Amazon.com: WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2006: Playstation 2: Video Games

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most complete and deep wrestling game available., November 27, 2005

By	Miketheratguy (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

THE SHORT: Vastly improved from last year's game, this one has an in-depth sim mode, title matches that you control, lots of customization thanks to difficulty sliders, Locker room and more, and the best executed season mode in years. The whole package looks prettier than ever and adds new match-enhancing strategies. It's a pretty big step up and there are very few complaints, but some do exist- the biggest of which is the fact that female characters can do very, very little in this edition.

THE LONG: There's a great amount of new material to discuss in this game. So what I'll do is list some of it and give my opinions on each aspect. Online mode is supposed to be much imrpoved, complete with belt-swapping, but I don't have online so I'm afraid I can't describe it. There's lots else to discuss though, so if you want a short review you better skip this one!

PRESENTATION: The graphics are very polished. Well-done, realistic animation (season cutscenes are great) plus lots of little details such as the ring announcer saying what kind of match it is, if it's for a belt, character's hometowns, etc. Plus, it's small but great at the same time: Now wrestlers stay in or around the ring even during their opponent's entrance. Just extra realism, and it's really cool. Commentary seems slightly better this time, with some banter about the actual wrestlers as well as some joking and bickering. The comments stay pretty up-to-the-second, even to a fault (pin attempts for example will cause a new comment to interrupt the dialogue). It doesn't get on my nerves and doesn't seem to repeat as noticeably as before, but I admit pretty much everyone else hated it so I guess I'm in the minority. Music is the same hip hop and scream-rock as before, so take it or leave it. There's no music during matches, which isn't too big a deal but bothers me during backstage brawls which wind up feeling eerily quiet. Speaking of brawls, this game has great blood. Instead of just a facial smear it now also leaves droplets on the mat, which follow in a trail of the crimson masked wrestler and even pools up if they stay in one place. Unfortunately it fades away (slowly at least) and they don't have blood everywhere when more than one person is cut. Still, it's very vibrant and realistic- I find myself actively cutting or getting cut, because just like on the show, it gives the impression of hardcore combat.

SEASON MODE: Ever since Smackdown 5, the season mode has relied mostly on animated cutscenes and recently the addition of spoken dialogue. Since only so much voice and specific animated scenes can be used, it limited how deep and different the season could be. But this time, it's the best yet. For one thing the acting is better all around the board and very well done- It's not Shakespeare but every single wrestler sounds just as convincing as they do on TV. This is even better thanks to lip synching and lots of subtle animations and gestures. It really feels like watching an actual WWE show this time around.

Best of all, the storyline has a lot of surprises. Right away most wrestlers you pick from can play through either a RAW or Smackdown storyline, each one pretty different. But better yet, lots of characters have their own scenarios that are unique and not shared between everyone else. I played through Smackdown with Hogan and later the Undertaker, then RAW with William Regal and Mankind. While some stuff was repeated, every one of the 4 characters had a unique plot twist that wasn't in any of the other 3. In addition, you'll still make a few decisions here and there, some of which lead to entirely different cutscenes. This time there really is motivation to play through the season mode repeatedly. And since anyone you choose has loads of spoken dialogue, playing through with different characters keeps the experience fairly fresh. This is the best way to present the season mode in an interactive way, and I was really impressed (especially since I hated the last 2 games' season modes). One bad thing though- not every character can play through season (no females, but more on that in the summary section). But you do get more than 30 choices and lots of favorites are represented (Kane, Mysterio, Cena, Batista, Triple H, and others) so you'll be busy. This time, the realistic vocal work, animation, and storyline variations made the season mode one of the best parts of the game, which I never thought I'd say.

GM MODE: What this is is a WWE booker simulation. You pick from either brand, choose your roster, and compete against the other brand for the best TV ratings, against the CPU OR a 2nd player. You're given total control of what wrestlers go in which match at any point in the card. You can manufacture whatever feuds you want, and make champs of anybody you choose. But you have a certain budget, and some wrestlers cost more than others. Running each show costs money too, as does spending money to throw in cages and ladders and so on. Be careful your wrestlers don't get unhappy by repeatedly losing or getting injured either.

The good thing is you can play or simulate any match on your card, so it's wise to help out sometimes when you want a title change or a certain wrestler to stay happy. It's pretty deep, and there's a good half hour of fiddling with options to get the hang of it. It's really addicting when you do, though. My only problem is that a wrestler's popularity has more to do with how well your show is than anything: 2 jobbers could have a main event ladder match, but Triple H in a basic singles match will do just as well. This can be tricky, since it's difficult to push your undercard guys to high popularity. And with no random settings, the same 10 guys will be at the top every time you start a new game of GM mode. So it's definitely challenging, but not impossible- Chris Benoit had about a 65 on my popularity scale, but by careful booking and giving him the much-deserved title belt, I shot him into an 80s rating and he brought in the fans. It's addicting, and though challenging, it's fun to work for it.

LOCKER ROOM: This is a basic 3d room where your profile records can be accessed. The game can store multiple profiles on a single card (easily changeable from the main menu), so 2 players can share a card and have different unlocked items and so on. The locker room is cool in that you can color the wall and floor any shade you want, decorate a few spots in the room with any of several dozen unlockable items (like Bobbleheads or tshirts and posters) and modify the furniture a little bit. The whole point is to make the game feel suited to you: Instead of having all your records like belt histories and win/loss records represented in a basic text menu, you now get a customizable room to sort of call your own. Sort of cosmetic and more detail/custom minded than extremely helpful, but I think it's a nice addition.

EXHIBITION TITLES: I've wanted this since Smackdown 2 five years ago. You can now, right from the main menu, play a title match of any kind (minus Royal Rumble, Buried Alive, and the women's match) using any wrestler at anytime, and you can even do title vs. title matches. If you like having your own "fantasy wrestling league" and don't want to play through GM mode to do it, this is for you. If you want to put a belt up against 5 others in Hell in a Cell and fight a bloody battle to see who'll win, you can. Only this time, it "matters" since there's a belt at stake. You can fight for any of the real-life belts (some have to be unlocked) but you can also create the belt of your choice and fight for it too. And if you want to just leave it to fate and let the CPU fight the matches against each other, you can do that- but you DO have to be involved in created-belt matches, which for some reason are only 1 on 1 (lots of match types though). Oh, and created belts are insanely cheaper this time. Play a few matches in season mode and you'll have enough for the best belt you want. One thing: The game does keep track of title histories (and even who was in and what the match was) but it only goes back about half a dozen fights. That's a shame.

CUSTOMIZATION: They really want you to make this game as specific as you want it. Besides the Locker room, GM mode, and Exhibition titles, you can now also create an entrance by setting what the wrestlers do at multiple different points during their trip to the ring, as well as fixing lights, camera angles, and pyro. Strangely though, the post-match celebrations are pretty generic, meaning they're always basically the same. Cheesy.

More importantly, you now have loads of options for gameplay. Aside from standard difficulty setting, you can go into advanced options and set, on a sliding scale, how much you want the computer to do reversals, how easy it is for you to reverse THEM, how much damage finishers do, and other stuff like that. This way, a player can make it as frustratingly impossible or lazily easy as they want. In addition, all the created belt options are there, and so is Create-A-Wrestler. The latter is slightly imrpoved, with an easier interface. MOST of the items that were there still are, with some extra here and there. In general though, they just look better. Some characters wind up looking about as good as the standard wrestlers, and you can now REALLY tweak the faces. You can still take photos of them for the wrestler select screen too. But it's not all perfect: Still to tassels or realistic neckties (even though Mankind's is 3d, that's unfair!). Altogether still very good though. Create a move-set and stable are the same (but you know what? Now you can build a team's level of compatability!) Create a Pay Per View is in and offers what you think it would, the ability to set up a whole card of matches whenever you wish.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wrestling Gaming Takes A Proud Stride Forward!, November 29, 2005

By	R.A. McKenzie (New York) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

Just last night I threw in the original "WWF SmackDown" for the PS-one that was released in 2000. I am amazed at how far this series has come. What was once an arcade-y fighting game with a WWF gloss, has evolved and developed into one of the finest wrestling games ever to be released.

MODES AND FEATURES
---This time, THQ and Jakks and Yukes had the goal of bringing more reality and depth to the "SmackDown" series. What really stands out in this series, however, is an attempt to please all kinds of fans. Casual gamers can step right in play any kind of match they want with up to 6 players. Those who really dig storylines and presentation have a more linear, yet more satisfying Season Mode complete with animated cutscenes and good voice-over work. My favorite new addition is something that Sports fans will love. Players can now tackle the awesome General Manager mode and compete either against the computer or another player, and try to gain better ratings to produce the ultimate show. It could be a little less text-based, but otherwise, it's fantastic!

GRAPHICS
---These wrestling models look great. They haven't been glossed over or made extra-shiny like previous WWE games have done with its superstars. Instead, they look eerily like their real-life counterparts. Shawn Michaels and Batista are the best examples to show this. The crowds still look like junk, but since when haven't they. The only game with a decent crowd is Ubi-Soft's "Rocky". The pyro-technics during entrances also look pitiful. But I can forgive those quibbles because the animation quality is "SmackDown" at its best. A few moves still don't look quite right, but considering that 70% of the maneuvers have been re-animated, one can't help but admire the effort.

SOUND
---From a music standpoint, you don't hear any music when you're wrestling. However, the tracks that THQ picked to use during the menu system is their best lineup yet. The songs are accessible to use for Create-A-Wrestler, and worth listening to. The entrance music for the wrestlers are all authentic (save for a few legends) and sound clear. However, during the Royal Rumble matches, I couldn't really hear them. The wrestlers' voice-overs don't sound as canned, and are much better than last year's initial attempt at this feature. The commentary, however, is one step back from last year's entry. The two-man teams of Michael Cole/Tazz (SmackDown) and Jerry Lawler/Jim Ross (RAW) deliver forced dialogue that randomly interrupts depending on the match situation. Cole and Tazz are forgiveable, because they sound like they would on TV (not a compliment, but at least it's authentic). But Lawler and JR absolutely suck. Never before have I yearned so much for a SmackDown match just because of this problem.

GAMEPLAY
---So what's new here? Again, the General Manager and Season modes are a plus. Season mode once again tackles a linear storyline (one for RAW, and one for SmackDown) similar to "WrestleMania 21" for the X-Box. Instead of the Season being a solid experience each time through, like the fifth "SmackDown" game back in 2003, this year it's going to be a great first-time experience, and with no reason to go back. I prefer the former version of Season mode, which explains why I love the General Manager Mode so much. GM Mode is simply one of the best ideas ever put in a wrestling game. I wish it wasn't as text-based as it is, and featured a little stronger presentation, but it is feature I absolutely crave! As far as matches go, the new Stamina system requires more strategy on your part to win matches. Work too hard and too fast, then your wrestler is going to be pretty useless. The pre-match minigames are back, and thankfully are optional. As far as match modes go, they're all back from last year with a few new goodies. The Buried Alive match is the big one, where you must throw your opponent in a Casket and perform to mini-games to win. I liked this mode at first, but don't really like it all that much. The same goes for the Backstage Brawls. This feels cheap, because instead of free-roaming environments, you get to pick 1 of 3 rooms and battle it out. The Parking Lot is much better than last year's, but the other two rooms aren't that much fun. The Royal Rumble hasn't changed at all from last year, except for the new Stamina system (this new feature is awesome!). The Bra-and-Panties match has now been integrated into a Fulfill Your Fantasy Match, where pillow fights, spankings, and clothing removal raise a crowd-pleasing meter. First one to fill it wins. This is actually kind of fun, but not a must-play. What surprised me most, however, was the new amount of attention given to the Steel Cage match. You can now climb out the door, and escaping from the Cage requires timing-based button pushes instead of mindless button-mashing. This is the best Steel Cage version to date! Now, throw all of these new ideas plus refined animations, and this game is pretty damn good.

WHAT'S NOT TOO GOOD?
---I think it's worth mentioning that the roster this year isn't as good as any of the other "SmackDown" games. As much as I like playing as some of the new talent (Chris Masters, Carlito), I can't help but feel that "SmackDown: Here Comes The Pain" still has the best playable roster (Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Kevin Nash...all not here). I also think that as good as the gameplay is, I kind of prefer the faster-paced fighting. Maybe if the new features were put into a faster-paced game, then it would the ultimate experience. The use of weapons is really sluggish, making Hardcore matches, or cheating for that matter, less fun. Speaking of cheating, the Clean and Dirty meters are pointless. I never liked them from last year, but thankfully, they don't play as much of a deal as they did last year. Also, on a side note, the aerial attacks aren't as accessible. Performing a top-rope finisher is an absolute pain in the ass!

OVERALL
---The last paragraph is really harsh, I know, but what matters is that this really good game is worth purchasing. My criticisms for this game are mainly as a WWE fan, instead of as a fighting game player. When one is as obsessed with wrestling a I am, our expecations become damn-near unmeetable. But make no mistake, this is the second best of the "SmackDown" series (I still prefer "Here Comes The Pain"), and one of the best wrestling games since "WWF No Mercy" (Nintendo 64, 2000). Wrestling gaming is going to get nothing but better.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best wrestling games, April 7, 2006

By	J. J Woehr (Lindenhurst, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

First off, this is way way way better than the first Smackdown vs Raw. This one has everything I wished the first Smackdown vs Raw had. You can defend or win a title without having to be in season mode. Although you have to unlock both world titles in season mode in-order to use them in title mode. Anyway I hope they keep title mode in Smackdown vs Raw 2007. I mean what's the point in going through a season mode if you can't have your champ defend against whoever you want him to defend against. So I love title mode! and they better keep it in all the next Smackdown games in years to come.

I also like GM mode where you can control a roster. However it's pretty damn hard to win GM mode and win the general manager trophy though. I don't like how you need to win a very hard challenge mode in-order to unlock the Million Dollar Man, the Hardcore belt and the Million dollar title. I doubt many people who have played the game have unlocked all that. Some of the challenges are way too hard to get through. So in the next game I hope you don't have to go through all that [...] to get a Legend and a belt again. Plus they should finally have 8 man tags so you can have 8 man elimation tags for once.

They also have way too many wrestlers who were either fired or are still around and just not being used. I mean when was the last time you saw the Basham Brothers on tv. The game should've had Matt Hardy and M&M instead of all the fired people. This is the full roster I'd love to see in the next game. HHH, Beniot, Cena, Lashley, The Boogie Man, Finley, Matt Hardy, Edge, JBL, King Booker, Sharmell, Melina, Mickey James, M&M, Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson, Jillian Hall, Victoria, Ashley, Undertaker, Ric Flair, Lita, Rey Mysterio, Charlie Haas, Chavo, Carlito, Chris Masters, Val Venis, Mark Henry, Gregory Helms, Kid Kash, Paul London, Brian Kendrick, Jamie Knoble, Super Crazy, Psycosis, Batista, Eugene, Tatanka, Animal, Fake Kane, Big Show, Kane, Umaga, The Spirit Squard, HBK, Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjaman, The Great Khali, Randy Orton, William Regal, Paul Burchell and Ken Kennedy.

Legends and Extra playable wrestlers: Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon, Tazz, The Coach, Jerry Lawyler, Bret Hart, Hogan, Mick Foley and his other personalities, Stone Cold, Chris Jericho, Vader, Yokozuna, The Rock, Million Dollar Man and the Million Dollar title "without challengle mode!", Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero, Psycho Sid, Randy Savage, Mr. Perfect, Dusty Rhoades, Rick Rude, Ricky the Dragon Steamboat. King Kong Bundy, Kamala, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Marty Jannetty "how he looks now".

ECW wrestlers: The Big Show, Kurt Angle, RVD, Sabu, The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Test, Terry Funk, Jazz, Kelly, Balls Mahoney, Steven Richards, Mike Knox.

Match types: GM mode "with the Legends", Title mode, PPV mode, Survivor Series 8 Man tag elimination matches, Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank, 3 Stages of Hell, Ladder Matches, TLC, Lumber Jack, Tournerments, Hell in a Cell, Battle Royals, Royal Rumble, Casket Match, Bullrope matches, Cage matches, I Quit, Hardcore and Barbed Wire Steelcage matches.

What else I'd like to see in Smackdown 2007: wrestlers who have managers should always walk out with them even in special matches. Meaning Lita should always be with Edge and Melina should always be with M&M, Jillian with J.B.L., Daivari with Mark Henry and the Great Khali and Sharmel with Booker T.. Plus you should be able to use Legends GM Mode.

Extra moves for created wresters: "all with different names of" course, The Styles Clash, The Unprettier, The Stroke, The Fameasser, The Dudley Deathdrop, The Gore, The Muscle Buster, The Canadian Destroyer, The Steiner Recliner, Ken Kennedy's old fireman slam off the top rope move, The Pounce

Ring Music: Bow Down to the King, DX, The Game music, Rey's new song, rey's old song, Cena's new song, Cena's old song, Big Show's new song, Angle's new song, Jerry Lawyler's, J.R's, Let the Bodies hit the floor

Ring Entances for Created wrestlers: Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett, Christian's, The Alpha Male's, The NWO, DX, Taz

Created Skins: Masato Tanaka, Mike Awesome, Juvuntud, Viscera, Eric Bischoff, Stephanie McMahon, Paul Heyman, Joey Styles, J.R.