OK, now before I begin, let me say the following... I USED to be a huge wrestling fan, and watched it on TV religiously every week. This was up until last year, when it finally dawned on me... Why am I watching this every week? It's the same thing recycled over and over. Nothing new ever happens.

Well, the same can usually be said about the yearly installments of the Smackdown games brought to us by Yukes, and THQ, at least up until last year's edition (Smackdown Vs. Raw 2006). This edition introduced several new game modes, and was much better executed than the previous edition. Online still handled like crap, but not as bad as before. And this is PS2 online after all, not the glorious (in most cases) service that we've come to love, known as Xbox Live. The GM mode was interesting, allowing you to run your brand, and trying to sabotage the other. Of course there were the expected exhibition and season modes. And the beloved CAW mode was back, as well.

Even though I have grown tired of WWE television, the games have continued to hold my interest with an iron grip. This is because, in addition to the great wrestling engine of the Smackdown series (in general), they have provided an awesome Create a Wrestler mode, where you can basically create ANYONE in the world that you want to. I'm not going to get into details here, but if you have a PS2 (yes I know this is an Xbox 360 site, but come on) go check this game out. If nothing else, it'll give you a good idea of what to expect this fall.

I've watched videos and seen pictures of the new Smackdown Vs. Raw (360 version), and I will say that it still needs some polish, but they've got until November or so to work out a lot of that. The crowd is now interactive, and scaffolding is able to be climbed. The wrestler detail looks pretty good so far, but I'm sure that it'll be better. What I'm hoping for is customizable entrance music, kind of like Rumble Roses XX has (believe it or not, RRXX has something that Smackdown needs to improve). Overall, this is a title that I'm really looking forward to, and I think any video wrestling fan should be too.

Let me give a shout out to all my Jmanniacs!!!

Jmann2k1