Previews

Take your partner, by the hair

Beefcake meets PSP with the latest instalment of WWE SmackDown - let’s wrestle

Take your partner, by the hair

Big (lightly oiled), gurning men with silly names and tiny tight pants - yeap, it’s the annual laugh-a-thon that is WWE SmackDown. Coming to PSP for the first time, the game, WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2006, to give its full title, is a port from the PlayStation 2 version released earlier in 2005, but THQ is promising some PSP special features. Most obvious is the four player wi-fi play, which will enable you and your mates to bone-crush and arm-bend each other to your (evil) hearts’ delight. Progress in the PSP game can also be used to unlock exclusive content in the PlayStation 2 version, should you be such a fan that you decide to buy both games.

In terms of play, there are plenty of niceties such as the addition of stamina and momentum to give some much-needed tactical elements, and match types such as buried alive (beat your opponent by trapping them in a coffin) and the always popular (and slightly dubious) bra-and-panties bouts.

You can design your own wrestlers, too, thanks to the Create-A-Superstar Mode, but if you want to keep it real there are over 50 current WWE hunks to choose from. The WWE license also means you have access to the current WWE storylines (Surely not, because that would mean wrestling is fixed!).

Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.