Is there something special about this entry in the WWE Smackdown vs. RAW series? I ask that question because this is the best-selling PlayStation 2 game in the WWE Smackdown vs. RAW series. As of December 2006, this game has sold 3.3 million copies. This game was the second entry in the WWE Smackdown vs. RAW series because the game that came before this one was just WWE Smackdown vs. RAW. So, how is the first sequel in the WWE Smackdown vs. RAW series?
Sometimes, matches start with a pre-match tactic like a lockup or a test of strength, which you can choose with the D-Pad. If you win the mini-game which is the pre-match tactic, then that will give you an advantage in the match.
When you earn a finishing move, you can store it and use it later on, but the closer your HUB is to flashing, the more impact your finisher will have. All wrestlers do have a stamina meter and your wrestler will collapse from exhaustion if the stamina meter runs out. If you need to regain Stamina, stand still and hold Select. You can’t defend yourself or do anything else while you are regaining stamina.
Some matches don’t take place in the ring like a Bar Room Brawl or a Parking Lot Brawl where there are different objects depending on the location that you can use in the match.
You can keep a submission locked in when an opponent reaches the ropes but if you use the full five count, the referee will disqualify you.
A new gameplay mode is the Challenge mode and you can earn money by completing these challenges in a match. One of the challenges is to simply win the Fulfill Your Fantasy match which is the replacement for the Bra & Panties match. This is easier since you don’t have to rip off your opponent’s clothes to win if you don’t like button mashing but the challenges do get more difficult as you progress through the different levels in Challenge Mode.
Another new gameplay mode is the General Manager mode where you choose your show, drat your roster, decide how long you want to sign different wrestlers for, set your champions and rivalries, book the matches and promos and WWE.com will tell you how well your show is doing as well as how good or bad the other show is doing being run by a different General Manager whether that General Manager be A.I. or another human player. While the General Manager mode was not perfect, it would be a good start especially how GM mode would expand in future games.
There are things you can unlock in this game including Legends. However, I don’t like the only way to unlock Jake “The Snake” Roberts is to unlock him on the PSP version and then transfer him to your PlayStation 2 game.
I have no problems with most of the controls. The only thing I don’t like about the controls is when you are trying to eliminate someone in the Royal Rumble or put someone in the coffin in a Buried Alive match and you have to mash the buttons quickly. I can never seem to mash them fast enough to succeed at what I’m trying to do.
The stories in the story mode are linear. They operate the same with the only difference being if you go to RAW or Smackdown. The only time the stories branch out and become unique is once you win the Royal Rumble. I’ll go over both stories starting with the Smackdown story.
The Smackdown story starts with Theodore Long getting hit by a car in the parking lot after having a short conversation with Torrie Wilson. Most of the time Jonathan Coachman wants you to go on a legends tour and Torrie Wilson talks you into going on the tour by accepting Jonathan Coachman’s offer. So you face different legends until you find yourself in a battle royal with legends. After the battle royal, Stone Cold Steve Austin distracts you so Mankind can put Mr. Socko down your throat. After that, Torrie Wilson and Christy Hemme are checking on you and you have to decide which wrestler you want to face in a match the final week of the Legends tour.
When you get back from the Legends tour, you interrogate Booker T and he gets insulted that you accuse him so he challenges you to a match. After the match, The Undertaker shows up and chokeslams Booker T. Next week, Kurt Angle accuses you of setting up Booker and when Kurt Angle doesn’t believe the match with Booker T was not a set-up, you face Kurt Angle with The Undertaker attacking Kurt Angle. Next week Booker T and Kurt Angle call you out but Eddie Guerrero answers the challenge and agrees to team with you to take on Booker T and Kurt Angle in a tag team match. After the tag match, you go see Eddie Guerrero to ask why he is helping you when you discover Eddie has stolen The Undertaker’s urn which means Eddie Guerrero now controls The Undertaker. After you find out what Eddie Guerrero did, you have to decide if you will become an accomplice in the theft of the urn. If you decide to ally with Eddie Guerrero, the alliance falls apart. Eddie Guerrero won’t have The Undertaker help you in your match because Eddie Guerrero wants The Undertaker fresh for his match. You try to steal the urn from Eddie but The Undertaker goes after you because the urn you stole was a fake. You face The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match where you have to put THe Undertaker in the casket and close the lid. Winning this match is pretty easy if you have a special saved. After you win the match, Eddie Guerrero opens the casket and tries to get The Undertaker to attack you but he attacks Eddie Guerrero because you managed to get the real run and then you return the real urn to The Undertaker.
Next is your chance to improve your number in the Royal Rumble. You can compete in a couple of different match types which will make your entry number in the Royal Rumble higher or lower. After your number is decided, you face five guys from your show who will also be competing in the Royal Rumble in a 6-man over-the-top-rope battle royal. If you do lose the Royal Rumble, it will be determined that the winner of the Royal Rumble won it controversially and you and five other wrestlers will compete in a Battle Royal at the Royal Rumble. If you lose the battle royal, the story mode is over and you have to start from the beginning. The stories from here to WrestleMania do go differently depending on who you pick.
I won the Royal Rumble as JBL and after the Royal Rumble, the WWF Champion Rob Van Dam knocked me out from behind and he has ECW spraypainted on the WWE Championship. RVD uses your interview time to claim ECW is back and taking over Smackdown. RVD also wants you to prove that you are extreme enough to have earned a shot at the ECW title and you face Rey Mysterio with RVD in his corner. After you defeat Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, and Tajiri to beat you down. Next week, Spike Dudley comes up to you and says he isn’t participating in this ECW takeover. He convinces you that if you team with Spike Dudley, other wrestlers who wrestled for ECW in the past might not join Rob Van Dam’s revolution. JBL & Spike Dudley defeat Chris Benoit & Tajiri but after the match, Spike Dudley turns on you and helps Chris Benoit and Tajiri put you through a table.
Next, you are going to face Chris Benoit,l Spike Dudley and Tajiri in a two-on-three handicap match and Theodore Long says you can either choose The Big Show or Booker T as your tag team partner. Theodore Long says whoever you don’t choose will be watching from behind the curtain so other ECW wrestlers don’t get involved.
You face Rob Van Dam in a TLC match for the WWE championship and just as you are about to win, Chris Jericho helps RVD regain the championship. Chris Jericho puts you in the Walls of Jericho and admits to running down Teddy Long in the parking lot all those months ago. You also get an offer to join ECW once you heal from the Walls of Jericho. If you don’t accept the offer to join ECW, you face Chris Jericho in a singles match. Meanwhile, Michael Cole is interviewing Rob Van Dam and when Michael Cole seems to be pissing off Rob Van Dam, Tazz pulls Michael Cole out of the ring and into a Tazmission.
After this, it’s your championship match against Rob Van Dam at WrestleMania and after you win, RVD tries to knock you out with the Van Terminator but you fight RVD off and Vince McMahon helps JBL put RVD through a table.
Now if you had chosen to play as Rob Van Dam in the story mode, Theodore Long comes out on the first Smackdown after the Royal Rumble and says he saw it was RVD driving the car that ran down Teddy Long and RVD admits it. Theodore Long says either RVD will use the Royal Rumble loophole to jump to RAW or he will make RVD’s life a living hell on Smackdown. Meanwhile, Triple H and Chris Jericho are supposed to be the main event at WrestleMania and they don’t want Rob Van Dam coming over from Smackdown to make their match a triple threat match. So they want Vince McMahon to guarantee Triple H vs. Chris Jericho will remain one-on-one no matter what. However, the way the Royal Rumble contract is worded, there is nothing stopping Rob Van Dam from going over to RAW. So Triple H and Chris Jericho figure if Vince McMahon can’t do anything, they will go over to Smackdown and make Rob Van Dam’s life as easy as possible. So Rob Van Dam gets booked in a one-on-three hell-in-a-cell match at No Way Out but before the match, one of your opponents are found knocked out and Triple H becomes your partner to make your match a Tag Team Hell In A Cell match. On the Smackdown after No Way Out, RVD teams with Triple H and Chris Jericho to take on your three scheduled opponents from No Way Out and after the six man tag, you as RVD decide: Are you going to jump to RAW or stay on Smackdown?
However, some wrestlers may follow the same storyline because a friend of mine told me that when he played as Undertaker, he got RVD bringing back ECW like if you playsed Story Mode with JBL.
If you pick a RAW wrestler, you get double temed by Ric Flair and Triple H. Shelton Benjamin offers to watch your back but after you team up to take on Triple H and Ric Flair, you and Sheltonm Benjamin get beaten down afterwards. Shelton Benjamin is injured and after your match next week, John Cena and The Big Show come out to attack you, Triple H & Ric Flair. You and Triple H try to get revenge but that’s when John Cena and The Big Show run from the arena. Next week, Eric Bischoff makes a inter-promotional tag team match between you and Triple H vs John Cena & The Big Show at Summerslam then suggests you two pay a visit to Smackdown to even the score. A tag match happens on Smackdown while the tag team match at Summerslam still happens. After the match at Summerslam, Shelton Benjamin makes his return attacking Triple H and Ric Flair. The next night on RAW, Triple H offers to give you a pass for not helping him when Shelton attacked him at Summerslam as long as you are not watching Shelton Benjamin’s back later in the night when he faces Triple H. If you do, you get booked in a WWE Title cage match at Unforgiven. If you don’t, you face Shelton Benjamin in a cage match at Unforgiven for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Regardless of which championship you go after, Eric Bischoff vacates the championship you won.
William Regal and Eugene are in a feud with Edge & Christian and Edge injures William Regal by keeping a submission on after Regal taps while Trish Stratus distracted Eugene. William Regal asks you to team with Eugene so Regal and Eugene won’t be forced to give up the tag team titles and you agree. You are in a singles match against Edge and while Trish Stratus distracts Eugene, you fall over the top rope and land on Trish Stratus and Eugene is more concerned about Trish Stratus. At Taboo Tuesday, you have to face Edge and Christian in a handicap match and even if you win, you don’t win the Tag Team Titles since your partner Eugene never showed up. Afterwards, you are interviewed whether you can defend Eugene or insult Sugene. If you insult Eugene for not showing up, Eugene challenges you to a one-on-one match when You, Regal and Eugene are When you face Edge, Trish Stratus asks Eugene to be the referee and when Christian feels jealous of being the third wheel, Christian attacks William Regal in front of Eugene. Eugene attacks Christian and Trish’s plan to fool Eugene is ruined.. Eric Bischoff stops the fight by announcing Trish Stratu’s contract will be on the line at Survivor Series and Edge and Trish leave the arena and leave Christian behind. You confront Christian all alone in the parking lot. At Survivor Series, you and Eugene face Edge and Christian in a ladder match for the Tag Team Titles and when you win, Eric Bischoff vacates the Tag Team Titles when you try to give your Tag Team Championship to William Regal in exchange for sole use of Trish Stratus’s contract.
The next part of the story is trying to improve your number in the Royal Rumble. This follows the same route up to the Royal Rumble whether you are on RAW or Smackdown so there is no reason to go over this again. At the Royal Rumble, Vince McMahon says he will confont Eric Bischoff about vacating the RAW Championships on RAW the next night.
When Eric Bischoff tries to vacate the World and Intercontinental Championship, Vince McMahon stops him and JBL comes out. Eric Bischoff was bringing back WCW with the financial backing from JBL. Stone Cold Steve Austin comes out and gives the Stone Cold Stunner to JBL and then Eric Bischoff is replaced as RAW GM by Stone Cold Steve Austin. Stone Cold Steve Austin has a meeting with the Intercontinental Champion Kane, the world champion Batista and #1 contender for the World Title: Chris Masters because Stone Cold Steve Austin believes there is a mole on RAW working with JBL and Eric Bischoff. Stone Cold Steve Austin has Chris Masters interrogate Chris Benoit to see if Chris Benoit jumping to RAW was part of this WCW re-birth. Chris Benoit says follow the chamopionship trail which insults Kane then when Kane gets upset, Randy Orton tries to cool Kane down.
When the interrogation of Chris Benoit leads nowhere, Stone Cold suggest Chris Masters go to No Way Out to see what evidence he can find. Chris Masters sees Batista leaving JBL’s limo and Batista said he was stranding up for RAW and telling JBL to back off. If you don’t believe Batista, ylou face him in a parking lot brawl and it gets announced the next night that Stone Cold never sent Batista to No Way Out and Batista’s absence from RAW confirmed in Stone Cold’s mind that Batista was the mole from RAW.
JBL, The Big Show and Kurt Angle come out from Smackdown, attack Stone Cold and say for Stone Cold sending RAW wrestlers to a Smackdown Pay Per View, Smackdown is performing a hostile takeover on RAW and they are not leaving until somebody makes them which leads to a six man tag when Chris Masters, Chris Benoit and Randy Orton come out to defend RAW.
The next week, Stone Cold wants revenge on JBL but JBL says he doesn’t have to wrestle in any match Stone Cold sets up because JBL has a Smackdown contract and Stone Cold is the General Manager of RAW. Vince McMahon comes out and agress but also states that Smackdown contract is a WWE contract meaning JBL has to wrestle in matches that Vince McMahon makes. So Vince McMahon books Chris Masters & Stone Cold Steve Austin vs JBL and Batista with the winner getting to choose the stipulation of Chris Masters vs Batista for the World Title at Wrestlemania. After Chris Masters defeats Batista at WrestleMania, JBL runs in and attacks Chris Masters. Stone Cold Steve Austin runs in and fights off JBL and Batista.
When it comes to the graphics, I have no complaints. All the arenas look great and everynody looks like you would expect them to look like so I would change nothing about the graphics. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the sound. Chris Jericho’s theme is too hard to hear when he enters the Royal Rumble and Chris Masters poses during his entrance is not synced up to the music at all.
So the gameplay is fun and the game is easy most of the time. I didn’t like the button mashing in Royal Rumble and Buried Alive matches. Stories not being unique until you win the Royal Rumble was a problem but I had no problems with the graiphics but there were a couple of issues with the sound. I give WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2006 on the PlayStation 2 7 out of 10. Button mashing, repetitive stories until you win the Royal Rumble and having to buy the PSP version to unlock /ake “The Snake” Roberts were my biggest issues. Howver the stories are very entertaining once you get past the Royal Rumble and I think any wrestling fan with a PlayStation 2 should play this game.
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