"Better than advertised, and that's the bottom line!"

A great wrestling game on a handheld system has been missing since handhelds have been around. The PSP takes the handheld wrestling genre to a completely new level with this version of the WWE Smackdown vs. RAW series. THQ and Yukes stayed true to what the series has delivered on its PS2 counterpart. Well, for me, the easiest way to go about doing this is to somewhat compare it with its PS2 counterpart. I'll explain positives and negatives, and how true this game is to the genre and it's console version.

Graphics:
These are extremely good. Compared to the console version, they are almost exactly the same. The wrestler character models are very crisp and clean and flow very well. The crowd wasn't done nearly as well. They are pretty much like paper cut-outs. The arenas are 100% identical to the PS2 version and look very nice.

Audio:
The only feature that the PSP is lacking in this category is commentary, which to me isn't a big deal because the commentary often becomes quite repetitive. Theme music is wonderful as is the in-game music.

Gameplay:
This is obviously the aspect most different from the PS2 version. Because of the layout of the PSP with less buttons, things take a bit longer to get used to, but that doesn't mean it's more difficult. I actually found it very easy to pick up. It's equally as fun to play as the console after you get used to the controls.

Replay Value:
The replay value in my opinion is extremely high for this one. You have the very fun season mode, a new feature with the GM mode, the always well-done create-a-player mode, the slightly watered-down create-a-title mode, a pretty basic create-a-ppv mode, the ability to defend titles in exhibition and various other things that will keep you addicted. There are also a couple of mini-games that I have yet to really get into.

Overall:
You don't even have to have the PS2 version to want to buy this one and get your money's worth out of it. Get it and you definitely won't regret it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/05