Bigger and better then SVR 2008 (WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 (Wii))

Member Name: johnpaullucky7

Product:	WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 (Wii)
Date:	24/01/09 (145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More modes, good controls, decent graphics,

Disadvantages: career mode lacks, more wrestlers in Road to Wrestlemania would have been nice

Smackdown vs Raw finally back on the Wii after last years awful game which felt like a test demo Yukes and THQ have really took it further for the Wii this time around.

Smackdown vs Raw 2009 has a lot more to chose from unlike 2008 which only had 5 match types in 2009 it has been expanded with a lot more to do and even having 6 people in the ring at once when SVR2008 on the Wii only had 4.

Well let me just talk about what is on the main menu

Exhibition - This allows you to play any type of match you want Single, Tag, Money in the Bank, Hell in a Cell, Cage, Royal Rumble, Battle Royle and there is more I for one am happy that the Royal Rumble has been put into this years game.

My WWE - In this part you can change the roster and move wrestlers to different brands. This part mostly comes into play in career mode where you can chose what wrestlers come onto each brand.

Road To WrestleMania - This is the main story mode and it's not bad it has tried to act like how the show really is with using a certain wrestler. In this mode you can only play as Triple H, CM Punk, Undertaker, John Cena and Chris Jericho. There is also a tag story featuring Rey Mysterio and Batista. The stories are decent each one has there own story Jericho's is about a code and a masked man. Triple H story is about Evolution and DX which is good as for the others I have not really tired those yet. The thing that I hate is that you can't play as anyone else and I would of liked it if you could chose Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, Edge or even Shawn Michaels. The problem with this mode it is short it starts at January and ends at Wrestlemania which is about 12 to 14 matches and you don't even fight in the Royal Rumble. Oh and it has some pathetic stories one of them has the Undertaker turning Santino Marella and Finlay into zombies which to me is over the top I have never seen anything as daft.

Game Modes - This was in the Wii version of 2008 it has the same boring tournament mode and career mode which is just pretty much the same as what 2008 had to offer on the Wii version last year so it's boring and annoying. This mode also does not feature any cut scenes. The career mode has you challeging for belts you will have to get a good rank between matches in order to get a chance for the title. The start of career mode is easy it's to easy once you get onto a main title it starts getting a bit harder but not really hard. I recommend using your Created Wrestler when on career mode as this is the only way to build up your wrestlers stat points.

Create Modes - In this section you create your own wrestler like other version the only difference is you can't make your own finisher not that I was to bothered about it (I have the PS3 version to do that anyway). However in this mode you can select your own entrance moves that you want to do during the wrestlers entrance which is a good thing.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection - Finally it's online and I like this as it has rankings the problems is that it can get hard finding a game at times unless you know anyone else who plays it and you can also text chat to people just before your about to get into a game. However in this mode there is no interactive entrances but there is interactive victory's. At certain times you will find a lot of people playing the game the only problem is most people only play single player matches I can ever find someone else wanting to play tag team.

The controls are very easy to get use to and a more moves have been added to the game and some wrestlers do have the same moves as others which is annoying. However the special moves look great when playing a match I like the slow down then which you have done your special move it goes back to normal. Sometimes the controls just never respond much.

The graphics on this are an improvement I think they look good specially for the Wii to be honest there not the best but it's not graphics that always matters to me it's gameplay. As for the arena's Tribute to The Troops is actually in the Wii version which it looks great it is how it is suppose to be and it is outside and is my favorite on the game as for WrestleMania 24 arena it's not even outdoors and the actual arena was.

The health bar from last year has been improved unlike last year which made it more of a arcade fighting game it has been made more in to a wrestling style as matches last longer and you can get out of pins much easier my wagging the analogue stick on the nunchuck can get a bit annoying sometimes.

The commentary is better there feels more of a point of it been here on this years game unlike last years because matches were so short it felt it wasn't needed now that matches are longer I think it is needed. The commentary has Michael Coal and Johnathan Coachman doing it for SmackDown, JR and King do it for Raw, Joey Styles and Tazz provide the game commentary on the ECW arena only. The commentary is good in the Road to Wrestlemania mode as they do provide information on what has happened with in the game. The commentary is outdated I sort of would have liked Mike Adamle on commentary just for him to say Jamaican me Crazy Kofi however I was glad Joey was on commentary in my opinion he will always be the voice of ECW.

I do think that the Wii version has been improved and it is way better then the awful SVR2008 we got last year on Wii. I was glad that THQ/Yukes did listen to the people and even make the Wii version online which to me is a bonus. However the career mode is boring it's quite dull plus no cut scenes and Road to Wrestlemania is disappointing as it is limited to what wrestlers you can select. I recommend the game it has had a lot of improvements which was needed. This game in my opinion needed the GM Mode back because I for one did enjoy it

Summary: The best wrestling game currently out on the Wii