Pong and Beyond

339th played so farGenre: Fighting
Platform: Various
Year of Release: 2009
Developer: Yuke’s
Publisher: THQ

After the release of the list’s second edition, 20 games were removed, with twelve of them unplayed so far. For completeness and because we wanted to try some of them, we decided to still play these twelve, but with shorter or changed write-ups. Today the fourth, and our first ‘annual’ game – WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010

One of the more obvious games to update with a new list are the annual releases of sports franchises, and indeed they have gone (although surprisingly not replaced by later editions). We will cover the likes of FIFA 2010 later, but first we’ve got what is technically a fighting game.

I’ll be honest, I’m in the camp of people who doesn’t really get wrestling – not that I’ve really tried, but both the soap-ish storylines and the fighting (staged and real) just don’t appeal to me. A lot of it just seems over the top anyway. Strangely, I am in the camp that used to really enjoy wrestling computer games as a kid. I would use the create-a-wrestler function to insert Nina Williams into the world of wrestling before KOing Kane by using the Worm. Good times. Good times.

Still, a lot of that is stripped away with a game like this. Sure, there’s the flashy entrances and the game has a pretty big character editor when you’re creating your own wrestler – plenty of options in looks and clothing. It just doesn’t matter once you’re actually in the ring and wrestling (although I suppose it makes for a fun way to fill the time in between). You jump in, you get to perform your wrestling moves (which, because of the above, is not something I really understand as much) and hopefully finish using one of your special moves. Those are one of the concessions to the more showy aspects of this type of wrestling, together with the uses of taunting and some of the insaner modes – such as one that requires you (while wrestling) to climb a ladder and pull a suitcase off. I’m sure it’s based on something real, but to a novice like myself, it seems bizarre.

In the mean time, the game looks good – a lot of time has been spend on the surroundings, including entrances (which I assume are real for these wrestlers) – if a bit functional in places. From the few I recognise, the wrestlers seem to resemble their real life counterparts quite well.

Is it a game I miss from the list? Not exactly, but then again, wrestling isn’t my thing, and if you have no interest in WWE, you miss out on a lot. As an entry in the yearly series however, it’s clear why it should be on there, as a major entry in these series.I suppose that, in the end, it’s difficult for a more ‘definitive’ list like this to fit in works that are temporary by design, with a fairly strict yearly release schedule.