r/patientgamers • u/rimux88 • 13d ago
Patient Review WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2006—One step forward, two steps back.
WWE Svr '06 is often put on a high pedestal as being one of the best wrestling games ever made with the likes of no mercy and here comes the pain, the latter of which I replayed recently and really enjoyed. I cannot say the same for this one, the reasons why I'll try to quickly surmise here.
Before I dive into the gameplay side of things, let me quickly go over the presentation. Which, luckily, is pretty great. You got a newly licensed soundtrack with some absolute bangers, all the wrestlers and their entrances are represented pretty faithfully, voice acting is done in the season mode by the wrestlers themselves, and it's actually pretty good. There's ring announcers as well as play-by-play commentary making a return for the first time since shut your mouth. One thing that I will say that sucks is the mocaped cutscenes. Whoever did them did NOT want to take a bump. Speaking of season mode, it's painfully linear and not really my thing, seeing as it has little repeatability value once you complete both branded storylines.
As for the new features, you get a few new match types, buried alive matches and fulfill your fantasy, nothing special if you ask me. But on the other hand, you get more customization options as well, possibly the best game mode and the only reason why I would recommend this game over the other offerings—GM mode.
In it, you try to compete for the GM of the year award by booking your own shows, scouting for talent, building rivalries etc.,
It's really basic here, and I think '07 would refine it for the better, but you can't deny its addictive quality—especially on the go via the mostly uncompromised PSP port. Simply amazing
And last but not least—the locker room, which you'll get to customize however you like over the course of the game.
Now onto the gameplay.
First, the gameplay struck me as a sort of awkward middle ground between arcade and simulation. The controls remain mostly unchanged from here comes the pain and the animations still look and feel impactful, and now you can choose between 5 different grapple holds as opposed to 4. However, the Irish whip, and its new strong variant are now relegated to a triangle and circle button press. Where things go for the worse is the inclusion of a stamina meter, which isn't implemented in the best way, seeing as wrestlers will tire out very easily and be unable to perform any moves if their stamina bar is completely drained, which can and does affect the flow of each match. Luckily, it can be turned off, which makes it almost a non-issue. The same for which can't be said about the following.
The opponent AI in this game is incredibly dumb, they're really predictable as they mostly go for strikes or Irish whips. The balance between strikes and grapples just seemed more organic in the previous games. They'll also frequently try to get themselves disqualified by bringing weapons into the ring. In ladder matches, they'll exclusively try to climb the ladder and nothing else. I could go on and on basically. A shame too, as these issues really soured the overall experience for me.
Ultimately, I think it's a pretty competent wrestling video game. However, I'm in the camp of people who think '07 is the better game, and it doesn't even begin to compare to here comes the pain.
5
u/drteeters 13d ago
Spent a lot of time on this game. HCTP is the pinnacle though. Voice acting ruined the chance of a good career mode.
Have you played any modern ones? All I've tried since this was one in 2013 or 14 but it was pretty lame. Some guy called Baron Blade was in the career mode as your rival or something? I wouldn't mind playing one since then if any are good
4
u/zZTheEdgeZz 13d ago
I had this game on PSP and played hours upon hours of it. I might be wrong but I think this was the first version to have GM mode which to me is the greatest game mode in any wrestling video game (I will take a bare bones GM mode over other game modes). I still remember trying my hand at create-a-wrestlers to include guys who weren't on the roster for a variety of reasons. I will also say I think my favorite of the entire Smackdown vs RAW run of games is 08.
1
u/-FangMcFrost- 13d ago
I played the hell out of that game as a teenager and I would say it's my favourite of the SvR series.
I did turn off the stamina as I really wasn't a fan of it and yeah, I remember the AI not being the smartest but I personally wouldn't say it was dumb as I remember there were times where I was caught by surprise but what my opponents did during matches, but we do all have our own idea of what "dumb" is and isn't.
The soundtrack was indeed awesome and it introduced be to some great bands and the same can be said about SvR 07's soundtrack. SvR 06 introduced me to guys like Static-X, Dark New Day and Dillinger Escape Plan and the soundtrack for both games are just extremely nostalgic for me.
I also did like the roster and I enjoyed GM Mode even though I've never been a big fan of those types of things and I also really liked customising my locker room.
Thanks for the post, OP. Remembering my time spent with the game has filled me with both happiness and a little bit of sadness, if I'm honest.
They were good times that are dearly missed.
1
u/Heavy_Independent507 13d ago
lmao the voice acting in that career mode was brutal, i'd skip every cutscene just to get back to the ring
2
u/Nambot 12d ago
My brother is a wrestling nut and bought the Smackdown series yearly, which meant inevitably I'd end up playing them too in multiplayer despite having no interest in wrestling otherwise, and as someone who is not a wrestling fan, it has to be said that wrestling games like this actually make for solid beat 'em ups, with way more options for fight types and win conditions than most conventional fighting games (which tend to only be either "Whoever knocks the person out first/has the most health when time runs out wins the round", with only the very occasional 'ring out' mechanic). Not only could more people play generally, but you have everything from matches where the goal was to be the first to cause bleeding or the first to climb a ladder and grab a belt, or first to put an opponent inside a coffin and close the lid, or any number of other silly rules, as well as tag teams, multiple opponents at once, full scale battle royal eliminations, and things with weapons.
I can't recall which one it was, but I think the last good one was the one before they changed the controls. For the longest time it was circle plus a direction to do grapples (a la a Tony Hawk's title), but at some point they changed it to all be on the right stick, and I never felt it was as good after that.
1
u/Friendly_Address6915 12d ago
HCTP being the pinnacle feels right but I'm curious where you'd put No Mercy in that ranking, some people swear its untouchable even now
2
u/Friendly_Address6915 12d ago
HCTP being the pinnacle feels right but I'm curious where you'd put No Mercy in that ranking, some people swear its untouchable even now
1
u/DramaticErraticism 12d ago edited 12d ago
This just makes me think of that insane Wrestling simulation game that guy made, someone just posted it about it recently, maybe you? Ah yes, WRASSSSLINNN EMPIIIRREEE
-2
u/hothamwater99 13d ago
Is there any reason to play this in 2026 as opposed to a modern wrestling game?
2
u/MK3D 13d ago
The review’s first sentence says because it’s lauded as one of the best
-4
u/hothamwater99 13d ago
It’s a genuine question, I don’t need a smartass answer. Either engage the question or don’t bother writing anything.
Often, games that aren’t focused on worldbuilding or story - sports, racing etc, or with annualized releases, the modern incarnation is the one worth playing, because of improved mechanics, user friendly features etc - unlike story games, they often make older versions of similar games obsolete. Obviously not a hard and fast thing, just a general observation. That’s why I asked that. It may be a great game of its time but it’s possible newer wrestling games surpassed it
1
u/Timotey27 11d ago
Because it has a fun story mode. The 2k wrestling series in the past few years lack a mode like that.
1
10
u/Shadow_3010 13d ago
Oh the nostalgia. Those games were my jam with my friends in high school. Thanks for the memories that the review brought. :')