WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2006 (PlayStation 2, 2005)

WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 is arguably the last great SmackDown game in the series. It had big boots to fill following in the footsteps of its predecessors of Here Comes the Pain and Shut Your Mouth, but it proves that it is up to the challenge. There a lot of professional reviews of this game out there, so I will leave a lot of the talking up to them, but I do want to touch on a mode that was added to 2006's gameplay- GM Mode. In GM Mode, the player takes on the role of either the SmackDown or Raw shows General Manager. This was unique to the series upon the games release, and it added a whole other dimension to the game completely. You, as the GM, draft your show, book matches, deal with contracts, and, in general, tend to the needs and desires of your rabid fan base. Die hard wrestling fans (read "wrestling dorks", such as myself) may have heard of TNM 7, which is a wrestling simulator based completely on becoming God of a promotion- booking, signing, writing, firing, etc.- and this is as close to that as you're going to get in the mainstream WWE field. Even if you only want to try out the GM Mode, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2006 is definitely worth a pick-up. Excellent game!

5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks for reading!