The good, the bad, and the ugly on WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2006 for the PS2.
1) Presentation: This is the #1 sell point of WWE Smackdown vs Raw 06. The game plays like an actual WWE show. The crowd is very energetic which creates a great atmosphere while playing. The announcers are incredible. Unlike in past attempts in this series the voice is work outstanding. The matches, for the most part, play out very well and pretty realistic. The intros are dead on. And the story lines in this game are 100% worthy of being in the real tv show.
2) Graphics: Yuke can stick their chests out on this one as Smackdown vs Raw 2006 looks incredible. The character models are excellent. Other than the models there's not a whole lot to worry about other than some of the arenas and they did a kick ass job with everything in this release.
3) Character creation: This is probably the #2 seller for this game as the character creation once again is great and better than the previous release. It took me 2 hours to make my first guy because of all the bits and pieces you can customize. There are a few more sets of moves to deal with which really add to the in the ring game. There are so many options in this mode you will not be able to NOT make the character you want.
4) Matches: You will be able to play just about any type of match you can think of in this game from Hell in the Cell, first blood, to iron man and TLC matches. If you're old school you might remember some match types like a lumberjack match or a leather strap match or maybe some other more obscure ones and those are not included but if you find that there is not enough matches types in this release you have issues!
5) Story lines: In season you can play out the smackdown or raw storyline depending on which show the character you are using is affiliated with. Both storylines are so realistic, and this sounds corny, but you might forget you're playing a game.
6) In the ring: The game between the ropes, and outside of the ropes for that matter, is just plain fun. The game provides you great multiplayer challenge and game options and the single player levels of difficulty give you enough diversity in the level of challenge that you will be able to find what's right for you. The use of objects seems to be done better than previous releases and the look of matches simply rocks.
The bad:
1) Load times: The loads times are not long but they are frequent and it can be quite annoying. Granted this is probably a limitation on the PS2's end but none-the-less it's a negative to this game. You get a load time when your intro begins, when you start the match, when it ends you have to load the end sequences, if any interruptions happen there's more load times. And don't forget any of the standard ones you'd expect. Can be quite mood breaking especially at the end of an exciting match.
2) Submission matches: If the character you are playing, especially if you created a new one, has a low submission attribute, say 5 or less, you will hate every moment of the submission match you will have to be apart of in either story line. The reason you will hate it is it will take you quite a long time to get a wrestler to submit. It's laughable at first but when 30mins go buy then possibly an hour you will understand all too well the pain I speak of.
3) Season mode: Simply put the season mode is too short. If you will be playing single player for the most part the season mode, both storylines, will take you less than 10 hours to clear them out and then you are left with just one on one matches against the game. This is a huge let down. The next step for THQ is to have this game feature a real superstar mode that can last 10 seasons with storylines that generate on-the-fly. It is doable and I would like to see it happen.
4) Sound: Oh the sound track is horrible. That is, once you eliminate the standard superstars theme songs the soundtrack then becomes terrible. There is nothing but piss-poor rap/hip hop songs and one bad remix of Medadeth's symphony of destruction. If you make your own character you'll probably want your own song that's not some other superstars, well, in this game you don't really have many options. This may be a result of not enough space since there's a TON of dialog in this game but can't excuse it.
5) Royal Rumble: As in every attempt at recreating the Royal Rumble this game only has a set amount of character models capable of being in the ring at one time. In this case it's 6. The game will not allow more than that in the ring. There's also the matter of it being pretty easy to be booted from the ring. If two wrestlers get a hold of you it's pretty much over. You can boost your ability to resist by tossing others out but it doesn't boost you beyond your max so if you throw people out before your resist meter is reduced it doesn't give you a bonus. If you block an attempt at being thrown out of the ring your resist meter is drained and the only way to get it back up is toss someone out. You can also avoid 29 other wrestlers by climbing the ropes and hanging out for most of the match. This is another flaw that's cool if you wanna ensure you win the match but does detract from the enjoyment of the Royal Rumble.
The ugly:
1) Pathing: Similar issues as seen in previous releases in this series. You will find that there are times against the ropes where you're swinging fists but your opponent isn't getting touched and your opponent is walking in place against you. This is minor and easily fixed by moving away from the ropes the few times that this occurs.
Overall: You won't find a better wrestling game to date. This is a must have for any fan of professional wrestling games. If you know you will only play the single player portions of this game you may want to wait and get it used or see if it drops in price. However, I recommend this game to anyone. It's that good.