In the war of the handheld game systems, there is plenty of mudslinging on either side of the PSP/DS border. One of the favorites of the PSP bashers is that the PSP lacks original content and is just resurrecting PlayStation games and providing simplified versions of PlayStation 2 titles. Why would you want a handheld version of a game you have at home? Of course Sony in defense of its new system downplayed the notion that their games would be simple ports of PS2 games. The claim was that PSP games would have significant differences from their PS2 counterparts. Whether you consider it good or bad, Smackdown Vs. Raw 2006 for the PSP is practically a carbon copy of the PS2 version. The only thing that’s different is the addition of some real cheeseball minigames that are absolutely worthless.

The game is the same as the PS2 version in almost all aspects. There are differences in terms of graphics, network play and the addition of the previously mentioned minigames but the gameplay, controls and wrestling engine are identical. For information related to the latter concepts, refer to the review of the Playstation 2 version. This review will instead focus on the few differences between the PSP and PS2 versions.

Graphically, the PSP version is quite inferior to the PS2 version. The wrestlers have lower polygon counts and the arenas and crowds look even worse that the non-handheld game. On the Playstation 2, the arenas looked fairly reasonable and if you squint you can almost believe there is a real crowd out there. They use the animated cardboard technique in both versions. However on the PSP, only the entrance ramp is visible past the first few rows of seats. Past these first two rows they fade the arena to black in an attempt to create the illusion of a full stadium.

The wrestlers lack significant polys in the facial area, but you can still tell who they are representing because of the textures. It’s nowhere near what I would consider graphical equivalence. I don’t know who came up with that jive. 

The locker room is a still image on the PSP as opposed to an animating 3D scene on the PS2. All the features are there, just not the zooming around the locker room. To be honest, the 3D zooming is not necessary and the lack doesn’t detract from the PSP version. Come to think of it, though the PSP version may be lacking in the rendering department, the videos and still images all look incredibly vibrant. Not that they somehow look better than the DVD capabilities of its big brother system, but they do look great.

So when it comes to graphics, expect a visually stripped down experience that still conveys images of the wrestling variety, but comes off as starkly handheld. Not what I was hoping for from the PSP at all.

The network play, if you can even call it that is the second distinguishing feature on the handheld. Only Adhoc mode is available and you can play up to 4 people as long as everyone has the game. The purported PSP capability to be able to download the game to other PSP handhelds would have been a nice addition and a strong selling point. Then again so would an Infastructure mode. It would have been nice to have and it would have made it more like the PS2 version and more of a viable port. As it is, the PSP version’s value rapidly diminishes when compared to the non-mobile version.

The only thing that makes this game different than the PS2 version is the inclusion of the aforementioned minigames. On the PSP under the Arcade submenu are three games. None of them are any fun. They honestly should have been left out. Generally you can rationalize away lesser graphics and lack of features in a handheld because of the lesser performance of the handheld’s CPU. Well you go and add crap like these three minigames and you just give us ammo. But let me elaborate.

The first is a Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament mode. It would have been strange, but fine to have a poker tournament inside a wrestling game. Instead of a standard poker game though, they make you pick a wrestler and give each one stats indicating their playing style of conservative, aggressive or moderate. Each one sits around a table and does stupid animations of anger or calm depending on the situation. The idea is to actually be able to bluff the computer out by selecting a happy face when you have crap cards or vice versa. Instead the whole thing is a goof fest. These overly large wrestlers cram around a poker table and remind me of a bunch of apes trying to have good manners at a dinner table. Poker would have been great. Playing poker as a wrestler whose job title includes smashing people with chairs leaves a bit to be desired.

The second minigame is a sort of racing game where you pilot Eugene down the entrance ramp and try to keep him from wobbling off. You stumble down the ramp, make a half circuit around the ring and the game’s over. The game mechanic works identically to the one used in the Tony Hawk games to balance while grinding or leaning. It’s a silly idea and would have been funny and cute if it was in both versions of the game. The fact that it was added as some gimmick to promote the notion that the PSP version is new and improved is an insult to say the least.

The third minigame is a trivia game that plays like several out on the market where the incorrect answers are eliminated over time. You never actually have to know anything though because all the wrong answers are eliminated with plenty of time left over to choose the last one remaining. This might be of value to the wrestling fanatic, surely more so than the other two minigames, but I doubt that it alone would justify the cost of the second copy of the wrestling game.

I contend that the only true reason someone might buy both copies of the game is for the USB connectivity between them. If you happen to be so enthralled by this here game that can’t imagine a world where you aren’t playing it constantly then you probably want to invest in the PSP version of the game. With both copies and a USB cable (the same one used for downloading content from a PC to the PSP) you can transfer your game saves, unlocked characters, create-a-characters and even season mode progress from the PS2 to the PSP or vice versa. All of the game modes are there at your disposal.

So where does that leave us in terms of overall game worthiness? Graphics and multiplayer are along the lines of what I’d expect from a handheld, so no points are lost there. The gameplay and modes are identical to the PS2 version in every way I can think to evaluate them. The minigames are completely worthless, but they don’t really get in the way of the actual game so I’m going to pretend like they don’t exist and treat the game as if it was an exact PS2 port. As far as I’m concerned, the two games score the same. The only question that should remain to anyone faced with the decision is “do I get the version for the PS2, the PSP or both?”