By virtue of the fact that it isn't a broken, unplayable mess, THQ Wireless' WWE SmackDown! is significantly better than WWE Raw, which was released for mobile phones right around the same time. SmackDown! doesn't have nearly the number of wrestlers or features of its Raw counterpart, but the gameplay isn't busted, the graphics are decent, and on the whole, the game is capable of providing a somewhat worthwhile distraction in short bursts. It certainly isn't the first great mobile wrestling game, but it does a better job than the rest of what's out there, which, admittedly, isn't saying much.
SmackDown! features five wrestlers from the WWE brand, these being John Cena, Booker T, Rey Mysterio Jr., Kurt Angle, and...Charlie Haas? Seriously? The reasoning behind putting Haas in this game over a more bona fide superstar--such as, say, The Undertaker--is likely never going to be understood. Considering how scant the roster is, though, it's not really that big of a deal since all five wrestlers basically play the same--the only difference coming from the wrestlers' various finishing moves. You only get John Cena from the get-go. As you play through the game's tournament mode, however, you'll unlock a new wrestler each time you beat it until you eventually unlock all five. That's really the only motivation to play through the tournament mode, and it's the only extra content the game has to offer. Beyond the tournament mode, there's an arcade mode and an unlimited mode, both of which have you fighting opponent after opponent until you simply can't continue pressing the same buttons over and over again without taking your own life.
Like WWE Raw, SmackDown! is a pretty simplistic button masher. You can use the 1, 4, 5, and 7 buttons to move around the ring, and the 3 and 6 buttons make you punch and kick, respectively. Unlike in Raw, there's not really a block button to speak of, but it's a lot easier to move around the ring in this game, so you can more easily dodge and avoid your opponent's attacks. By pressing the 3 or 6 button over a downed opponent, you can drop an elbow or a leg on them, and by pressing the 9 button while standing near a turnbuckle, you can climb it to do a move off the top rope. These maneuvers are mostly meaningless, mind you. Generally, all you need to do is punch and kick at your opponent until you inevitably end up in a grapple. Once in this position, you just need to mash the 3 button to build up a momentum meter, and then once it's built up, you press the 3 or 6 to do one of the two grappling moves in the game. Over time, you'll build up a meter that earns you a special attack, at which point the game will automatically do a finishing move after a grapple. Once you've hit a couple of finishers, just pin and you'll win. There's really not much skill whatsoever to any of the game's action, and after a few matches, you'll undoubtedly win nearly every time.
SmackDown! does present itself fairly well on the LG VX8100. The wrestler sprites are differentiated enough to give you fairly clear ideas of who each wrestler is. It's a little disconcerting to see Rey Mysterio standing as tall as Booker T, but height inconsistencies aside, the sprites are fairly clean looking and colorful, and they animate reasonably well. You'll occasionally see some weird animations--like Rey's "619" finisher, which looks rather terrible--but most all the other moves look pretty good. The audio rarely transcends grunts and slams as the wrestlers knock each other around, and it's all kind of bad. The punches sound like you're hitting a cheap clap snare on a Casio keyboard, and the rest of the effects are understated and barely audible.
WWE SmackDown! for mobile phones doesn't have an awful lot to offer. It's thin on modes and wrestlers, and the gameplay, while serviceable, is extremely easy to master in a very short span of time, requiring little thought or effort on your part. But apart from its relative ease, SmackDown!'s gameplay has its moments, and it's not a bad way for a wrestling fan to spend a few minutes of his or her time. And for that matter, there's really not anything better available for the average wrestling fan for mobile phones. If that doesn't sound like a hearty recommendation, that's because it isn't; but, for diehard WWE fans in need of a mobile distraction, WWE SmackDown! isn't the worst you could do.
