Smackdown vs Raw 2009 (2008) All PS, DS, Wii, 360
This was now the tenth game in the Smackdown series and added Inferno matches and four new game modes. For the first time, players could now create a finishing move, mushing together different animations of moves to make one super move. 24/7 mode was scrapped in favour of career mode and a new Road to Wrestlemania. Superstar debuts included Kofi Kingston, the Miz, Santino Marella and Zack Ryder and the only Smackdown game to date without the Rock. In an embarrassing revelation for the WWE, a press release at the time was published against their will. Fighting Spirit magazine printed a letter that WWE had sent to them asking them not to use any screenshots of wrestlers bleeding or using weapons. Most strange was the fact that they asked that Triple H (and only Triple H) not be shown in a "defenseless of vulnerable position" in any screenshots. The magazine did not adhere to these rules and were later backed up by Power Slam magazine. Road to Wrestlemania's first appearance was great. In it you took control of a set selection of characters and played completely personalized storylines for those stars, including full cut scenes and voiceovers for every character involved and branching storylines should you lose certain matches. John Cena, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Triple H and Undertaker all had their own story with Batista and Rey Mysterio also having a tag team story. Added to the already enjoyable new mode was that each match had optional objectives allowing to unlocking even more content. It was a welcome return to a real story mode and an enjoyable one to play through. Undertaker's in particular was memorable due to his turning of Santino and Finlay into zombies. Career mode was different in that any superstar could be used as well as a Create a Wrestler fighting up to win the WWE title belts and build attributes on the way. The new Inferno matches involved setting opponents on fire, though actually playing it was not as exciting as it sounds. You could not leave the ring, instead being confined in-ring and mostly boiled down to hitting enough move to drag your opponents to the ropes. Create a Championship and PPV were removed along with GM Mode. Another of their replacements was the Highlight Reel mode allowing you to record highlights of matches and put them together to create an entrance video. This was welcomed by fans because a fitting entrance video was usually the main thing missing from creating the perfect version of your wrestler. It was a bit fiddly and awkward to use but once you got the hang of it, was a good addition. The game put a lot less emphasis on fighting style as the primary and secondary options of the last game were removed. The styles did survive as abilities but didn't affect the gameplay as much. Again it wasn't a huge change from before, but Road to Wrestlemania was a great new addition. It was so popular that it remained in the game until WWE 12.