In terms of modes – WWE ’12 is almost exactly the same as Smackdown Vs. Now repackaged as WWE ’12, I was dismayed to learn that the game was just 2011 with some slight improvements and a LOT of new issues. So, even though I was pretty disappointed with 2011, I decided to give the series one last chance. They also gave us Brock Lesnar, the Road Warriors, Vader and Demolition as playable legends. Yukes seemed to take the massive amount of complaints 2011 got to heart and promised a lot of fixes. The game was bug ridden and while I enjoyed all five versions of Road To Wrestlemania, I basically just made CAWs and found myself consistently shocked at the downturn in terms of control quality along with how insanely easy the game was. I mean, I was consistently in the Top Ten for the rankings and was well known for my CAWs for the game, but WWE Universe was horribly done (title matches only on the PPV and no control over the booking of them). While I couldn’t say my experiences were as bad as Kennedy’s with the Wii version – it still wasn’t a good game by any means. Kennedy reviewed it and it nearly drove him to drink. 2010 was not as good as 2009, but it still had its moments.
After a two year slump, Yukes got their act together once again.
2009? We reviewed the PSP, PS3 and Wii versions of the game and found all of them to be the best the series has been since 2006. The Wii version in particular is cited as being near unplayable. 2008? Well known for its terrible controls and design, along with a score of bugs. It was noticeably worse and people complained. 2007? GM mode wasn’t at good, controls had some issues compared to the year before and there were noticeable bugs that weren’t in 2006. You never knew what you were getting with the Smackdown Vs. WWE video games have been especially hit or miss over the last few years. Hell, Wrestlemania XXI not only received the lowest score I’ve ever given a game (at the time), but it was unanimously elected into the Video Game Hall of Shame when it was nominated. I’ve sat through steaming piles of crap like TNA Impact! and Wrestlemania XXI. Unfortunately there is a lot of bad with the good.
Raw 2006 as one of my ten favorite games for the Playstation 2. I still occasionally pull out WWF Rage in the Cage for my Sega CD and I even listed WWE Smackdown Vs.
I have fond memories of Fire Pro Wrestling: Six Man Scramble for the Sega Saturn and Toukon Retsuden 4 for the Sega Dreamcast.