Playing any wrestling game for a standard amount time feels like a chore; feeling like an eternity, when its only been a couple of hours. But, shockingly enough, I never felt that way when playing through WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010. I actually really, really enjoyed it. You see, year after year, THQ updates the series in a small fashion; adding new modes, or couple a of extra moves. However, never has the series felt this new.

This year’s SvR feels like a total overhaul, meaning that THQ and Yuke’s made improvements on everything. The most noted addition, the game’s Story Designer mode. In Story Designer mode, the player is given the creative freedom to create, or recreate any wresting television event/show they want. However, there isn’t any dialog for this mode. Instead, you’ll use text and animations to tell your story. The good news is, your story can be as long, or as short as you want it to be.

However, there’s one major limitation. Being only a limited amount animations, your story has to fit within the given animations, which is something that gets in that way of “true” story customization. Luckily, with the given animations, you can still create a large amount of creative stories. But, if you can’t seem to create the “prefect” story, the convenient “Road to Wrestlemania” mode returns from last year.

This year’s Road to Wrestlemania follows six well known WWE Superstars in their quest to became “imprinted into the WWE Hall of Fame”. These Road to Wrestlemania stories play out well, for the most part. However, these stories aren’t complex, they mainly hold back until the big show down at Wrestlemania. This is the main problem with the Road to Wrestlemania mode because, at some points, the events feel boring and slow; giving them an unbalanced feeling. But, overall this years Road to Wrestlemania is very good.

They’ve also the revamped Ceate-A-Superstar mode. In SvR 2010, the game finally receives 3D clothing, meaning that everything actually fits; there’s no more hovering clothing. Along with that, there’s also the all new point system, adding more options in key areas via a point bar. However, because of the point bar. It feels like the developers took a huge step backwards because the taxing on the points feels unfair; Yuke’s put a large amount of points on the most used accessories. But, where it really matters is character customization and, BOY!, is it good.

They’ve also added a Paint Tool; in association with the revamped Ceate-A-Superstar mode. With the Paint Tool, players can create, or recreate any logo or design they want. However, there’s a huge downside. You’ll need to be very skilled using the controller if you what to draw a logo free hand because it’s difficult to write anything; making a name like Adventure Dave look like “Advtue Daue”, or something like that. Personally, I don’t know why Yuke’s didn’t incorporate some kind of drawing aid. However, overall, Yuke’s has done a great job with the Paint Tool, and we can’t wait to see what they do next year.

Closing Statement:

Although I haven’t touch on gameplay, it’s obvious for me to state that not much has changed from the previous wresting titles; there’s a new grappling position, an expanded move gallery, and a one button counter system. However, I believe that presentation is SvR 2010 strongest quality; everything has been reinforced from past Smackdown vs. Raw titles. Don’t get me wrong, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 has its many downsides, like poor hit detection, and in-game HUD glitches. But, it goes without saying that this years Smackdown vs Raw is very impressive; even going as far as to say that this is the best in the series.

Final Score: 8.9

THQ Inc. and JAKKS Pacific, Inc. today announced that WWE® Legends of WrestleMania is currently in development for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system. Joining the distinguished WWE SmackDown/SmackDown vs. Raw franchise, which has shipped more than 37 million units worldwide since 2000, WWE Legends of WrestleMania is scheduled for release in March 2009 to coincide with the annual pinnacle of sports entertainment, WrestleMania 25, in Houston, Texas.

“We have generated significant year-over-year growth in key global territories with WWE-licensed videogames, including tremendous success with the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw franchise,” said Peter Matiss, vice president, global brand management, THQ. “The development capabilities afforded by next generation hardware, combined with our established history and deep understanding of fighting videogames, allow us to leverage the strength of the WWE brand to further extend our leadership in the fighting videogame genre and bring this new property to market.”

“JAKKS Pacific is pleased to introduce a new WWE videogame property to the fighting genre,” said Nelo Lucich, senior vice president of interactive, JAKKS Pacific. “The WWE SmackDown vs. Raw franchise has captured a collective audience of WWE fans, game enthusiasts and casual players, and we are confident that WWE Legends of WrestleMania will be poised for great success.”