Finally WWF Smackdown has come back to the Playstation franchise on Sony's second-generation system. One question that would raise the peoples eyebrow, "Is it worth the purchase?" WHAT!! "I said, is it worth me spending my hard earned money on?" WHAT!! Well the answer may be yes for the hardcore and approach with caution for everyone else.

Playstation 2 owners who were fans of the original Smackdown game introduced on the PS will be able to witness the improvements that were made to this popular franchise. With the power that the Playstation 2 is able to exhibit, fans were highly anticipating this title. However, there may be equal cheers and boos among the faithful when they finally pop the game into their PS2. This game was developed by Yukes under publishing powerhouse THQ and does deliver the goods in some areas, but there are portions of the game that may make the Playstation faithful ponder, "Is this all the PS2 can do?"

Now first I must say that the graphics at the beginning of the game are stellar. The opening sequence that introduces the game to the public is great, but I need to ask the developers, "Did that suck out all of the juice, or was the game rushed?" The visual presentation in the story mode is a severe eye sore. Same could be said with the graphics in the introduction sequences when the players make their way to the ring. They are reminiscent of the original PS iteration and as a result the game in this portion looks like a highly polished PS title. The characters still appear to be blocky. The hair on some of the characters such as Chris Jerico, Triple H and Kane for example, look like wigs. The textures on the character faces looks as if they were pasted on. It does not seem as if the model designers made an effort to try and utilize the hidden power of this console to enhance the facial animations as seen in other titles. WWF Smackdown has improved on the actual in-game graphics. The players are given excellent television style presentation when the game is actually running. Fans of this genre will more than likely be impressed with this. It is at this point the game becomes further appreciated. Moves are pulled off and it looks exciting, especially when a smackdown (special move) is performed by one of the WWF superstars.

Smackdown will entertain an audience of gamers. I enjoy this game more when it is played in groups. Gamers will be able to play from one to four players with no evident slowdown. The controls are easy enough to learn and it is simple to pull off desired moves. For example, X is the action button, triangle is used for running, square is reverse, and circle is used to grab opponents. So it is a great party game if one wants to have an all out brawl with their friends and seek sweet revenge. The controls respond well to the character reactions on screen. There is no time lapse between the control and what one sees on the screen. As a result the game plays tight and fast. Slowdown is not an issue, even when there are multiple characters on the screen.

The aural experience is a travesty. The commentary is just plain horrible. If you were expecting to have intelligent play-by-play commentary, then you will be sadly disappointed. What the announcers say and what is actually happening on the screen rarely coincide. If it does, you are usually treated to generic comments like, "Great move by The Rock". This is definitely one of the low points in the game and many players will probably mute the volume after a couple of matches.

Thankfully, Smackdown: Just Bring It does have a high replay value for fans of the genre. I would definitely recommend this title as a decent party game. The moves list for each character are great, but not anywhere as deep as the N64 version released last year. This was a decent attempt for the first wrestling game on the Playstation 2, but my heart fears what the XBOX wrestling titles may look like. In the face of this fear, let's hope it is a case of shoddy programming skills and not the lack of system resources (RAM) that many developers continue to complain about.