popular to make a new version of this game very year, right?

I see kids with John Cena shirts at my daughter’s school. So this ‘rasslin’ stuff is probably almost as popular as that iCarly.

10. Miscellaneous
This game loses points for featuring a number of fired wrestlers in its Road To Wrestlemania mode, but it earns a lot of love back by allowing me to easily put somebody through the announce table via a Shane-o elbow drop from the top turnbuckle.

Plus I can light a two by four on fire and hit people with it.

The Scores:

Story/Modes: Good
Graphics: Decent
Sound: Above Average
Control/Gameplay: Decent
Replayability: Incredible
Balance: Poor
Originality: Poor
Addictiveness: Enjoyable
Appeal: Great
Miscellaneous: Above Average
Final Score: Above Average Game

Short Attention Span Summary
Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010 seems a bit like a great car whose pieces were taken apart and used to make a train. Sure trains and cars do about the same thing, but not quite. You can see where parts of this thing could be used to make a great game. As it stands, it is merely an above average game. Sadly, this puts it head and shoulders above all the rest of the WWE Wii and Gamecube games.

http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/120.jpg
http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/wwe-500.jpg

[Show as slideshow]

12►

Full WWE Smackdowv vs Raw 2010 Coverage:

• Rumble Screens
• Championship Scramble screens
  
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: gameplay improvements, attributes & abilities
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Creation
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: wwe rivals
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: road to wrestlemania
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: wwe story designer
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: PS3/360 Gallery
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Nintendo DS
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Nintendo wii

http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/svr2010-week-online-wii/thumbs/thumbs_11_svr10_cena_orton.jpg

[Show as slideshow]

12►

Full WWE Smackdowv vs Raw 2010 Coverage:

• Rumble Screens
• Championship Scramble screens
  
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: gameplay improvements, attributes & abilities
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Creation
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: wwe rivals
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: road to wrestlemania
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: wwe story designer
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: PS3/360 Gallery
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Nintendo DS
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Nintendo wii

http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/svr2010-week-online-ds/thumbs/thumbs_tripleh_orton_3.jpg

[Show as slideshow]

• Rumble Screens
• Championship Scramble screens
  
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: gameplay improvements, attributes & abilities
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Creation
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: wwe rivals
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: road to wrestlemania
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: wwe story designer
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: PS3/360 Gallery

http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/svr2010-week-wwe-story-designer/thumbs/thumbs_08_svr10_storydesigner.jpg

[Show as slideshow]

123►

Full WWE Smackdowv vs Raw 2010 Coverage:

• Rumble Screens
• Championship Scramble screens
  
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: gameplay improvements, attributes & abilities
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Creation
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: wwe rivals
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: road to wrestlemania
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: wwe story designer
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: PS3/360 Gallery

http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/svr2010-week-online-ps3360/thumbs/thumbs_18_svr10_rey_kofi.jpg

[Show as slideshow]

Full WWE Smackdowv vs Raw 2010 Coverage:

• Rumble Screens
• Championship Scramble screens
  
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: gameplay improvements, attributes & abilities
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Creation
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: wwe rivals
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: road to wrestlemania

http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/svr2010-week-wwe-rivals/thumbs/thumbs_03_svr10_wwerivals.jpg

[Show as slideshow]

Full WWE Smackdowv vs Raw 2010 Coverage:

• Rumble Screens
• Championship Scramble screens
  
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: gameplay improvements, attributes & abilities
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Creation
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: wwe rivals
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: road to wrestlemania

http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/svr2010-week-road-to-wrestlemania/thumbs/thumbs_16_svr10_cas-rtwm.jpg

[Show as slideshow]

12►

• Rumble Screens
• Championship Scramble screens
  
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: gameplay improvements, attributes & abilities
• Screens WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010: Creation

http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/svr2010-week-creation/thumbs/thumbs_page3_4_character_cas3.jpg

11 Appearances
Kane (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR (X2), 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Edge (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Triple H (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Undertaker (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP (X2), SVR (X2), 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)

10 Appearances
Bradshaw/JBL (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Matt Hardy (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
The Rock (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 2010)

9 Appearances
Big Show (SD, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 09, 2010)
Chris Jericho (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 09, 2010)
Shawn Michaels (KYR, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Stone Cold Steve Austin (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, 06, 07, 08, 2010)

8 Appearances
Christian (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 2010)
Eddie Guerrero (KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08 (PSP))
Hardcore Holly (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, SVR, 07, 08 (DS), 09)
Randy Orton (SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Trish Stratus (KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 2010)

7 Appearances
Batista (HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Chavo Guerrero (HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Chris Benoit (KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07)
Jeff Hardy (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, 08, 09, 2010)
John Cena (HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Kurt Angle (KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07)
Mark Henry (SD, KYR, SYM, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Rey Mysterio (HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Ric Flair (SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08, 09)
Vince McMahon (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, 08, 09, 2010)
William Regal (JBI, SYM, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)

6 Appearances
Booker T (SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08)
Bubba Ray Dudley (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR)
D-Von Dudley (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR)
Lita (KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, 06, 07)
Shelton Benjamin (HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 09, 2010)
Torrie Wilson (SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07, 08)

5 Appearances
Albert/A-Train (KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR)
Carlito (06, 07, 08, 09, 2010)
Mankind (SD, KYR, SVR, 06, 07)
Rob Van Dam (SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06, 07)
Shane McMahon (SD, KYR, JBI, 07, 08)
Tajiri (JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06)
Tazz (KYR, JBI, SYM, 07, 09)
Test (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP)
The Hurricane/Gregory Helms (SYM, HCTP, 06, 07, 08)

4 Appearances
Billy Gunn (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM)
Bret Hart (SVR, 06, 07, 08)
Charlie Haas (HCTP, SVR, 06, 09 (DLC))
Faarooq (SD, KYR, JBI, SYM)
Finlay (07, 08, 09, 2010)
Johnny Nitro/John Morrison (07, 08, 09, 2010)
Ken Kennedy (07, 08, 09, 2010)
Melina (07, 08, 09, 2010)
Michelle McCool (06, 08, 09, 2010)
Mick Foley (KYR, JBI, 07, 08)
Mickie James (07, 08, 09, 2010)
Rhyno (JBI, SYM, HCTP, SVR)
Rikishi (KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP)
Roddy Piper (HCTP, SVR, 07, 08)
Scotty Too Hotty (KYR, SYM, SVR, 06)
Snitsky (06, 07, 08, 09)
Stacy Keibler (SYM, HCTP, SVR, 06)
Stephanie McMahon (KYR, JBI, SYM, HCTP)
Steven Richards (KYR, JBI, HCTP, 06)
The Great Khali (07, 08, 09, 2010)
Umaga (07, 08, 09, 2010)

3 Appearances
Al Snow (SD, KYR, SYM)
Candice Michelle (07, 08, 09)
Chris Masters (06, 07, 08)
Chuck Palumbo (SYM, SVR, 09)
CM Punk (08, 09, 2010)
Garrison Cade/Lance Cade (SVR, 07, 09)
Goldust (SYM, HCTP, 2010)
Hulk Hogan/Hollywood Hogan (SYM, 06 (X3), 07)
JTG (08, 09, 2010)
Kelly Kelly (08, 09, 2010)
Molly Holly (JBI, SYM, SVR)
MVP (08, 09, 2010)
Rico (SYM, HCTP, SVR)
Shad (08, 09, 2010)
Spike Dudley (JBI, SYM, 06)
Steve Blackman (SD, KYR, JBI)
Ted DiBiase (HCTP, 06, 2010)
Tommy Dreamer (08, 09, 2010)
Victoria (HCTP, SVR, 09)
Viscera/Big Daddy V (KYR, 07, 09)
X-Pac (SD, KYR, SYM)

2 Appearances
Andre the Giant (SVR, 06)
Animal (HCTP, SVR)
Ashley (08, 09)
Beth Pheonix (09, 2010)
Big Bossman (SD, KYR)
Bobby Lashley (07, 08)
Brian Kendrick (09, 2010)
Brock Lesnar (SYM, HCTP)
Cactus Jack (KYR, 07)
Chyna (SD, KYR)
Cody Rhodes (09, 2010)
Crash Holly (KYR, JBI)
Daivari (06, 07)
Dean Malenko (KYR, JBI)
Debra (SD, KYR)
D’Lo Brown (SD, KYR)
Dusty Rhodes (07, 2010)
Elijah Burke (08, 09)
Evan Bourne (09 (DLC), 2010)
Festus (09, 2010)
Gangrel (SD, KYR)
Godfather/Good Father (SD, KYR)
Hawk (HCTP, SVR)
Hornswoggle (Manager) (09, 2010)
Jazz (SYM, HCTP)
Jesse (09, 2010)
Jillian Hall (07, 09)
Jim Neidhart (07, 08 (PSP))
Jimmy Snuka (HCTP, SVR)
Joey Mercury (07)
Kevin Nash (SYM, HCTP)
Kofi Kingston (09, 2010)
Lance Storm (SYM, HCTP)
Maria (09)
Mark Jindrak (SVR, 06)
Paul Bearer (SD, KYR)
Paul London (06, 09)
Perry Saturn (KYR, JBI)
Raven (JBI, SYM)
René Duprée (SVR, 06)
Road Dogg Jesse James (SD, KYR)
Sable (HCTP, SVR)
Santino Marella (09, 2010)
Sgt. Slaughter (HCTP, 08 (PSP))
Super Crazy (07, 09 (DLC))
Ted DiBiase Jr. (09 (DLC), 2010)
The Boogeyman (07, 09)
The Miz (09, 2010)
Tori (SD, KYR)
Trevor Murdoch (07, 09)

1 Appearance
Bam Bam Bigelow (07)
Billy Kidman (SYM)
Bob Orton (2010)
Brie Bella (2010)
British Bulldog (06)
Brutus Beefcake (SVR)
Bull Buchanan (KYR)
Bushwacker Butch (09 (DLC))
Bushwacker Luke (09 (DLC))
Christy Hemme (06)
Curt Hawkins (09)
Danny Basham (06)
Diamond Dallas Page (SYM)
Doink The Clown (09 (DLC))
Dolph Ziggler (2010)
Doug Basham (06)
Dude Love (07)
Earthquake (09 (DLC))
Eric Bischoff (HCTP)
Essa Rios (KYR)
Eugene (06)
Eve (2010)
Ezekiel Jackson (2010)
Fred Durst (JBI)
Funaki (KYR)
Gail Kim (2010)
George Steele (HCTP)
Gerald Brisco (KYR)
Goldberg (HCTP)
Grandmaster Sexay (KYR)
Green Test Dummy (2010)
Heidenreich (06)
Hillbilly Jim (HCTP)
Iron Sheik (HCTP)
Jack Swagger (2010)
Jacqueline (KYR)
Jake Roberts (06)
Jerry Lawler (07)
Jerry Lynn (JBI)
Jimmy Hart (06)
Jimmy Wang Yang (09)
Joey Abs (KYR)
Joy Giovanni (06)
Junkyard Dog (06)
Ken Shamrock (SD)
Kenny Dykstra (08)
Kid Kash (07)
Layla (09)
Marcus Cor Von (08)
Maryse (2010)
Masked Man (09)
Maven (SYM)
Michael Cole (KYR)
Mike Knox (2010)
Mr. Perfect (07)
Muhammad Hassan (06)
Natalya (2010)
Nikki Bella (2010)
Nikolai Volkoff (HCTP)
Orlando Jordan (06)
Pat Patterson (KYR)
Paul Burchill (07)
Paul Heyman (Manager) (SVR)
Pete Gas (KYR)
Primo (2010)
Psicosis (07)
Red Test Dummy (2010)
Rick Rude (08)
Rob Conway (06)
Rodney (KYR)
Rodney Mack (HCTP)
R-Truth (2010)
Sabu (08)
Scott Steiner (HCTP)
Sean O’Haire (HCTP)
Shawn Stasiak (SYM)
Sylvain Grenier (06)
Taka Michinoku (KYR)
Terry Funk (08)
The Kat (KYR)
The Sandman (08)
Tony (09)
Ultimo Dragon (HCTP)
Vader (09 (DLC))
Vito (07)
Vladimir Kozlov (2010)
Zack Ryder (09)

In total there have been 223 wrestlers to appear as playable characters in a Smackdown game.

source GameFAQs
http://wrestling.insidepulse.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/smackdown-vs-raw-2010-box-a.jpg
http://wrestling.insidepulse.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/smackdown-vs-raw-2010-box-a-120×120.jpg

Here are all of the confirmed wrestlers in WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010:

RAW SUPERSTARS

1. Big Show
2. Carlito
3. Chavo Guerrero
4. Cody Rhodes
5 Jack Swagger
6. Evan Bourne
7. Festus
8. JBL
9. John Cena
10. Kofi Kingston
11. MVP
12. Mark Henry
13. Mr. Kennedy
14. Primo
15. Randy Orton
16. Santino Marella
17. Shawn Michaels
18. Ted DiBiase
19. The Miz
20. Triple H

SMACKDOWN SUPERSTARS

21. Batista
22. CM Punk
23. Chris Jericho
24. Dolph Ziggler
25. Edge
26. Finlay
27. JTG
28. Jeff Hardy
29. Jesse
30. John Morrison
31. Kane
32. Matt Hardy
33. Mike Knox
34. R-Truth
35. Rey Mysterio
36. Shad
37. The Brian Kendrick
38. The Great Khali
39. Umaga
40. Undertaker

ECW Superstars

41. Christian
42. Ezekiel Jackson
43. Goldust
44. Shelton Benjamin
45. Tommy Dreamer
46. Vladimir Kozlov
47. William Regal

WWE DIVAS

48. Brie Bella
49. Nikki Bella
50. Eve
51. Mickie James
52. Kelly Kelly
53. Gail Kim
54. Maria
55. Maryse
56. Michelle McCool
57. Melina
58. Natalya
59. Beth Phoenix
http://diehardgamefan.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/svr2010-week-championship-scramble-royal-rumble/thumbs/thumbs_13_svr10_championscramble.jpg
http://wrestling.insidepulse.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/smackdown-vs-raw-2010-box-a.jpg

To enter, go to the Forums and post in this thread that you want to be entered to win. A poster will be chosen at random to win a copy of the game for a choice of Xbox 360 or PS3!w

You have between today and Friday October 2, 2009 to enter. Good luck!

Also check out these great bands that have songs featured in the game:

Adelitas Way – Invincible

Sick Puppies – You’re Going Down

http://media.insidepulse.com/shared/images/ads/wwe_svr2010_120.jpg
http://media.insidepulse.com/shared/images/ads/wwe_svr2010_500.jpg

[Show as slideshow]

http://media.insidepulse.com/zones/diehardgamefan/uploads/2009/07/wwe_svr10.bx.ps3.rgb.rp-120×120.jpg

Leading Fighting Videogame Franchise to Deliver New Playable Superstars to Owners of the Xbox 360® Video Game and Entertainment System from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 Computer Entertainment System

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. – April 16, 2009 – THQ Inc. and JAKKS Pacific, Inc. today announced the availability of new content for WWE® SmackDown® vs. Raw® 2009, the latest release for the leading fighting videogame franchise. Now available for download via Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, as well as the PlayStation®Network for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the content allows players to update their WWE gameplay experience with new playable Superstars. WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 originally launched on November 9, 2008 and is available at retailers worldwide.

The content package, which takes a trip down WWE memory lane, features playable Superstars Bushwacker Butch, Bushwacker Luke, Doink the Clown, Earthquake and Vader. Xbox LIVE Marketplace users are able to purchase the content for 400 Microsoft Points, while PlayStation Network users can enjoy these new Superstars for a suggested retail price of $4.99.

“We are pleased to deliver a new downloadable content package for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009,” said Cory Ledesma, senior creative manager, THQ. “The addition of new playable Superstars to our roster is one of our most frequent requests from fans worldwide, and we are excited to expand the gameplay experience with talent from key moments in WWE history.”

More than 93,000 are screaming their lungs out at the Pontiac Silverdome as millions more watch with bated breath through closed-circuit television or pay-per-view. The tension between “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan and “The Eighth Wonder of the World” Andre the Giant has reached its boiling point as the two stand face-to-face in the biggest main event in sports entertainment history. Both competitors’ fists clench with fury as Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler hype the match. After an exchange of words, Hogan unleashes a fury of punches and lifts the 500-plus pound giant to deliver a massive shoulder breaker. Hulk Hogan hoists Andre to his feet, licking his chops at his chance to body slam the giant and pummel his face through the apron with a trademark leg drop. However, Andre shifts his weight during the body slam to fall on top of his opponent, pinning him to the mat as the referee administers a three count for the victory.

Of course, nearly none of the above actually happened at Wrestlemania III, but similar paradoxes run abound in THQ’s classic-infused grappler WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania (released also for the Playstation 3). The company’s newest entry in the long-standing WWE franchise brings iconic wrestlers such as King Kong Bundy, The Ultimate Warrior, The Rock, “Ravishing” Rick Rude and more back into the limelight to relive moments from Wrestlemania I through XV. While Acclaim had a less than stellar run with the premise, THQ has made it a point to spotlight such legends as unlockables in its Smackdown! Vs. Raw cash cow, thus it would appear the company is merely looking to milk the teat a little more by doing nothing but substituting a legendary roster in the SVR engine. Thankfully, though, LoW is a whole new experience with a uniquely simple control scheme and arcade-like mechanics. On that same token, however, with little substance to the game’s modes and its heavily unbalanced game play, LoW looks pale in comparison to SVR and serves up an enjoyable rental at best.

To mix things up, LoW ditches the traditional season or “story” modes found in the typical wrestling game, instead offering up bite-sized scenarios in its Wrestlemania Tour mode, which allows players to relive, rewrite or redefine historical WWE bouts. As imaginable, relive puts players in the role of recreating actual events of main event Wrestlemania bouts, rewrite encourages players to take the role of the loser of actual events and redefine thrusts classic feuds into new situations. To provide a “storyline” in LoW, prior to each match, players are treated to minutes of archive footage detailing the events leading to the classic bout as well as match highlights. The footage will no doubt be a treat any wrestling fan and the ability to unlock extra videos and watch any video previously viewed through the game’s menu really takes the game’s classic presentation up a notch.

While playing through the mode, though, players are tasked with triggering events – in the relive mode, these task emulate scenarios that actually occurred in the real-life match such as busting King Kong Bundy open in Wrestlemania 2’s steel cage match or driving The Rock through an announcer table and spitting water in his face at Wrestlemania XV. Each scenario awards the player points and by reaching a set amount of points in a match, the player is given a gold medal, and usually some sort of unlockable feature, for the bout. While the relive mode’s scenarios offer up unique and challenging requirements, the feature goes south in the rewrite and redefine modes with lazy and incredibly generic tasks such as performing a taunt or getting in the match’s first attack. Furthermore, each mode only offers up around half a dozen matches and fails to make use of most of the game’s roster, cutting down the time most players will spend in what is easily the game’s most attractive game mode.

LoW also offers up the obligatory exhibition mode with single, tag, ladder and cage matches, among others, which can also be played in bare-bones fashion online via Xbox LIVE. If the game’s 38-wrestler roster isn’t enough, players can import the Smackdown! Vs. Raw 2009 roster or create a rookie grappler in the Create a Legend mode. The creation mode is blatantly ripped from the SvR series so while it will remain familiar to fans of the series and allow players to create wrestlers that didn’t make the cut in LoW, a few of the diva creation tools are still in the game even though there are no female wrestlers. Created wrestlers are also put through the wringer in the game’s legend killer mode, which puts players in gauntlets of predetermined wrestlers in order to earn experience points and score unlockables.

THQ has always been huge on its presentation and LoW doesn’t fall too far from the tree in regard to its visuals. The wrestlers and their animations look clean and fluid and the time line is followed perfectly in regard to the game’s environments and graphical overlays, which imitate the actual event to the T. While some liberties are taken with the character models to place six-pack abs or hair where they don’t belong, each wrestler looks just as you remember them from their prime. The game satisfies the eyes overall, but some close-ups can reveal blurriness and jaggies, collision detection on the limbs is still an issue, character models still go through the ring (this is most evident during pins), the crowd looks ugly as sin when it is highlighted and hair still looks as hokey as it has since the original Smackdown! release on the Playstation (One).

Audibly, LoW receives the reuse and recycle treatment with key quotes plucked from other installments of SvR, which gives us the questionable commentary team of Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler. The long-time announce duo do their roles justice, however, comments get repeated over and over, there are times the commentary doesn’t match the action (irish whips on the outside at times get a call of “being whipped into the ropes” for example) and the inclusion of a modern commentary team seems completely off. While mouthpieces such as the late Gorilla Monsoon, Lord Alfred Hayes, Sean Mooney, “Mean” Gene Okerlund and more are prominently featured in video clips, they are nowhere to be heard where it counts – amid the action. The game will also catch a few minor audio gripes from fans in the know over some of the entrance themes coupled with the wrestlers, otherwise, the game is filled with appropriate slams, grunts and slaps that are synonymous with wrestling.

In an effort to pull in the casual fan base that remembers wrestling before all of the evil clowns, garbage collectors, plumbers and hog farmers got involved, LoW’s control scheme was toned down to only require the four face buttons (strike, grapple, block/reverse, action) and the analog stick. Even the series’ weapon, cage and ladder match controls are enjoyably scaled back with simplistic commands while still allowing for a number of possibilities. The scheme allows nearly anyone to jump into the game and pull off impressive maneuvers on a whim, but it also hinders the game play. Mashing everything onto four buttons, players will no doubt come across instances such as pressing A to drag an opponent up the entrance ramp will instead pull off a grapple. Simple maneuvers such as running or taunting require double button taps or special situations, wrestlers are limited to a mere handful of moves based on a momentum meter and key moves rely on chain grappling instead of strategy or planning.

The new chain grappling is an interesting mechanic, which requires, as the name suggests, a chain of commands to make one move flow into another in “combo-like” fashion. Unfortunately, these chains are handled in a quick time event format, with some, most specifically the corner tie-up, taking forever to finish up. The string of animations can really try one’s patience when they are looking for action and waiting for a long animation to play out before you can “control” your character really takes players out of the game. While the chains do limit the player’s interactivity, they can be a treat to watch as the next move goes to whoever can hit the onscreen prompt first, allowing the defender to quickly gain the upper hand as fast-paced (unless it’s the corner animation), classic wrestling unfolds on the screen.

Unfortunately, the game’s simplicity also carries over into its modes, leaving the player with very little to do after a few bouts of game play. I personally uncovered every unlockable, received every possible gold medal in the game and unlocked all 1,000 achievement points for LoW in roughly seven hours and after facing all 38 wrestlers in a supreme gauntlet for the final accolade, I had little interest in picking up the controller for more. The majority of the game is available from the get go, with unlockables only consisting of minor details such as alternate costumes and videos, and the lack of a “season” mode creates an extremely linear one-player experience that serves as a satisfying trip down memory lane while it lasts, but being stuck with only multiplayer or online competition after only a handful of hours, one might be left wondering if LoW is worth a full $60 investment.

The single-player process can also be a monotonous one as LoW has one of the tamest AI difficulties I’ve ever encountered in a wrestling title. The default normal difficulty is a complete pushover, serving up predictable opponents that can be bloodied in 10-15 seconds and pinned or submitted in around a minute. I won nearly every match in the 38-man gauntlet by repeating two strong strikes and a strong grapple ad infinitum until the opponent had no health and won by submission with a Boston crab. In the odd instance the opponent would actually reverse a move, they would either approach for a grapple or hit the ropes for a running strike – which I would reverse and then continue with my game plan. The normal difficulty CPU also falls asleep at the wheel during chain grapples as the only time it ever won a command was when I pressed an incorrect button or purposely let the computer win the command (you’ll need to let The Rock execute a finisher in the Wrestlemania XV relive mode). Anyone who has ever touched a Smackdown! Vs. Raw title in their life will have to bump the difficulty up to find any challenge in the title and, even then, there’s nothing wrestling game vets will find overwhelming.

The game’s mechanics aren’t exactly fleshed out so much either. Chain grapples add way too much to a wrestler’s momentum meter, allowing them a high-powered finisher after only a couple of moves. With no specific limb damage, submissions are only useful to make an opponent submit and the momentum meter determines the damage of the move as opposed to the nature of maneuver. Wrestlers with a lot of meat on their bones such as Yokozuna and Andre the Giant can be lifted and tossed around like a pillow and, oddly, seemed to be put at a disadvantage as when the CPU controlled them, they had a harder time recovering from a knockdown. Even the wrestler’s stats seem to hardly matter all that much as the absence of different wrestling styles don’t allow specific stats to shine through. Having created characters with maxed out stats really defeats the purpose of the stats, anyway, and even though a rookie starts out with virtually no stats, pumping up the character’s strength and resilience is all that is necessary to mold a champ.

That being said, there is still fun to be had in facing off against human opponents, which is where the chain grapples truly shine in intensity. The fast-paced “arcade” nature of title is perfect for passing the controller along to another buddy in a group of players after a quick match and the historical montages are so well done, anyone who knows anything about wrestling will enjoy the slices of history they have to offer. Skilled players will fire off reversal after reversal and taunt bonuses can turn the tide in even the most one-sided of matches. Even if someone wasn’t around during the “golden times,” the import feature allows any current fan the opportunity to control their favorite 2009 grappler. While the days of dreaming about WCW vs. WWF clashes came to an end in 2001, there’s always something appealing about “what-if” scenarios spanning the decades of history. Looking at the roster, it’s almost sad to see how many wrestlers have passed away before their time, however, the game’s presentation does their memories justice and seeing Rick Rude stroll down the aisle to face off against The Ultimate Warrior for the Intercontinental Title one more time should bring a smile to any longtime wrestling fan’s face. Even among wrestlers still in the spotlight today, matching legends such as Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker and Ric Flair in their prime is a fan’s dream. In essence, there is a ton of appeal in LoW’s contents as it tries to pull the best of the ‘80s and ‘90s into one package and the nostalgia factor is bar none the game’s biggest selling point.

We can count on wrestling games coming out on an annual basis, so LoW is no huge shockwave to the gaming industry; however, the game does serve as an interesting companion to the Smackdown! Series. While the title could have been a SVR rehash with a subbed roster, it scores some originality in its simplified mechanics and throwback theme. Even though the idea isn’t new, this is the first time the idea has had the WWE’s blessing and likenesses and, more importantly, this is the first time the execution has been a wholly bearable experience. The game might do little for those who do not follow professional wrestling outside of its games, but wrestling nuts will be glued to the screen – at least for as long as it takes for them to dive through what the game has to offer, which, admittedly isn’t as much as other games in the genre.

Looking at the package as a whole, the overall experience is enjoyable for the most part, but there are a glaring amount of items to nitpick over such as the omission of title variants, the fact there is no referee present in the match (ref bumps can be crucial to a match’s flow and could have added more to the relive series of matches), for some reason there are no rope breaks for holds or pins, the camera can be extremely annoying at times (especially during Rumbles where the action is completely broken up every time a wrestler is eliminated or a new wrestler enters the match), there is a lack of weapon variety and so on and so on. In fact, a few of those nitpicks were key things many fans grilled Midway’s TNA iMPACT over, so they have to be exposed in this game as well.

The roster itself, while a huge selling point for the game, is also very debatable as more of a “who’s still in favor with the WWE” as opposed to an actual who’s who of wrestling and only two words can prove that – Macho and Man. No offense to Kamala, but I highly doubt he tops anyone’s top 10 list of who should be in a legends wrestling game. While most of the huge names are there, it would have been nice to see at least a few older names pre-Wrestlemania and it’s just my personal opinion that we’re really jumping the gun with Hunter Hearst Hemsley’s inclusion. It also would have been nice to see the inclusion of at least a few females and more managers, as Paul Bearer bashing opponents with the urn or raising it to give The Undertaker a small health boost adds a whole new dimension to in-game wrestling managers. If THQ gave the players more control over the managers and provided more of them to work with we could see an excellent addition to its line of games.

Lastly, we’re way long overdue for a wrestling game to offer us fully fledged organizational modes, which allows a group of friends to maintain a federation of their own. There is so much online potential to be had with wrestling games, but, yet, we’re continually fed bare-bones material.

The Scores
Modes: Above Average
Graphics: Good
Sound: Above Average
Control and Gameplay: Enjoyable
Replayability: Poor
Balance: Bad
Originality: Decent
Addictiveness: Poor
Appeal Factor: Good
Miscellaneous: Mediocre
FINAL SCORE: DECENT GAME

Short Attention Span Summary
On paper, WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania has a lot of things going for it and longtime fans of wrestling couldn’t ask for more in a roster. With as many low points as I’ve pointed out in this review, there are still a number of facets included in the package that will please wrestling game fans for at least a handful of hours. I applaud THQ for changing up the pace for the release instead of rehashing Smackdown! Vs. Raw’s tired engine and the simplicity allows casual players who remember the Hulkster’s heyday to jump straight into the game. However, narrow single-player modes, lack of replayability, nonexistent AI, shoddy balance and a number of inconsistencies zap away what could have been a truly legendary wrestling entry. Falling back on a more arcade-style pacing, LoW provides quick action, but it lacks the longetivity to keep players glued to the system beyond a rental.

Well, that’s what Legends of Wrestlemania is all about. With drastically changed gameplay from the Smackdown Vs. Raw series and a roster of people who, in real life, are either dead or over the hill, LoW promised to be a harkening back to the golden days of the WWF from Wrestlemanias I – XXV.

Of course I haven’t been a fan of THQ wrestling games in a long time. 2k6 was the best the had been in years and it was followed by a few more years of mediocrity. Then there was TNA Impact which made me long for WCW Thunder and WWF Wrestlemania XXI. Still, I had fun with the demo, so I decided to review Legends of Wrestlemania in hopes that after three and a half years, I was in for a decent wrestling game. Besides there’s only so long I can play 2k6 with CAWS like La Parka, Jushin Liger and Ultimo Dragon without wishing for next-gen graphics.

Let’s Review

1. Modes

There is no story/season mode here in Legends of Wrestlemania. This is not a game where your wrestler is given an in-depth storyline ranging from Undertaker burying Eddie Guerrero alive a few days before he died in real life or where Trish Stratus wins the WWE Championship. No , LoM is an arcade style wrestler more reminiscent of Wrestlefest or WWE Royal Rumble than either of those games. For those of you who haven’t played Wrestlefest, trust me, you should.

There are four playable modes. The first is “Legend Killer Mode” where you take your created wrestler (In my case MACHO MAN RANDY SAVAGE! OOOOOOOOH YEAH! SUCK ON THAT VINCE!) and run them through a series of ten man gauntlet matches. For each gauntlet match you beat, you unlock another tier until you’ve beaten them all. With each match you earn experience points for your CAW, which means you’re going to have to do this for EACH CAW. Before you ask, no, there is no way to unlock unlimited experience points either. That’s a big negative in my opinion. This is actually my least favorite mode even though I’ve already made Vader, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Ax, Smash, and Savage as it’s too damn repetitive and it’s too slow a process to earn experience points. Unless you are planning to make a lot of CAW’s and you’re willing to devote about three hours to each wrestler, you want to beat this mode once to unlock match types and extra costumes and then never return to it.

The next three modes though are simply awesome. They are: Relive, Rewrite and Redefine. Each mode is described perfectly with their name and as a bonus, you get a five minute (or so) montage of actual video clips from the match and the angle that led up to it. This was a wonderful touch and it reminded me why I loved things like WMVI with Warrior cleanly defeating Hogan or the Bret/Michaels Iron Man Match. The video clips are unlockables as well so if you just wanted to watch these, you have the option. The actual Relive mode offers particular move sets and moments that are exclusive to these matches alone. The goal of each match is to recreate as many memorable spots as you can before winning the match. For each spot you recreate, you earn points. Earn enough points and you receive a gold medal and with it, some unlockables.

Rewrite lets you change the results of a match from the past. Here you’ll be playing as the loser of a specific match and trying to win the match, thus changing history and destroying reality as we know it. Okay, well, maybe things don’t go that far. Again, this is a really neat concept and it definitely sets up for both nostalgic and fanboy moments alike.

Redefine is an odd duck. Remember in SD vs. Raw games where you would have specific matches you would need to play to unlock things? Well, this is similar. It’s the same wrestlers from classic (or not so classic) matches from the past, but with a new twist on things. Ravishing Ric Rude vs. Jimmy Snuka is now a Steel Cage match instead of a normal one on one encounter. This mode isn’t as good as the other two “r” modes, but it’s still more fun than “Legend Killer.” This just feels kind of tacked on so that lots of wrestlers in the game could be highlighted.

The only problem with the three “R”’s is that there’s just not enough of them. There’s only about a half dozen matches for each type. Which each match only lasting about three to five minutes means that you finish each mode in an hour or so. That’s…a bit of a letdown. Still, you can always go back to try and beat your high scores, but once you have the medal for each match, that’s something only the most anal of gamers would bother with.

Finally, there’s your general Exhibition Mode. Pick a match, pick a wrestler or two and go at it. Nothing new here.

In all, Legends of Wrestlemania is a neat idea and there are some fun new outside the box modes. The only problem is that the best modes are too short and that Legend Killer never seems to end. Still, it’s a fun time, and I absolutely love the video montage packages.

Modes Rating: Enjoyable

2. Graphics

Again, this is an arcade wrestling game, meaning that the graphics are focused more on larger than life slightly cartoonish character designs than realistic re-creations. For characters like the Road Warriors and The Ultimate Warrior, this works perfectly. For wrestlers like Ric Flair or Michael Hayes, it’s not that great an idea. Still, all the characters look good and I actually prefer the character designs in this game to 2k9 if only because Yukes and THQ are trying something new and it stands out from the pack of other wrestling games.

The audience graphics are terrible and the big weakness here visually. They are pretty much just blobs and at times, shots of the crowd can really take you out of the game. Thankfully, all the different arenas more than make up for that. I loved seeing all the different WM graphics being showcased. The game even has those cute mini rings people rode to the squared circle in WM’s like III and VI! Yes! Why did they ever get rid of those?

Legends of Wrestlemaniais a pretty game featuring a fun new look for a lot of classic wrestlers. If you’ve missed everyone from Bam Bam Bigelow to YOKOZUNA, you’re going to adore seeing them walk down the aisle one last time.

Graphics Rating: Good

3. Sound

Sound is actually the weakest part of the game. You would think that with 40 classic wrestlers, that the musical tracks would be the best part. Well, sadly, someone at THQ and Yukes screwed up. There are a lot of tracks that are either slightly or completely off. Koko B. Ware, for example has “Piledriver” as his entrance when anyone and everyone knows it should be “Bird, Bird Bird.” Ric Rude’s “The Stripper” if off in tone and tempo. Mr. Perfect’s “Exodus” is off pitch. Michael Hayes doesn’t even have “Badstreet USA.” What the hell? The song he enters to isn’t any of the previous Freebird tunes and I should know seeing as I have Hayes’ record and tape (Actually multiple copes because Hayes was my favorite US based wrestler until My Olympic Hero burst onto the scene and was still sane.) How the hell did these mistakes get into the game? Even weirder, King Kong Bundy and Andre the Giant have music know when they never had them before. This confuses me greatly and has me wondering how the WWE missed these glaring errors. At least the majority of the songs are intact.

The commentary is pretty poor too. As much as I love JR and Jerry Lawler, some of their announcing clips have been recycled for years now. There are clips from 2k6 in here! As well, it just feels weird to here the WWF Attitude era guys commenting on matches that were called by Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon or Tony Schivone and Jessie Ventura. Thanks to the video packages, you really find yourself wishing for the real commentators to go with the matches. Would it have been that hard to take audio bits from the actual matches and time them to go off with specific sequences? Really, who out there doesn’t miss the banter between McMahon and “The Body?” If you’re going to give these wrestlers one last moment in the spotlight, why not do that for your announcers as well?

Finally, Howard Finkel does ring announcing instead of the crappy triad they currently have in WWE programming and that is honestly the highpoint of the audio in the game.

Hopefully we can get some downloadable tracks to correct the music. Otherwise I’m taking full advantage of the customizable soundtrack options and fixing several of these things in addition to uploading Muta’s awesome entrance music and “GO GO GO – TOKYO!” What can I say? I like Puro.

Sound Rating: Mediocre

4. Control and Gameplay

This is truly the most important aspect of the game considering that there is little to nothing in common with this engine and the previous Yukes wrestling games. I’m happy to report that although the movesets are a little weak and you don’t have as many options as in the SD Vs. Raw series, the controls are a fun new way to play the game and there are only a few minor quibbles that I have.

The interesting thing is how retro the gameplay feels. You’ll only be using the shape buttons and the left joystick. No shoulder buttons, no d-pad, nor the right analog stick see any use at all. This makes the game VERY easy to learn and it feels exactly like your controls for Wrestlefest. Your square button controls striking attacks and the X button is for grappling moves. Tapping a button is a light but quick move and holding it down is a slow but strong move. The only problem is that your choice of moves are VERY limited and what type of move you do depends on your momentum meter. This meter raises with moves that you do and it shrinks when you do a taunt or a special move.

The biggest thing that annoys me in this game is how running works. The manual says you need to double tap the circle button or the left stick away from your opponent twice quickly, but only the O options actually works. Even then, whenever you run you have to bounce off the ropes and it’s very awkward compared to previous wrestling games. Even after beating every option in the game it still doesn’t feel right to me.

In comparison, LoM offers the best taunt system in the history of wrestling games. In previous wrestling games, taunts were just for show. Here they actually do something. You can use a taunt to double your momentum meter speed, do more damage, regain health, or make it so your moves can’t be blocked. I love this and hope this remains the future for taunts.

Speaking of blocking…. Blocks and reversals are all done using the triangle button. The computer is very adept at blocking although your blocks never seem to work quite right. Reversals RARELY work for either of you, and it’s weird to have a blocking option in a wrestling game. You don’t see a lot of rope-a-dope in sports entertainment.

Finally there is the other new gameplay element for LoM, which is known as chain grappling. If you grapple a dazed or groggy opponent when they are against the ropes, in the corner, or Irish Whipping them, you set off a chain grapple. A chain grapple gives you either two or three buttons to hit at specific moments in the combo. If you hit the button first or in time, you’ll keep doing the combo. If you mess up or your opponent hits it first, they will reverse the combo on you and become the aggressor. There are also a few odd points where you have to button mash, like in a test of strength or when you and your opponent are down on the mat. This is the worst system in the game, as no matter how fast you jam the buttons, it feels like 95% of the time, your opponent will win – even with a Street Fighter IV turbo stick. What the heck?

Really, my only complaints are the button mashing mini games and the way you run. Everything else is really neat and I love the Ladder/HitC/Steel Cage controls as well. Although long time wrestling fans might dislike the control scheme simply because it is new, after playing the game for some time, the new control scheme will really grow on you.

Now if only we could have matches longer than three to five minutes. That’s one thing I really do miss.

Control and Gameplay Rating: Enjoyable

5. Replayability

Because so much of Legends of Wrestlemania revolves around recreating and winning specific matches from history, there’s not a lot of replay value in this game. You beat World Tour Mode (the three “R’s” and the somewhat boring Legend Killer mode and all you have left is to go online and fight friends and strangers. The only problem with this is that if you make a CAW with the “logos” option, you can’t go online with them. What the heck?

One good thing is that you can import the Smackdown Vs. Raw 2k9 roster and that doubles the amount of playable characters. However without a season mode or Monday Night Wars simulation, there’s not much you can do with this either unless you and your friends are wrestling video game junkies. Even if that proved to be the case, the limited move sets makes the game get old fast.

This is great for the novelty and trying all the options or watching the movies. As a long term purchase, it’s hard for me to recommend.

Replayability Rating: Mediocre

6. Balance

The only time you will ever have trouble with your computer controlled opponents are when you first bring a CAW into Legend Killer Mode. Two hits and your wrestler will be out of life, while you’ll be doing over two dozen moves or strikes just to get your opponent prepped for a pin. Of course, you’re a brand new character without any experience and so of course you are at a disadvantage but as long as you get over your aversion to running and learn the strike-strike-grapple combination, you’ll be pinning Hulk Hogan with the big elbow in no time. OOOOOOH YEAH! Take that Wrestlemania V!

The only other time I had any problems was button mashing in the WMVI match. Now I’m a very good button masher. In the crappy Star Soldier R game for WiiWare where all you are supposed to do is button mash, I was at the top of the charts for some time. Here though? I have no idea how you’re supposed to beat the computer. I jammed on a single button. I lost. I jammed on all four buttons. I lost. I rotated between two buttons. I lost. I used both hands for four buttons. I LOST. It was insane. WMVI’s two button mashers are still the only pieces in the game I have left to do It’s infuriating, especially when the rest of the game is so bloody easy.

There’s not a lot of substance to Legends of Wrestlemania. it’s fun sure, but like all of THQ’s wrestling games since WCW Vs. The World, there’s not the slightest bit of challenge to be found in the computer’s AI.

Balance Rating: Bad

7. Originality

I really loved the new modes in LoM, but I can’t believe how short they are. With two dozen Wrestlemanias out there, you could have easily done a dozen matches in Rewriter, Relive, or Redefine. It’s just too short, which is all the more shameful as this is such a great concept that THQ and Yukes really should have exploited.

It’s also nice to see an arcade style wrestling game for the first time in nearly a decade. If this game only had one of the announcers saying, “You’ve got to give credit TO YOKOZUNA,” I’d be back in 1996 with Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game in terms of match speed.

There are scads of wrestling games out there these days and now we have two WWE and one TNA impact game released for the PS3 in the past year. This is the only game I can honestly say is worth purchasing however, but even then it’s mostly for of the same as Legend Killer mode is basically the same thing at WWF War Zone for the PSX that Acclaim put out in the mid 1990’s (Although without the awesome Ahmed Johnson FMV sequences) and exhibition mode is just more of the same.

Originality Rating: Mediocre

8. Addictiveness

If you are an old school wrestling fan, it’s going to be hard to put down your Dual Shock – at least at first. There’s something about the recreation and rewriting of history that you can’t help but enjoy. To re-create the Chi-Town Rumble with Flair and Steamboat is just freakin’ awesome, even if it was a NWA match, not a WWF one. The ability to import the current WWE roster is yet another bonus. You’ll find yourself replaying Austin/Michaels from WMXIV over and over again to get that gold medal or finishing off yet another boring Legend Killer just because you want to get all the unlockables. You’ll watch each and every video montage and some of them more than once just for the flood of memories they bring back. If there is one thing Legends of Wrestlemania does better than any wrestling game I’ve ever played, it’s cherishing the actual history of professional wrestling and reminding you why you love sports entertainment, even if you’ve drifted away for the past eight years or so.

Even though the replay value is lower than other wrestling games, this offers the best short term experience I’ve had with wrestling in years.

Addictiveness Rating: Very Good

9. Appeal Factor

This is actually a tough category to judge. Pro wrestling games sell quite well, but the audience for LoM isn’t necessarily the current demographic for wrestling. It’s for older wrestling fans who enjoyed the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. With a completely overhauled control scheme and new gameplay it’s going to be interesting to see how hard it is for gamers to adapt to this new game that has little if anything in common with the Smackdown Vs. Raw series.

I enjoy LoM more than recent SD Vs. Raw entries if only because it feels a bit fresh and I love seeing characters like Greg Valentine, Double A, and even the Honkey Tonk Man back in a playable video game where I haven’t had to make them as CAWS. Even though I generally am a bit creeped out about using dead wrestlers, this is still the best overall roster I can think of for a wrestling game save for Raw 2 which had Goldberg, Lesnar, Angle and Flair. That reminds me – I’m going to have to make a Goldberg and a Captain Charisma.

I have a feeling LoM won’t fare as well as THQ’s longer running series, but that’s because the matches are too quick and the gameplay is so different. Since the average gamer (aside from me, and I’m obviously not average) hates change, I can see LoM selling, but leaving SD Vs. Raw as the current king of sports entertainment gaming.

Appeal Factor: Above Average

10. Miscellaneous

On one hand, I want to give bonus points for using the WWF logo instead of WWE or just WW. Heck, they even SAY WWF in some of the video packages. On the other, I want to take away points because this is Legends of Wrestlemania and THERE’S NO RANDY SAVAGE IN THE FREAKIN’ GAME! Vince – get over it.

There are other notable missing wrestlers, but that’s probably because deals couldn’t be reached, but not being able to do Savage/Steamboat, Savage/Hogan, Savage/Warrior, Savage/Flair or even Savage & Sherri/Dusty & Sapphire? That’s just wrong.

I love that THQ and Yukes have FINALLY tried something new. That they didn’t just do a roster change or screw up the controls more than the year before (which was becoming a running theme). We’ve got a quality arcade wrestling game featuring so many of my childhood favorites that it’s hard not to play this game without a big poop eating grin plastered on my face. Yes, it could use some tweaking, both in terms of control schemes and with the new modes (Three are too short and one is far too long), but this is definitely a step in the right direction and I’m looking forward to the sequel.

Miscellaneous Rating: Good

The Scores
Story/Modes: Enjoyable
Graphics: Good
Sound: Decent
Control and Gameplay: Enjoyable
Replayability: Mediocre
Balance: Bad
Originality: Mediocre
Addictiveness: Very Good
Appeal Factor: Above Average
Miscellaneous: Good
FINAL SCORE: ABOVE AVERAGE GAME!

Short Attention Span Summary
Legends of Wrestlemania is a fun throwback to games like Wrestlefest and Saturday Night Slammasters. The roster is arguably the best ever to appear in a wrestling video game and while the new engine might be off-putting to long time Yukes fans, it’s nice to see them trying something different for the first time in nearly a decade. My only real complaints revolve around how awkward the running controls are and the strange quality control issues with the music for specific wrestlers. Other than that, Legends of Wrestlemania proved to be a fun nostalgic look at some of the best moments of WWF history. Now if only we could get more Macho Man next time. OOOOOH YEAH!

http://media.insidepulse.com/zones/diehardgamefan/uploads/2009/03/lowts.jpg

PS3 version by Chris Pankonin
PSP version by Aaron Sirois
Wii version by A.J. Hess

As you can see, all three really liked 2k9 and that gave me enough faith to choose to review the game and also give you my thoughts on the demo.

There are two options available to you in this demo. You can either play an exhibition match between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan in the Pontiac Silverdome just as it looked at WM III, complete with those awesome mini ring carts, or you can relieve WM XV and play as Steve Austin winning your second world title from The Rock in a no DQ match.

I have to admit, I was very impressed with the styling and recreations of the arenas and setting. Although the graphics are more cartoony than SDvR2k9, there’s more of a feel of authentication in Legends of Wrestlemania. The crowd graphics are god awful, but the wrestlers themselves and the environment feel spot on.

With the demo match, you can pretty much do whatever you want, whenever you want. You can play as either Andre or Hulk and make it a title match or more like WMIV where there was no title involved. Gameplay was pretty fast and frantic, with my match lasting only a little over three minutes and having pinned Andre after a bodyslam. In fact, I didn’t even have an option NOT to pin him after a bodyslam. It just went into it and I got the three count.

The WMXV “Relive” option was far more interesting. Not only were you given an actual five minute or so video clip of the Rock/Austin feud leading up to this particular Wrestlemania, including the beer truck o’ doom. Then it goes into the match, once again doing a faithful recreation of the arena and events. With Relive though, your goal is to re-create specific moments from the real match. You are given a list of things to re-create. For this specific match, you’ll want to hit Rocky with a stunner, beat the rock, but him through a table, and more options that aren’t available in the demo. For each of this tasks you accomplish, you earn points. It’s unclear what those points will be for, but I’m guessing it will unlock other matches, wrestlers, or arenas. In the real game there will also be options like “Rewrite,” which in this case would have you play as the Rock beating Austin. There will also be a Redefine option where I could, say, give this match a ladder match stipulation.

The audio of the game is the worst aspect so far. I noticed line for line pieces of dialogue by Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler that have been in the game since the 2006 version of Smackdown. Is it that hard to do new lines for the announcers? As well, it’s a bit jarring to hear Howard Finkel call Hulk Hogan, “The WWE Champion.” Instead of “The World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Champion” as he was actually referred to then, but that’s what a lawsuit and a brand split will do I suppose.

The controls are a lot of fun, but I can’t deny it takes a bit of getting used to. The game is very arcade-like ala Wrestlefest or Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game You only use the L analog stick and the four shape buttons. There’s no trigger usage, which is nice and makes the game both simpler and more streamlined. The only real problem I had was running. The game said I could either press O or tap the L stick twice away from my opponent, but the O option never worked.

One of the things I really liked is that although the game is quite fast, it feels far more like a real wrestling match. Wrestlers can stay down, shake the cobwebs from their head and there is far more interactivity with your surroundings than any other wrestling game I’ve played before. At one point Rock and I were brawling outside the ring and I threw him into the steps, picked up the first half of the stairs (Which is what actually happens in matches unlike the video games where you pick up both sets together) and then they were slid into the ring in the exact same manner it would happen in real life. Then I pounded Rocky in the face and I think he actually bled from this. The screen went red for a few frames and it made a different noise, but I pinned him with a chain Stunner combo immediately afterwards, so you’ll have to forgive my memory as this was at 1:15 am. I was too busy being impressed by the shot by shot recreation of the stunner, down to rock’s flop and foot entanglement on the middle rope. Nice!

There were a few nitpicks though. For example, I don’t ever remember Austin wearing the title in the way he does in the game. Same with The Rock. Didn’t they almost always carry the title ala Big Daddy Cool Diesel? I was also annoyed that you have a block option as well as a reversal option. The computer liked to block. Just a head’s up.

The two best things about this were the taunt system and the managers. Taunting actually has a real effect now. Each wrestler has five taunts. Each taunt has an effect ranging from making your attacks do more damage to earning you back some health. However, using a taunt takes away from your energy bar, which needs to be maxed out to do a finisher. The managers though? That ruled. Bobby Heenan interferes and interferes a lot. He put Andre’s foot on the rope. He conferred with Andre, which gave him back 25% of his life and he would distract the referee repeatedly. Finally I threw him off the apron it was so annoying, and Andre headbutted me from behind. JUST. LIKE. REAL . LIFE. or as real life as wrestling gets here in the states. (Sorry my friends and I watched the MOTY from 1996 between The Great Muta and Jushin Liger yesterday and the work rate between that and Andre/Hogan at WMIII is well…let’s just say it’s a very different match.)

Overall I was very pleased with this and am now quite optimistic for a game featuring Sgt. Slaughter, Mr. Perfect and my Freebird Favorite, Michael P.S. Hayes. Although, what WM was Hayes ever in? I’m also glad to hear that you’ll be able to import wrestlers from SD Vs. Raw 2k9, although I’m not sure if that means CAWS or the actual roster. Either way that backwards compatibility has been needed for a long time. I’m just glad it is finally here.

Legends of Wrestlemania ships out March 24th and hits shelves March 25th. Check back here around release day for my in-depth review and probably a rant on the lack of Randy Savage. I might even do another “Macho Man Diaries” if I can successfully make him in this game. OOOOOOOOOOOOH YEAH!

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. – January 9, 2009 – THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) and JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) today announced the availability of the first downloadable content package for WWE® SmackDown® vs. Raw® 2009, the latest release in the leading fighting videogame franchise. Now available for download worldwide via PlayStation®Network for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the content enables players to update their virtual WWE experience with new playable Superstars and ring gear. WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 originally launched on November 9, 2008 and is available at major retailers worldwide.

The content package for PlayStation Network, available for a suggested retail price of $4.99, will include Evan Bourne™, Ted DiBiase™ and Charlie Haas™ (playable Superstars); Kelly Kelly™ and Maria™ (holiday costumes); Kane® (masked); as well as new ring gear for Chris Jericho®, MVP™ and Edge®. In addition, future content is planned for PlayStation Network, as well as the first content for Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

“Consumers are constantly looking for ways to modify and enhance their gameplay experiences online, and the ever-changing WWE brand offers many exciting opportunities to bring fresh, dynamic content to our WWE SmackDown vs. Raw community,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, publishing, THQ.

“Downloadable content is the perfect complement to WWE SmackDown vs. Raw, and we are excited to enter into this new arena of gaming with the WWE franchise,” said Nelo Lucich, senior vice president of interactive, JAKKS Pacific.