Many wrestling games had come before, and the N64 had already established a foothold for the 3D wrestling genre with the excellent WCW/NWO games and WWF No Mercy, but it's Smackdown for the PlayStation that really captured the intensity, the ecstasy and the macho madness of wrestling - in the glorious days of WWF's down-and-dirty Attitude era, no less. SmackDown 2 refined the brilliant formula of its predecessor in many ways. Wrestler entrances were accompanied by high-quality theme songs and FMV Titantron videos, the ring and ropes shook with the impact of body slams and power bombs, and finishers felt as overblown and momentous as they did watching then-named WWF on TV. The all-important presentation of the world's most scantily-clad melodrama was done to perfection. But even for the non-wrestling fan, SmackDown 2 was one of the best multiplayer experiences around on the PS1. The variety of match types and ability to play through entire seasons in multiplayer meant that you could huddle around the game with your buddies all night without the it feeling repetitive. You could have eight players competing in a round-robin King of the Ring tournament, for example, or for all-out chaos just engage in a hardcore fatal four-way. Add to that a robust create-a-wrestler mode, and you had a complete fighting game package like no other. No games since the original SmackDowns has managed to feel as revolutionary for its time, and it's hard to imagine that any wrestling ever will.
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
