By God they've done it! Mark your calendars, SmackDown vs. RAW has beaten all other wrestling games down like a government mule! It has completely shattered the glass ceiling into hundreds of tiny pieces - ladies and gentlemen, this game is cooler than the other-side of the pillow, and that's almost as cold as Stephanie McMahon! All it could use is a bit more Bar-B-Q sauce and it'd be the best thing since Stone Cold Steve Austin...

Sorry folks, channelling good ol' JR there - somebody needs to, now that he's stepped down from announcing duties on WWE RAW. But, in all seriousness, Yukes has really nailed it this year. If you recall, last year I thought SmackDown! vs. RAW was a good effort but didn't improve on things nearly as much as it should have. The clean/dirty system was a good idea and online play is always nice, but as always with Yukes, it takes another year to really get it down.

And this year they have. The amount of improvements is mammoth and it would take thousands of words to go in-depth on everything. The real focus of this year's game was to improve the gameplay and make it feel more like something on WWE programming. I'm happy to say that they've succeeded magnificently, by introducing numerous new elements to the already solid gameplay engine. Stamina and Momentum play a crucial role this time around, each having a new metre for you to keep your eye on.

The Momentum element will change a lot of things that you know about SmackDown. Being able to store up three finishers and use them consecutively is not even near possible this year. As you wrestle well, a momentum gauge increases (this year it also goes down if you wrestle poorly) and upon reaching the top you can do one of two things - you can pull off your finisher when your momentum is at its peak, or store it to use later. However, if you do store it and use it at some point later, it will be significantly weaker compared to carrying it out with full momentum. This means that using a finisher at a random point in the match without working up some momentum isn't particularly effective anymore and rarely gets you a win! I'll give you wrestling fans a moment to let that sink in and realise just how great it is.

Not only does it make matches more realistic and fun, but it opens up new possibilities; a stored finisher isn't just used to pull off a signature move any more -in fact, the amount of things you can do with it is quite impressive. All of them require you to once again build up more momentum, at which point you have a lot of options. You can use the finisher, which causes a lot of damage if your gauge is full again, or you can use your clean/dirty move. Good guys steal their opponent's finisher as a clean move, and the heels (bad guys) pull off a signature dirty move that usually involves eye gouges, low blows or DDTs. Or you can steal your enemy's taunt, by holding down L1 and hitting the taunt thumbstick, and pulling off the entire taunt will reduce your enemy's momentum gauge to nothing! Finally, you can play opossum on the mat, by holding circle and waiting for your enemy to come attack you, thinking you're out for the count -then BAM! Reversed into a quick roll up pin usually for the three count!

Unless of course, you have no stamina; in this version of SmackDown you have to play carefully. Pulling off high-flying risk moves or holding onto a submission for a long time significantly reduces your character's stamina, as does simply running around a lot or doing moves back-to-back without stopping to take a break. Holding down the select button makes your character rest, as well as 'sell' any injuries he has by holding onto his body. Though this system can be turned off, doing so would take out a lot of the newfound fun and realism in the game. Long matches actually feel long and desperate, as the characters slowly walk around the ring trying to catch a break; you'll even see guys laid out in the ring for a while because they simply collapsed from exhaustion! Hell, if every wrestler in the match runs out of steam at the same time, then the action goes into a mini-game that challenges one wrestler to get up before the other; if both fail, it's a double knockout! Well done Yukes, you've finally found the key to unlocking realistic matches that pan out like the actual thing! It only took seven years and an equal amount of games, but you know what they say about practice...

Yukes didn't stop there though. They found a way to allow each character to have up to 25 different front grapple moves, where you could only have 16 before! That's a huge increase and the biggest leap between games to date. How did they do it? Well, every sacrifice they made to achieve it was well worth it, surprisingly. In previous games you would simply hit the circle button to whip your enemy across the ring, but now you have to hit circle and triangle, or simply hit triangle whilst in a grapple with the enemy. This opened up not only the ability to have a fifth grapple move assigned to the circle button for each grapple set, but it also unlocked the ability to have a whole new grapple set for when you hit circle by itself.

For those that are new or haven't played the series in awhile, I'll go over the grappling system. Going up to your enemy and hitting any direction plus circle initiates a grapple. From the grapple state you can either grab the enemy by the hair and strike them (which then allows you to drag them around the ring - another new feature), or you can hit circle plus any direction button again to pull off a move. Now, in SvR2006, hitting just circle pulls off yet another move for each grapple type and it also unlocks a new grapple set known as clean/dirty. It's an ingenious idea, really; if you're a clean wrestler, this set is full of moves good guys usually do, while if you're a dirty wrestler, this grapple set is full of moves only heels do, like eye pokes and low blows.

In the last two games, each direction button combined with a grapple would have a specific type of grapple. Pushing up and circle was a power grapple for power moves, left was signature, right was quick and down was submission. The only one that made the leap to 2006 is submission. Yukes has added a large amount of new grapple sets, each with their own set of moves. There's a luchadore set, revised power set, brawler and even martial arts or old-school. This does put a limit on your created wrestlers though; any wrestler can use any set, but if you want a couple of specific moves from a set then you'll have to pick others from the same set to go with it. I like the idea, although it means that created wrestlers (from this point on known as CAWs) can simply use two power moves, two luchadore moves and then all strikes. It is restricting, but more balanced and realistic as well.

Some of the match types have also been overhauled at long last. The cage match comes with a new way of escaping through the door and a completely new escape mechanic for climbing over the top. Players can also pull off a lot of new attacks onto the cage that accurately replicate things you'd see in a real cage match. There is also an over-the-top battle royal that uses the same mechanic introduced in last year's Royal Rumble, which is a great addition. The new matches include the rarely seen Bar Room Brawl, which is a bit of a letdown and pales in comparison to the Parking Lot Brawl introduced last year. The much-demanded Buried Alive/Casket Match has finally arrived and is full of great new mini-games and animations. Bra & Panties has actually been removed, but don't celebrate just yet: the Divas Fulfill Your Fantasy gimmick match has been added and is full of degrading outfits like French Maid and Nurse. As hard as they might try, it just isn't worth your time.

Unfortunately, I can't say that the Season mode has come very far since last year and it is still a step in the wrong direction from what we saw in SmackDown 2: Know Your Role, way back on the PlayStation. The voice acting is considerably better, but the story mode is very repetitive and linear the whole way through. Both shows come with different storylines this year, though, and playing through them both is worth the rewards.

Fortunately, Yukes has added something that no American wrestling game has had to date, but gamers have wanted for years. Fire Pro Wrestling 2 promised it for the Game Boy Advance but removed it from every version but the Japanese one; I'm talking about a GM mode. You take on the role of general manager of either SmackDown or RAW, draft your own roster of superstars and then put together cards and shows. You'll have to sign contracts, make sure your stars stay with you, try to grab free agents, ensure you're making more money than is being spent, and of course please the fans. To say that this mode is addictive is an understatement, and you will have the ability to play or simulate any match you book as well.

Aside from modes, Yukes has answered fans by finally allowing players to defend championship belts, real or custom made, in Exhibition mode! We've been asking for this since WWF SmackDown!: Just Bring It, damn it, so it's about time! And speaking of defending championships, the online mode is actually a fully supported mode this year. No more single matches and Bra & Panties only; four players can take part in every single match in the game, which allows four players or under. Triple Threats, Fatal 4-Way, Ladders, Hell in a Cell, Cage, Tag Team, over-the-top Battle Royal and more is all online at no charge. I for one have been dying for this sort of online support to be implemented for a long time and I know I'm not alone. Yukes has delivered, and if you play the right people you won't experience any lag whatsoever. The lobbies are a bit touchy and there's no voice support, but do you really want to hear half the people who watch wrestling, anyway? No offence, Christopher.

None taken! The bottom line is that you can wrestle online, with anyone on the roster or any CAW, in almost every match type, and it is an absolute blast and done way better than WWE WrestleMania 21 could ever have hoped for. Furthermore, as I mentioned, custom title belts can be defended and traded (even tag titles) and each player has a full stat history that displays wins, losses, draws, knockouts, disqualifications, disconnects, title defences, title wins, and a lot more.

I suppose I should also go over the roster as well, after what many people consider a horrid line-up last year. Though 2006's collection of wrestlers is a bit outdated, it would have been a fantastic line up a few months ago. You've got the expected veterans like The Undertaker, Triple H, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Kane, Edge, and Eddie Guerrero (rest in peace - you'll be a Legend in next year's game for sure!) as well as the current champions John Cena and Batista. What surprises me is the amount of mid-carders, up-and-comers and just plain underused talent that made it into the game. Steven Richards is here, and after being ignored for the last two games we've also got Rob Conway and Sylvain Grenier, who make an excellent tag team. Carlito, Chavo Guerrero, Paul London, Chris Masters, the Basham Brothers (both with their old tag team gimmicks), Eugene, Heidenreich, Hurricane, Daivari, Taijiri, William Regal, Snitsky, Scotty 2 Hotty, Orlando Jordon, Spike Dudley (with out the other two Dudleys) and Rene Dupree help round out the very solid, if slightly outdated, roster. For those wondering, no, Matt Hardy did not make the cut due to his bizarre firing and re-hiring in the summer, though all his parts are in the CAW mode and, yes, Christian, Mark Jindrak, Charlie Haas and Muhammad Hassan are all still in the game despite being out of the WWE. There are others, as well as a good selection of divas (mostly the ones who don't even wrestle - where the hell is Victoria!?) Legends this year include the highly demanded British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith, three different Hulk Hogans, Jake the Snake Roberts, Jimmy Hart, Junkyard Dog, Mankind, The Rock, Ted DiBiase and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Oh yeah, and two other guys named Andre the Giant and Bret Hart. Old school fans should be pleased!

Unfortunately, the CAW mode is fairly similar to last years watered-down version, but not quite as bad. The character models look much better and though the ring gear is still painted on, the facial expressions and morphing utilities are greatly improved and you can even trade any of your guys online with other players. Up to 30 characters can be stored and of course you can completely customise their move sets as always. However, expect to find some moves now missing or completely renamed, a sacrifice probably needed to add all the great new moves. The ability to create a custom entrance, which RAW 2 and DoR introduced years back, has finally made way to SmackDown; surprisingly though, the entrance creator is easily the worst of the bunch, simply due to the god-awful load times between previewing things like lighting, cameras, animations and pyro. It would be fine if it didn't take ages! Even without the loading times, it just can't hold a torch to WWE RAW 2's phenomenal entrance creator, one of the few things that game actually managed to do right.

Create-A-Stable is still around and allows up to five people for one group, but now each group has separate attributes like the wrestlers do, affecting overall teamwork strength and effectiveness. How big an impact these stats make is arguable, though. Create-A-Championship hasn't changed much and the belts still don't stick with individual wrestlers but instead profiles, allowing them to be fought over between profiles using whichever combatants; the real treat is being able to win other people's created belts online and having them become your own, or defending yours in exchange for a hefty sum of cash if you win. And yes, the feature to create your own taunts, walking styles and running animations is still gone for some unknown reason.

The in-game character models look absolutely stunning this year, but the real highlight of the graphics is the arenas. Not only do the sets vary and all look fantastic, but the actual atmosphere is now changed from arena to arena, due to some superb use of lighting from the stage design. When you fight in the ECW arena you really feel like you're in a small gym, whereas you feel like you're in a huge superdome for the big WWE PPV events. There's even a WMIX outdoor stadium that completely captures the feel of wrestling outside in the blazing sunlight.

The sound effects haven't changed much this year - in fact I'd say they're almost exactly the same as always. However, the voice work in the season mode has been considerably improved and it no longer sounds like the wrestlers are phoning in their lines direct from a bathroom. The music, though still a mix of rock and rap, is not nearly as annoying as the back-to-back Powerman 5000 we got last year and they even took the courtesy to turn off the music during matches for us, so I didn't have to do it myself for once.

With multiple single player aspects such as GM Mode, two storyline seasons, PPV creation and Exhibition title-defences, WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2006 is easily the most full-featured SmackDown ever made and the online mode is a simply phenomenal addition that is hard to resist if you're able to connect. No matter which area of the game you decide to focus on, you'll be addicted for months, and the numerous elements introduced to the gameplay take SmackDown back to the No Mercy period and push the series as far from the arcade wrestling genre as it has ever been. Even though there is virtually no competition, Yukes really set out to improve the series for the final PlayStation 2 appearance and they've done an incredible job. Though plenty of people will still gripe about some minor things that remain untouched, like I did last year, it's hard to deny the overall gameplay improvement. Wrestling fans simply must climb into the ring this year, and for those of you yet to get all sweaty on the mat, this is the perfect time to start.

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).