10 Shocking Times Older Wrestling Games Did Graphics Better

4. Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle WWE 2K20 SmackDown vs. Raw 2006
2K Games/THQ

Games: WWE 2K20 (left) and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2006 (right)

Time Between Release: 14 years.

One has to wonder what in the name of Olympic gold happened here? Why does Kurt Angle resemble a reptile made of plasticine rather than the wrestling machine he is? Feast your eyes on THQ's work for SmackDown vs. Raw 2006 on the right to see a more well-crafted take on the now-retired legend.

Obviously (before someone points it out), these are different eras of Angle's career. 2K20 is going for the start of that career, whereas SmackDown vs. Raw '06's model was current when it launched and didn't have the hair. Even so, it's unforgivably poor that 2K consider the face scan on the left acceptable for a video game released 14 years after the one on the right.

If this is "photo-realism", then waxy, larger-than-life action figure replications of WWE stars win this round.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.