Original Release: THQ, 2000, PlayStation
The first Yukes wrestling game, this title not only founded the Smackdown series but is the original ancestor of the modern WWE 2K games as well
WWF Smackdown (PS1, THQ, 2000)
Where to Buy: ebay
How to Emulate: coming soon!
Review by: C. M0use
At the time the first Smackdown! was released, the king of the wrestling world was developer Aki and its WCW / WWF games for the N64. Those were known for expansive movesets, in-depth character creation and fidelity to real-life wrestlers. Developer Yukes staked its claim on the PS1 with some of those assets, but changing the gameplay up from methodical and technical to fast-paced and arcadey. The complex system of holds and grapples is replaced with a simpler control scheme, with fewer attacks and grapple types but bigger character models and more impressive (for the time) graphics.
The gameplay is a superfast no-sell counter-spam fest, opponents will reverse at least half of what you try and everyone just shrugs off power moves and jumps right back into it for at least the first few minutes of each match. I call it “party game wrestling” as it sometimes feels like exchanges are determined by random luck, sometimes with no clear sense of move priority. There’s also no point in doing anything other than building to your special move ASAP – it seems that it auto KOs after an appropriate amount of match time, I’ve never been able to pin anyone with anything else (and submissions aren’t even really a thing here).
In terms of roster, this was one of the best times for a WWF game to be made; at the outset of the new millenium as the company was riding high again (as WCW had almost burned itself out). You get the glory days of Stone Cold, Rock, Undertaker and about 40 others in a decent-sized roster that hits just about all the big names of the time.
There are also several gameplay modes, with “Season” and “Create-a-PPV” having the most meat to them as well as some surprising booking elements. If you want to use a created character in Season mode, they must first do a “pre-season” string of lower-difficulty house show matches against lesser lights of the roster. The season runs from April to Wrestlemania in March, kinda reminiscent of Tecmo Super Bowl as you choose CPU or player control of each character on the schedule, but then it just sorta throws together a random assortment of matches for each month. This also means there isn’t really a “story” mode of any sort. Create-a-PPV has you set up six matches of any type, with the only limitation being that characters have seemingly randomized energy ratings that impact their performance. The audience will rate each match and the show overall, the only purpose to that being a high score list.
Though its a more arcadey and loose gameplay style, Yukes certainly didn’t scrimp on the options. There are tons of match customization settings, you can play as the manager and watch the CPU partner wrestle for you while you interfere, set up custom special refs and run-ins, play as the ref if the mood strikes you, hardcore no DQ matches that can span several rooms in the back, cages, King of the Ring tournament … the only big thing that’s missing is the Royal Rumble.
Aside from gameplay depth, the one place it does fall far short of contemporaries is in character creation. It’s not nearly as detailed or good as the Aki N64 games. You just frankenstein body parts together from the existing characters, there’s no strike selection (just a general “fighting stance”), and you have to earn points to unlock better grapples beyond a small and gimpy starting selection. You can also only create one character, and have to delete them entirely if you wanna make a new one.
The first Smackdown boasts nice attention to detail in the graphics/animations and lots of options, but the core gameplay is at least a little iffy. Some ideas (like the Season Mode) went on to be developed further in later WWE games, but it also has some little touches that you rarely see in other wrestling games, so it’s a shame that the gameplay rubs me the wrong way with its “be the first to land your one super move” style and that there isn’t a tremendous amount for the solo player to do.
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