WWE Wrestlemania 18 (Gamecube) 2002
Wrestlemania 18 was another first, in that it was the first WWE game on the Nintendo Gamecube. Like Raw, being a new franchise, it featured a completely different approach to gaming with many hoping it would be a return to the style perfected in Wrestlemania 2000 and No Mercy. Instead, they went for a simplified version of a grappling system, with a set number of grapples for each wrestler. Each wrestler had 5 front grapples, 5 rear and a few miscellaneous ones. They did have a number of unique signature moves and full entrances. Wrestlemania already had more game modes than Raw with more than just the standard exhibition modes. Hardcore, Cage and Hell in a Cell matches all featured with even more on top of that. While Raw's major downfall was its lack of additional gaming modes, Wrestlemania tried a bit harder and included a new "Path of a Champion" mode in which players chose a championship path and made an attempt to rise and win that title along with a variety of unlockables along the way. Another game mode featured is "Battle of the Belts," in which any 1 of 51 fictional belts could be won and customized in colour and name. These modes were much more of a career mode than Raw had but were still a poor substitute for the Smackdown seasons. Create a Wrestler still had a fair amount of stuff but not as much as Smackdown. In another minus point against Wrestlemania, graphics were much poorer than in the other games at the time. Nintendo gamers hadn't seen a wrestling game since No Mercy and were hopeful that Wrestlemania would be the same. Unfortunately it was nowhere near on a par with that game. Like Raw, it lacked the single player options that the Smackdown series had and the simulation of No Mercy was long gone. The grappling was somewhat similar to Smackdown but given the choice, most gamers would rather have Smackdown for all the additional stuff that it had. In actual fact, even Raw was closer to No Mercy than this game. It still had more to it than Raw did but for an overall experience, Smackdown was still the game to beat. And Smackdown's next installment would only get better.