GAME REVIEW: Smackdown! Vs. RAW 2008 (Nintendo Wii)

As is the case with most genres, Nintendo was the all supreme ruler over wrestling games for many a year.  First it was through sheer default as the volume of games for any given system was overwhelming, with other consoles only offering up games like the famously pathetic WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game and its equally stupid successor In Your House, which were more low-rent ‘Mortal Kombat-esque’ rip-offs than wrestling titles.

Then as time progressed Nintendo started to become the home of some genuinely amazing wrestling games when THQ jumped from Sony over to the Big N to create a run of hits starting with WCW/nWo: World Tour and culminating with WWF No Mercy, still the benchmark in wrestling gaming.  Soon the Playstation would take over the reigns with its Smackdown! (which turned to the Smackdown vs. Raw) series, with Nintendo remaining on the outskirts with the Day of Reckoning titles, which were underrated yet still underwhelming.

Which brings us to present day where Nintendo has finally been brought into the Smackdown! fold with its own version of Smackdown! vs. RAW 2008. But let’s get one thing clear: This is NOT a Smackdown! vs. Raw game.  It may LOOK like one, and SOUND like one, but it is an entirely different beast.

THQ saw in the Wii the potential to make a wrestling game that can be accessible to anyone regardless as to whether or not they’ve ever played a wrestling game before (Read: That ever-loving Wii family friendly audience).  The idea was extremely original, but the execution… well, let’s just say there’s a lot of good, but a pretty balanced amount of bad as well.

Smackdown! vs. RAW 2008 on the Nintendo Wii

And the bads are pretty big whoppers.  First is the fact that the game is completely stripped of most functions that have been present in the majority of wrestling games for more than a decade.   No specialty matches (like ladder, cage, hell in the cell, elimination chamber, backstage brawls, TLC, and so on), no create a wrestler, no real storyline mode, no online play.  You only get single, tag team, triple threat and hardcore matches.  Move sets for wrestlers are heavily lightened.  At times it feels like you’re just playing a demo since so much is missing compared to its other platform counterparts.

The matches themselves can also get pretty frustrating.  The revolutionary idea behind this version of Smackdown! vs. Raw is, of course, in its use of motion controls.  You swing the mote to throw punches, you can lift it up to go for a chokeslam, or even wave it around to taunt your opponent in the game.  The downfall is what usually fells most non-Nintendo developed games – sometimes the controls just don’t work.  The matches move at a MUCH quicker pace then on the other platforms and a lot of the time you’ll find yourself just sitting there, waving your controllers around like an idiot hoping something will happen, and either randomly beat your opponent without knowing how, or vice versa.  In both cases a wrist injury would not be uncommon from so much controller swinging.

Smackdown! vs. RAW 2008 on the Nintendo Wii

But other times, the controls actually work.  Really well in fact.  And here’s where the good kicks in.  Because when the game is really flying and the controls are working like how they’re meant to, you’ll find yourself getting into the matches more then you have for years.  Near falls, last second reversals, excellent psychology, perfectly timed finishers, and most of all, having fun doing it instead of it feeling like a chore.  Each finisher has its own unique motion control as well, so you’ll find yourself lifting up someone for an FU with John Cena or even stomping your foot (well, with your hand) with Shawn Michaels to prepare for Sweet Chin Music.  And for a brief few minutes, you get a glimpse at what this game could be.

It’s best to think of this as a beta version of what is to come in the future.  If they can take those mechanics that work, tune them so they are consistent, and then build the rest of the features back into the game, they’ll really have something somewhat special in their hands. 

For now though, it’s more like a modern-day version of In Your House, where for quite a bit it’s more arcade then realism.  But there is enough there to show it at least has the potential to be a title that, within the coming years, can bring Nintendo back to the top of the wrestling gaming heap.

Smackdown! vs. RAW 2008 (Nintendo Wii) ** 1/2 (out of 5)
THQ/Yukes
Related Links: Official site

Review by Jonathan Popalis

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