There's no argument that THQ and Yuke's SmackDown videogame series is the greatest wrestling franchise to date. Unlike the Xbox and GameCube WWE games it's SmackDown that receives the most attention, and the result is a decently polished product that sucks me into its virtual world simply because there's an insane amount of options to screw around with. But I'm not going to allow the 2006 edition to bully its way to an excellent score because of its sheer volume of goodies, nor am I going to let some of THQ's missteps go unpunished. SmackDown Vs Raw 2006 is a great game and if you're a WWE fan I highly recommend it, but after two years THQ still doesn't get it. 2003's Here Comes the Pain was a remarkable achievement and damnit, I want some more.

I'm beginning to sound like an old fart since this is the second year I've blasted a SmackDown title for not being as good as the aforementioned edition but it's true. SmackDown Vs Raw 2006's gameplay is quite subdued when compared to Here Comes the Pain's, which features a harder hitting arcade style. With this title, things are a bit slower and more strategic. Instead of just pounding on someone anyway that I see fit I have to keep an eye on a Stamina Bar, because once this is depleted my wrestler will be about as useless as D-Lo Brown. Stamina can be replenished by holding the Select button, but this is just a bit bothersome. I don't want to worry about whether my superstar's tired, not do I want to give a damn about whether I'm wrestling with style. However, I am a fan of the Clean/Dirty tactics, conditions that'll help you build momentum by doing good or bad guy things like refusing to submit when you're in danger (a good guy example) or exposing the metal underneath a turnbuckle (a bad guy action).

I'm also a bit disappointed that I'm not exactly feeling the maneuvers. There are certainly lots of devastating holds and finishers in this game, but most of them aren't high impact at all. There's definitely a huge difference between Goldberg's spear in Here Comes the Pain versus the spears performed in this game, and the same goes for chair shots. Like some of the other muffled sounds in this year's title (the crowd really drones out the superstar music), I'm not hearing steel clanging off someone's skull. Smashing someone over the head produces a little itty bitty love tap. But thankfully, the result is always the same. Eventually someone will get busted open and bleed all over the ring, and there's varying levels of damage.

There are certainly lots more to love about the actual fighting. Yukes has added new match types such as Buried Alive, there's a classic Wrestlemania IX ring (to go with the myriad of different arenas), you can beat the hell out of people in a bar, you can store a finishing move and save it for later, you can play possum and roll someone up Bret Hart style, there's a cool power Irish whip maneuver, and for the first time ever (and this is really huge), superstars that come down to the ring will stay there as their opponents arrive, which literally had me jumping about the room when I first saw it. And you can still put people through tables, smash them over their noggins with a host of weapons, and chuck them from the top of the hell in a cell cage. It's a fun game to play especially with multiple people, and really, if you want the game that has the most bang for your proverbial buck, this is the best money can buy.

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