SmackDown! Vs Raw 2006

There's a lot to be said for tolerance. The Pocket Gamer team may be a cauldron of torrid testosterone but we can't say we've ever felt the desire to wear lycra leotards and spend our Saturdays pretending to beat each other up. Then again, we've never felt the need to say this to those who do, and not necessarily because they would likely chokeslam us into the afterlife. No, it's because we don't mind the way other people choose to live their lives. And besides, if their livelihood ends up being encapsulated in a game of this fine calibre, then they can carry on dropping each other on their heads for as long as they like.

If you haven't played a wrestling game before, chances are the head taking most of the pounding will be yours. The controls may be fundamentally simple, involving little more than punching, kicking and grappling, but by using seemingly every permutation involving the PSP's buttons you're soon facing a vast repertoire of wrestling moves. Pulling them off successfully is a question of split second timing – particularly crucial when using L and R for any counter move though an on-screen prompt lets you know when to press these – which will take most people some getting used to.

As you improve, matches will begin to flow in a manner more fitting of the realistically smooth animation, and the resulting effect becomes impressively lifelike. The realism extents beyond the 50-odd licensed lycra lovers (which include favourites such as The Rock, The Undertaker, and '80s legend Hulk Hogan, whose chest is only rivalled by Torrie Wilson's) complete with signature moves; wrestling fans will delight in the ability to step off the bouncy canvas and carry on brawling ringside and, when needed, using furniture to get your point across.

It's not just brainless bodybuilder beating, however. Keeping an eye on your stamina level and knowing when best to replenish it adds a level of strategy, while the control system mentioned earlier may be simple but it's surprisingly effective and, once mastered, highly rewarding. Unlike boxing, the thrill isn't in a quick knockout but rather a sustained series of attacks – Samoan drops, backbreakers, flying cross body-blocks, gator busters, million dollar dreams… wrestling isn't short of variety when it comes to ways of punishing your adversary into submission.

Which, ironically, is how you'll feel every time you load up the game. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the loading times in SmackDown!, as in several PSP games to date, are atrocious. And it's not just the main event itself – ring entrance sequences, though nicely realised (if a little drawn out for a handheld game), take just as long to show up on screen as the subsequent loading sequence that (eventually) delivers you to the action.

At least there's plenty to do once in, with one-on-one, tag team, three- and four-way free for alls, handicap (one versus several), Royal Rumble, main event and title matches at your disposal, not to mention a substantial Season mode and an absorbing General Manager option. Less convincing are the mini-games which involve a limited game of poker with fellow wrestling superstars, a tedious Eugene 'airplane' race in which the demented grappler must be kept upright whist on his way to the ring (potentially more interesting when in four-player mode) and a WWE trivia quiz. Hardly essential stuff, but at least it's indicative of developers thinking along the right lines when it comes to the nature of pocket gaming.

Which, rather neatly, brings us to the most impressive aspect of SmackDown! vs Raw 2006. And that is the fact that playing it feels more like the console title on which it's based than some distant, lightweight cousin we've often come to fear from past PSP conversions. Sure, there's the odd graphical glitch, but at its core there's a game as solid as The Rock – certainly complete enough for a Mexican stand off with its PlayStation 2 equivalent – but alas it's one that is unquestionably weakened by absurd loading times. Much as we'd like to tolerate them, it's impossible to deny they too heavily punctuate an otherwise impressively gratifying grappling experience. SmackDown! Vs Raw 2006 is on sale now.