6. "WWF Smackdown!" (PlayStation) 2000
Being that Wrestlemania was exclusive to Nintendo, the Playstation needed a WWF series of its own to hook in wrestling fans. Again, the game was a THQ production, pairing them up with Yukes in the first of a long running Smackdown series. Although the N64 games would prove a tough formula to beat, Smackdown did try and use the advantages that it did have, kicking off with a highly impressive opening FMV set to the Smackdown theme. The Playstation's disc based format, also allowed for the game to feature authentic entrance videos, which was a welcome addition at the time. While the wrestlers did get entrances before matches, it was just the characters walking in front of their video with no arena or ring to be seen. Graphics were mostly much better than the N64 games, in one of the few areas that it could compete with that series, though some wrestlers (notably Test) looked a bit strange. It did have a smaller roster than N64, but was an impressive collection nonetheless. It also played host to a number of great new additions to the game modes. Falls Count Anywhere matches in particular were improved upon, by adding numerous backstage areas from regular hallways to boiler rooms and locker rooms. Whipping opponents into objects, produced weapons to beat each other senseless with. Another new addition was the introduction of special referees to the series, allowing people to control the referee and decide how fast or slow to count. Though a bit lacking compared to previous games, superstar creation was still present in Smackdown, having a limited selection of heads, torso and leg parts to create your wrestler from. Create a PPV was again, not as detailed as it was in Attitude, but was good in that you got a rating for your show based on how entertaining your matches were. The Smackdown series had somewhat of a rough start when it came to "career" modes. In this first installment, season mode was strange in that you first had to complete a needlessly long PRE season before being allowed to compete in the main one. Maybe the thinking was that wrestlers don't go straight to TV, which makes sense, but it was a frustrating addition to the game. Once pre season was complete, you could take part in the normal season, which was the usual climbing of the ranks to eventually, become WWF Champion. It did have some semblance of a storyline, where conversations backstage could build allies or enemies and join tag teams and stables. Gameplay was a lot more basic compared to Wrestlemania, making for a more arcade type, fast paced game. There were no button combinations to learn like Attitude, with all moves performed the same way, though each wrestler had their own unique move sets. Overall, while Smackdown was more impressive in its presentation, the gameplay was choppy and basic compared to the deepness introduced in the N64 games. It was however a fair start to the Smackdown series, setting the stage for what would become the premiere WWF games series.