WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2009

"While the game looks great, it relies on a slow, fossil-bed build-up of moves and techniques acquired over a mess of games. You can’t simply grab a guy and lift him up into a body press, for example. It’s a complex system of interacting bumpers, sticks and buttons. There’s a pretty simple ‘help’ menu which players may be tempted to switch off."

"While the game looks solid, it's not without its share of flaws. The game still plays very fast and animation transitions are very abrupt. Like previous games in the series, collision detection issues continue to be a factor."

SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 successfully returns to the fundamentals of realistic WWE action and impressive creation tools.

The great part of this year's Smackdown vs RAW is not about the revamped single-player components but the rejuvenation of tag team experience and having to play "Road to Wrestlemania".