For some of us that unfortunately missed the PS2 version, the PSP version is a brilliant port to have instead.
After a considerable amount of hours on this game i am very very impressed, when i get a PS2 back it will be one of the first games i get back for it The game's fighting system hasn't made much of a change since the last few Smackdown games, but the new additions are smart, like the Stamina meter, which adds a new element to the game and a bit of extra difficulty. The amount of wrestlers is about as same as the last few games, considering i've not watched wrestling for a number of years half of the playable superstars i don't have a clue who they are.
The career mode is really good, the plot's are good and are much better than previous years, the most impressive thing and what sells the game in my opinion, are the cutscenes with the excellent and varied voicework by the real wrestlers, the WWE legends tour made me laugh, when Stone Cold Steve Austin runs in and causes havok, it was like i was watching the real thing, really funny
I know the quality of the graphics from the previous smackdowns on the PS2, and they are short of brilliant, pushing the PS2 to its limits - on the PSP version they are scaled down but are still very impressive, the graphics on the wrestlers themselves are some of the best i've seen on it and show the PSPs capabilities to the maximum - now, with all of this graphical marvel, you would expect there would be other setbacks like a crappy framerate - totally wrong, the framerate is rock solid and even when there are 6 wrestlers are in the ring, it still stays very solid and is very fast, with most of the ports the PSP has, most get a drop in framerate when compared to the PS2 version, the framerate (as far as i can remember) is near exact to the one in the PS2 version. It's really impressive how well the PSP version works, and sets a standard for future PS2 ports (if any more come that is ... which they will)
The load times are sometimes long and frequent - after a few hours on the game you don't tend to notice them as much, Load times have been much worse in many other games (*points at Midnight Club 3) and on Smackdown they are bearable. Considering the load times and constant UMD access, the battery life held up very very well, so well infact that im suprised i got more than 3 hours out of a full battery - i got about 5 hours of gameplay out of the PSP before my battery died on me (in the middle of a 6-man battle royal )
I'm probably going to be unable to find anyone who has this game, so unfortunately i will probably never play the multiplayer aspects of this game, which is a shame. The lack of online play for the PSP version certainly loses the game marks because the PSP needs a good online game and this could have been it until Socom came out. (Socom isn't out in the UK till february, which is crappy because i want to play that) .
So far i think this is one of the best PSP games out, which i think is because its not a port that has been scaled down or reduced, it is a full game and the amount of content is really great, i'd go as far as to say this game is probably better than GTA Liberty City Stories.