I'm going to be honest with you - I have little experience with the SmackDown series. So little in fact that I was somewhat worried when it came to reviewing WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 for PSP. However, after playing this title for a while, I realised that I had no need to be worried, because the PSP adaptation of the popular console game is superb. Even though I'm no wrestling fan, I was wrapped up in the sheer amount of modes on offer. If wrestling is your thing, or even if its not, as I'm about to prove, this game delivers on all fronts.

There are a few things you have to factor into the equation of buying SmackDown vs. RAW on PSP. The first thing is that the PSP version is almost exactly the same as the PS2 version, if not inferior in some aspects; load times are one of the bigger inferiorities here. The load times are the single reason that might put people off this otherwise great game. Create modes are prolonged with each object having to individually load up (when you're making a wrestler for example) and wrestling matches with Wrestling Entrances are split up with four loads before the actual ball starts to roll. With that said, there's an advantage to owning both the PSP and PS2 version - you can take your career with you from your PS2 to your PSP with USB connection, perfect for that fan who plays at home at night and then has a morning of travelling ahead of him to continue on the PSP. Also, linking the two unlocks a new wrestler. You heard it here first!

There is another advantage with the PSP version though, maybe a little less apparent to the naked eye - but the wireless multiplayer on this is fantastic. Get a mate with a PSP and a copy of the game, and you can go head to head in the ring, each with your own screen, battling it out in numerous game modes. The best thing is creating your own wrestler and each having a fair customised brawl. With matches lasting from five to ten minutes each, multiplayer sessions are really exciting and I can guarantee that you'll be back in the ring for more action later, too.

Creating your own wrestler, along with creating other things such as your own entrance for example, is a massive part of SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006. While you can customise just as well as you can on the PS2 version, my only complaint is that the PSP takes a long time to get a muscle man anywhere near your actual appearance. You see, for example, there may be loads of shirts for your wrestler, but to see these shirts you have to wait for each one to load on your wrestler - each load taking another good five seconds. If you have to go through twenty or so tops before you find the right style, you're faced with yet more downtime - getting in the way of what's supposed to be a therapeutic and enjoyable experience.

The modes on offer don't differ from those on the PS2 version. I'd be a fool to cover them all, seeing as Christopher Martin did a fabulous job in his PS2 review, giving all the info on everything you could possibly hope for. You've got your Exhibition modes, which include a Single 1-on-1 match, Tag Team games and a Triple Threat mode to mention just a few. Triple Threat works particularly well on a handheld, because these games are exciting and can be quicker than your average wrestling match. Three of you are in the ring in a free-for-all brawl, but if two of you are going for one person, exhausting that one person, then basically you're fighting for the pin that will win it for you. Never in my life have I shouted, cheered, jeered and screamed at a handheld game as much as I have with this game. New to Exhibition this year is the Title Match, which allows you to compete against a WWE Title holder for the Championship title. You can even create your own Championship in the create modes too. Other create modes that haven't been mentioned yet include Create A Stable and Create A Move Set, where you can make your own astounding set of bone-crunchingly dangerous moves to unleash on your opponent.

Under Game Modes you can play as your own created wrestler in Season Mode, taking him through an entire season. What I like about this mode is the choices and decisions you have to make. You are presented with cut scenes, often filled with lots of wrestlers arguing. Sometimes you have to make a choice in the middle of the cut scene and that choice reflects on the next wrestler you pummel. The voice acting and graphics are superb, but I'll cover those shortly. Other modes under this category consist of a PPV Mode and a brand new to 2006 General Manager Mode, which is surprisingly deep and sets you the goal of winning the General Manager of the Year Award! It's nice building up a fan base, checking finances and doing other less physical-orientated things on the long journey ahead.

Back into the ring then, where I found the gameplay absolutely superb - and the controls on the PSP are a breeze to take on board. Generally when you play this game on the PS2, most people use the good old trusty D-Pad. Fortunately the D-Pad is something the PSP can do well, so this game fits the system like a glove when it comes down to controlling those beefy men. I love all the game variants on offer, such as Hell in a Cell, and learning some of the many moves on offer, and then mastering it feels superb when you unleash a slow-motion body slam on your rival wrestling friend.

Triple D against Triple H - my stamina against his and the stamina system works really well. Press select to regain stamina when you're low on it from pulling all those moves. It's simple, but not always easy to do, as you need to devote a couple of seconds to pure stamina regeneration. You can't move when you're doing it, so you could easily get hit. And I did. Several times, by that bastard Triple H. All those busty girls cheer for him too - but I know inside that Triple D comes before Triple H. At least, in the alphabet it does. So I eventually knock him down. Pull off a cocky taunt. Climb onto a pillar in the ring and jump on him while he's still down. Triple H turns around to me and says "This isn't part of the act, D!" but I don't care. This is my victory! One! Two! Three! The ref has spoken and I'm the winner! The crowd is well received with a mixed ambience of cheers and boos, while I hold my hands up high, wallowing in my crowd hatred and lapping up my small fan base. Happy times.

But when you get bored of busty wrestling girls and fights against legends, you could always check out the exclusive PSP content. There isn't much, but the PSP SmackDown comes with some Arcade Modes - three of them to be exact. There is a Wrestling themed Poker mode, Wrestling Trivia where you can earn points from knowing your wrestling and answering the questions correctly (always good for group question fun) and lastly there's Eugene's Aeroplane Race, where you have to keep Eugene balanced as he runs around the ring mimicking an aeroplane with his arms! It's nice that these have been thrown in as a bonus, but they don't exactly add much to the overall package.

The graphics are probably the best we've seen on the PSP thus far and that's GTA included. The wrestlers look almost as good as they do on the PS2 version, with only a few textures lacking here and there. Entrances look absolutely stunning, as your wrestler walks in with an entrance you have designed yourself - you really couldn't ask for much more. Menu systems are all themed nicely, with SmackDown Vs. Raw footage running in the background. Of course, with great graphics come great load times and that's just what this game suffers from. It's unfortunate that games take so long to get into, but I suppose you could always use your PSP's sleep function, so once you've loaded you don't have to go through the whole powering up process again. Still, sleep or no sleep, you are going to experience loading times quite frequently.

The music really sets the pace; the music playing through creation-modes, menus and manager modes really gives you something worthwhile to listen to while you're doing something worthwhile. Fortunately, the music stops create-a-mode loads from being boring, so it's not all bad news. In game sound is equally as good, with masses of sound effects to cover every move in the book - and when the ref shouts out those three magic numbers, followed by a cheering crowd, well, you can't tell me there's a better sound than that. As mentioned earlier, voice acting in cut scenes really completes the deal and there are lots of cut scenes too, so THQ has done well fitting in all of the above and a superb sound department on one tiny UMD.

WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 currently has no competition in the wrestling ring, so this game stands as the only wrestling title available for the PSP. Even with competition, this PS2 to PSP translation would take some beating. So if you call yourself a wrestling fan and you have a PSP then this one's a no-brainer, as taking your wrestlers on the road is mightily appealing. Shame about the load times, of course, but because this title is so feature rich and just so damn entertaining, I think we'll make an exception. Besides, if I do make an exception, one of those busty WWE birds might make an exception on a mediocre muscleman like me!

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).