The Smackdown vs RAW series of video games have provided plenty of fun times, though aside from the previous two, they never really measured up with the classic No Mercy for the Nintendo 64. The first few years I found myself underwhelmed with the SVR options, as they seem to be lacking something. Lately the past two SVR games have had great Road To Wrestlemania storyline settings, and the create-a-wrestler has been much improved, too. The news I’m hearing about Smackdown vs RaW 2011 has got me excited, and old school fans should be too!
**adsense_4block**
The word I’m hearing is that the WWE Library, which contains video footage from most all of the various former competing wrestling companies throughout history, came into play when designing the game and that historic competitors for those organizations are going to be present in the game.
Details about who would be available are still a bit sketchy, but I’ve compiled a list of the wrestlers I’d like to see in the game, some of them only constituting an attire change of a different time period / gimmick for the same wrestler. I realize some of the guys listed would be unavailable due to their current status with (WWE Competitor) TNA Wrestling, but I listed them anyway.
Some of the legends could be grouped into multiple brands, but I selected which brand I think that they would best represent (and which brand I’d like to see them in). Anyways, here’s my “legend wishlist” (I tried not to get too carried away):
AWA
Nick Bockwinkle
The Midnight Rockers
Curt Hennig
Larry Hennig
Sgt. Slaughter
Adrian Adonis
Bruiser Brody
Harley Race
Jerry Lawler
Rick Martel
Fabulous Freebirds
Larry Zbyszko
Superfly Snuka
The Nasty Boys
ECW
Steve Austin
Raven
Tommy Dreamer
Shane Douglas
Lance Storm
Perry Saturn
John Kronus
Jerry Lynn
Al Snow
Sandman
Chris Candido
Public Enemy
Rob Van Dam
Sabu
The Dudley Boys
Cactus Jack
Taz
Rhino
WCW
Sting
Hulk Hogan
Harlem Heat
Scot Hall
Kevin Nash
Ric Flair
Arn Anderson
Ole Anderson
Tully Blanchard
Sid Vicious
Brian Pillman / Hollywood Blondes
Barry Windham
Rick Rude
Ron Simmons
Dean Malenko
Lex Luger
Kevin Sullivan
Road Warriors
Dusty Rhodes
Bill Goldberg
Vader
DDP
Konnan
Steiner Brothers
I really like the fact that rather than just using WWE Legends (which I think has been overdone), they’re categorizing the legends into these legendary promotions. I like it because even though the average fan or younger gamer might not be familiar with the promotions, it truly pays homage to the origin of the wrestlers. As far as other promotions, I’d really love to see Ohio Valley. How sweet would that be? Chances are that if Batista is leaving WWE, he might not be in the game on the regular roster, but Batista as his Leviathan persona from Ohio Valley would be awesome! I think there’s a lot they could do with that. There’s even the possibility that they could incorporate Ohio Valley into the CAW story mode. The game could open with you having to complete objectives/matches there first.
One last note on the old school tip, though it will probably never happen, ultimately I really want to see Randy Savage included in a game at some point.
It’s a shame that a lot of those guys couldn’t be in the game due to their affiliation (current or past) with TNA Wrestling, but I agree that nothing is as frustrating as the exclusion of Randy Savage.
I don’t hate the Smackdown vs RAW games, but I found their Create-A-Wrestler to be a bit maddening. Let us know how it is when you play 2011.
Sure, this has tons of potential, but will THQ deliver? Probably not. Every year for the past decade this franchise has seen disappointment after disappointment, so I have zero hope that this one will deliver in any way, shape, or form. It’s a nice idea, though.