WWF SmackDown!

• Release Date: March 01, 2000
• Genre: Sports
• Style: Wrestling
• Similar Games: WCW Mayhem (PlayStation), ECW: Hardcore Revolution (PlayStation), ECW: Anarchy Rulz (PlayStation), WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role (PlayStation), The Simpsons Wrestling (PlayStation)

Game Description

THQ managed to wrest the WWF license away from Acclaim for no less than ten years (as of 2000). THQ then went to the respected Japanese wrestling game developer Yuke's Co., Ltd, who produces the Toukon Retsuden series, and told them to make a game worthy of The Rock. WWF SmackDown! was the result of this collaboration.

Based on the prime time UPN WWF television show that made its debut in September of 1999, WWF SmackDown! tries to capture all elements of the typical WWF broadcast. While all the usual mayhem involved within the ring is present, including a Season mode, I Quit matches, Falls Count Anywhere and the like, the game takes a more global approach to the WWF as it also offers a story mode. Now you'll be able to directly experience the backstage drama that is an integral part of a WWF broadcast. You'll develop rivalries, make allies and try to defend your best interests.

You'll be get the chance to play as over 30 of the top WWF superstars from the year 2000. Your superstar of choice will be able to make a bold entrance thanks to the authentic Titantron footage that plays before the wrestler makes their entrance. The attitude will be thick in the arena after a win thanks to the authentic post-match victory poses and exit themes. You'll also get to create your own wrestlers with the Create a Wrestler Mode, and unlock hidden personalities and wrestlers during extended Season mode play.

Players will also get a variety of arenas and backstage areas to face off in as they enter the Smackdown Hotel. You'll be able to feel the electricity as you throw your opponent up the ramp and drag his pathetic carcass off to the kitchen, the parking lot, or even the boiler room.

So know your role and get ready to bow down to the masters. The people's game has arrived, so get ready to "layeth the smacketh down" on the entire WWF roster present in the game. To be in the game, you have to beat the game.

Roots & Influences

Yuke's has drawn a fair amount of attention for its 3D New Japan Pro Wrestling titles that go by the name of Toukon Retsuden in Japan. Once THQ nabbed the WWF license, they contracted the PlayStation title out to Yuke's, which cranked out WWF Smackdown!

Review: Overall

Up until to the appearance of WWF SmackDown!, PlayStation owners had to rely solely on Acclaim's wrestling titles to get their WWF fix. Now THQ and Yuke's are here and it's time to change the mood. With a straightforward move interface and the best graphics in a PlayStation wrestling game to date, there's little stopping WWF SmackDown! from stepping into the PlayStation arena and breaking those mediocre walls down.

No WWF title can be complete without trying to capture some of that special attitude that the WWF is known for, and there has been a hefty effort here to retain that atmosphere. The Titantron introductions straight from the wrestling events kick things off with the polygonal wrestler marching to the ring superimposed on full-motion video. The wrestlers really manage to show off an unprecedented level of detail. like The Rock's eyebrow lift and the Undertaker's eyes rolling back into his head as he approaches the ring. All the wrestlers animate smoothly and move around at a brisk pace, as well.

The in-ring action is supported with an active crowd that goes wild with flash photography whenever you pull off a crowd pleasing move, which creates some rather nice lighting effects as the match goes on. Match options like the hardcore matches and falls count anywhere will allow your wrestler to drag his hapless opponent throughout the arena from the kitchen to the boiler room. The extra areas look very good, and the game never bogs down no matter where you are.

Handling your wrestler of choice is rather simple. Unfortunately, the simple approach, while fast-paced, ends up being too simple. You wear down your opponent with striking moves and your basic grabs, throws and holds. Your opponent will eventually become groggy, and then you'll be able to pull off another batch of more powerful special moves. Sounds good in theory, but that adds up to a grand total of eight holds per wrestler, not counting the special finishing move. The action gets somewhat stale during an extended match due to that low variety.

That repetition is largely offset by the match variety and the Season and Preseason modes. Both the Season and Preseason modes let you play though a year's worth of a WWF TV schedule. The Preseason mode is unique as it allows you to take a created wrestler though the backstage paces from obscurity to a main event headliner. Other wrestlers will stop by and ask you for help in tackling other wrestlers, give you a pat on the back, or offer you advice after a match. You can cultivate friendships and foster rivalries depending on your responses, which can be entertaining. The Season mode is similar but it fails to focus on your selected wrestler as the Preseason mode does, which makes it harder to enjoy. The game will keep cutting to wrestlers talking to each other or show an attack that you can't cancel or interact with in any way. It's interesting at first, but grows stale quickly.

The Season mode also employs an odd carding format that may bother some devout WWF fans. Certain events are supposed to insure you a title shot, but you'll end up twiddling your thumbs long past the event you were supposed to be headlining while you slog though matches that only help you further your number one contender status for no apparent reason. The various match modes are all worked into season mode so that you'll be able to entertain yourself with the various matches, at least. You'll get three and four way dance matches, tag bouts, Battle Royales, Royal Rumbles, and plenty of cage matches. On the highest difficulty settings you'll be trading the advantage with the CPU constantly in each match.

Completing a year in Season mode or Preseason mode will allow you to use new attributes and unlock other WWF wrestlers for you to build. However, creation mode is extremely limited compared to the other wrestling games available on the PlayStation. You get the chance to create the preprogrammed wrestlers, but there are almost no other wrestler outfits or faces to choose from, so making absent superstars like Rikishi Phatu, Too Cool, or the Radicals becomes nearly impossible. The selection of selectable moves is limited until you complete the Preseason mode with each created wrestler you turn out. So unless you're in the mood to invest an hour or more to each created wrestler, they're not going to have many attack options available to them. That also means that the unlocked wrestlers may look the part, but it'll take a hefty time investment to get them to move or act like the real thing.

The game also takes a slightly different approach to scoring. All your matches draw television style ratings. If you've wrestled an exciting match, you'll fare better in the federation than if you put away all your opponents quickly with a series of constantly repeated moves. that's especially important in the Preseason mode, as those ratings will earn you more points for unlocking extra moves for your wrestler.

The game tries to give you in-the-ring feedback as well with muffled and generic sounding crowd noise. Sound effects are also rather weak, as they're either drowned out by the music or just too low for you to hear except when you have the sound effects set on the highest volume setting. Killing the bad in-ring techno music has the side effect of killing the music in the Titantron entrances, so there isn't a solid answer to be found to the sound problems in the game. Either you sacrifice one, or you sacrifice the other as there is little middle ground despite the multiple sound settings in the options menu.

In all, WWF SmackDown! is a solid wrestling game with some interesting attempts at innovation that haven't been seen since the days of the Commodore 64, with the storylines and interviews angle. While the game ends up on the shallow edge of the pond in terms of overall features, what's there still ends up making it one of the best PlayStation wrestling games available.

Review: Enjoyment

While the matches are enjoyable, htere's not much depth to the wrestling itself. Add to that the goofy Season mode fight booking and the weak attempt at the usual back stage theatrics, and things end up feeling muddled.

Review: Graphics

Detailed wrestlers that animate well make for an enjoyable game. Factor in the diverse and sharp looking areas and the ambitious light sourcing and you have a game that's pushing the system to its limits.

Review: Sound

Muddy sound effects and a bad musical score for the action drags this score down.

Review: Replay Value

The Preseason mode is worth a few replays and there are plenty of multiplayer options to play around with in the various other modes.

Review: Documentation

Want to know how to pick up a weapon or climb the steel cage? You won't find that and other should be basic stuff in the manual.

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