4. WWF Smackdown! (PS, 2000, THQ)
The influence of the first WWE Smackdown! title is undeniable and obvious. It established one-button grapples so that you don’t have to enter a series of complex hand gesticulations just to pull off a basic scoop-up slam, a month-to-month, event-to-event career mode that doesn’t stop at simply winning the belt, and pre- and post-match cut-scenes to match the brawny, lycra-clad man-dramas on TV. The main highlight, apart from the special referee variant and hardcore matches where you could move from the arena to backstage, was the “I Quit” match where you forced your opponent to say those two dreaded words into a microphone for the whole world to hear (though I always thought that "I Suck" would have been even better). It also set a new standard for production values – all the wrestlers’ theme songs, great 3D collision detection and physics for its time, finishers that are spot-on, and relatively short loading times. Combat became less about button-mashing and more about action based on technique and power, elevating the genre to a new level of gameplay and widening the fanbase for skill-based players.
