WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009

 PlayStation 2
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 54 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 54
  3. Negative: 6 out of 54
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  1. KendylKlownfish
    Apr 24, 2011
    6
    Pros: Visually impressive; simplified controls improve some of the gameplay; varied roster. Cons: Again, it lacks any kind of innovation or change; removal of General Manage Mode.
  2. MLB2007man
    Nov 2, 2014
    8
    About the same as 2008 but better graphics and gameplay. yes this game is old now but it's better than most new WWE games. These older WWE games seem much funner too play.
  3. BAPACop
    Jul 7, 2013
    0
    There are so many things wrong it's hard to decide where to begin. The controls seem to be intended as context-sensitive but fail miserably; holding left on the control stick and pushing X can mean either getting out of the ring, tagging in your partner, bouncing off the ropes, or picking an item off the ground. The game usually picks whatever is most inconvenient at the time. Second,There are so many things wrong it's hard to decide where to begin. The controls seem to be intended as context-sensitive but fail miserably; holding left on the control stick and pushing X can mean either getting out of the ring, tagging in your partner, bouncing off the ropes, or picking an item off the ground. The game usually picks whatever is most inconvenient at the time. Second, Career mode demonstrates that the developers are utterly incompetent; not only does it completely ignore the basic concept of a difficulty curve (everything is entirely too easy until the Championship, at which point the difficulty gets stupidly-high) but they apparently can't even do a simple conditional check (none of the balance settings in the Options menu are used). Finally, while the AI can reverse your attacks 95% of the time you'd be hard-pressed to do it yourself; my video recordings show that the reversal prompt is visible for, on average, 4 frames. That's 0.06 seconds. For comparison, the average human reaction time is approximately 0.2 seconds. As if making it literally impossible to hit the prompt wasn't bad enough, I used an emulator to slow down the game to 5fps and it turns out at least 50% of the screen prompts are simply lies and pressing the button while the prompt is on-screen does literally nothing. To summarize, this game is an unplayable mess.… Expand
  4. linvail
    May 13, 2016
    5
    It is a conformist game, but at least improved (slightly...) the combat system. The worst of this game is the removal of GM mode and that the game does not offer any incentive to use creation modes.
  5. The_D4RknesS
    Jun 18, 2023
    7
    Today in 2023 after having played the first time for 4 hours in a row I can say that this game is fun and cool because I was with 2 other friends but this game is a long way from being as good as WWE 2011 on PS2

Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best PS2 Game of 2008
30
#30 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2008
2
#2 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. Games Master UK
    86
    A competitive effort, but the prospect of DLC seals it for the next-gen. [Dec 2008, p.57]
  2. IGN
    70
    A fun game that falls short of its potential. The Roster Editor is a welcome addition, Create-A-Finisher could be deeper but is a great first effort, the Inferno Match is over-the-top but fun, and Road to WrestleMania is one of the best story modes I've seen in a wrestling game in years. However, I can't shake the feeling that I'm playing last year's game when we get down to the nitty gritty match mechanics.
    Read full review
  3. 1UP
    91
    To all the SmackDown haters out there: If you're going to jump back in the ring, this is the year to do it. Both of these exciting new additions, along with the aforementioned improvements -- and the upcoming downloadable content -- make SVR09 this year's grapple-game champ.
    Read full review
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