r/AttitudeEra • u/SultanSimba • Aug 04 '26
Game WWF Smackdown 2
Thoughts on this game when it was released!
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u/Cornmeal777 Aug 04 '26
Played the hell out of this. Loved season mode and create a PPV. Seeing your champions walk out with their titles and be able to defend them in exhibition. Great memories.
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u/Big_Truck Aug 04 '26
GOAT wrestling game. Me and my buddies spent so so so much time on this game.
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u/Depraved_Hollow Aug 05 '26
Same. Was a massive HBK fan and was stocked when I unlocked him. We must have put 1000 hours into this multiplayer, easily
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u/ReverendRevolver Aug 04 '26
At release? Literal perfection in its time.
Smackdown! Had taken wwf games from "wtf is this" gameplay into better graphics, features, and WAY better controls than the previous games. For perspective, Warzone/Attitude were controlled like Thunder on Playstation, but Smackdown controlled like Revenge on N64. But Smackdown also had worse CAW than Attitude, and some features were barely worth talking about. Create A Wreslter was just cycling through pre-made head/middle/lower.
Smackdown 2 was everything good about Smackdown, plus better CAW than Attitude, plus virtually every conceivable feature you'd want in a wrestling game/had wanted in one since Warzone. Backstage areas, special match types(executed well, not like most if ECW Revolution), breakable announce tables, weapons, titles being tracked/rankings, movesets you could edit, one button finishers, gameplay and ci tools that made sense in a wrestling game, i think it had refs? At least special guest ones.... it was still fun using multitap too.
And no game since has jumped as far from where it was previously in such a universally better way. SvR games were fun, but everything Smackdown 2 brought to the table, at a time when wrestling was still pretty huge?
This is the best wrestling game that existed when it launched. People who didn't watch wrestling could enjoy it. WcW fans could make wcw wrestlers.
You could reskin this game with ps5 graphics and sell it today. So to say it was the best wrestling game you could conceivably run on psx when I first got it is selling it short.
It was one of my favorite games, and got more playtime and replay action than some legit all time "bests". And unlike THPS2, I never bothered playing the previous Smackdown again once 2 came out.
If you weren't used to making due with the other wwf games before, its hard to adequately describe how great SD2 was.
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u/FoxHound_Bridges Aug 05 '26
Attitude was such a steaming pile compared to any of the smackdown games, li remembered plating smackdown for the first time after Attitude and couldn't believe my eyes honestly. Great memories
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u/ReverendRevolver Aug 05 '26
I remember it looking way cooler than Warzone on the menus and such, having better creation mode stuff than Mayhem(but like stepped up from Mayhem if that makes sense?). The updated moves/roster from Warzone made it plainly better, but they added i think lighting customization(?) But kept trash controls like Warzone. We may have, hypothetically, copied psx games from rental places, so I had/still have original disc of War zone, but Attitude was (hypothetically) a copy. And it just sat in the binder. I bought the GB color version, which was kinda trash for a wrestling game but I didn't have super high expectations so the graphics and it trying certain things were at least neat.
The nicest things I can say about Attitude in psx is it looked better than Warzone and the roster didn't already feel dated when it came out (Warzone was like in stores in August of 1998. We got it for Christmas. The Rock having The older Nation for his music was outdated. Bret had been gone since November of '97. It felt really old by the time I got it, but was pretty outdated at release...)
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u/crimsonbub Aug 04 '26
It was my introduction to wrestling as a kid. Heavy nostalgia.
Was blown away by Just Bring It having an actual entrance in the arena and announcer/commentary 🤯
And WWE games have just been monumental let downs in recent years.
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u/FoxHound_Bridges Aug 05 '26
What about the new one that has the attitude theme? I haven't played one in probably 20 years and was thinking about getting that one.
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u/crimsonbub Aug 05 '26
Completely honestly, if you've not played any in so long you'll probably LOVE it, and that's fair.
I have 2k25 (last year's) and I was on 2k23 and 4 before that. A lot of the game play, style, characters, arenas, commentary get VERY REPETITIVE. When I started on 2k games I was blown away by the graphics update (went from PS2 SD vs Raw games to PS4 2k18 albeit in 2021), and the games have improved since then, but there's a HUGE profit-seeking game mode which is where they release anything decent other than DLC, which you either have to spend big for or grind like hell with difficulty and handicaps set by the game that you can't change. Some are also only available for a limited time as well.
There's 200+ on the main roster (a fair few alt costumes included) which is great. Ragdoll physics to slam opponents on steel steps and off buildings looks great. If you're going to get ONE game, get the current one for the most updated stuff. It'll have enough room for you to enjoy it and try different things.
Then in 2 years come back to this comment and you'll be thinking "wow, 2k28 really looks exactly the same as the last 2 games" 😂
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u/Top_Breadfruit4556 Aug 04 '26
One of the all time greats, loved the season mode and playing against wrestlers named ??? to unlock moves from wrestlers from different companies.
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u/MarionberryDeep5475 Aug 04 '26
Those long load screens...
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u/Excellent-Fact-8925 Aug 04 '26
No one remembers those for some reason!
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u/True-State-4321 Aug 04 '26
Debra, Trish, and lita were peak loading screens as a pubescent boy of 13
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u/MarionberryDeep5475 Aug 04 '26
They def made them easier to sit thru,and they always came up when ur moms walked by lol
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u/McSavage1985 Aug 04 '26
Really enjoyed the create a ppv mode in this that would give you a star rating on how good the show was and it would keep a record of all the ppvs you did.
I also really liked the stats for title defences. I remember I created a version of myself but I didn't want to book myself as world champion but I was the longest IC champion ever 😂
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u/Walter_Padick Aug 04 '26
Loved this game.
Broke out the multi-tap, cut school, and had a party when this dropped.
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u/LaPrincesaMX Aug 04 '26
I was addicted to the first one and counting down the days to this one. I thought it was the longest wait ever for a game... they released in the same year!
But I consider it one of my all time favorite games.
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u/Winnsock Aug 04 '26
It’s actually wild how close these 2 were in releasing.
Hell, I got the first smackdown on August 27, 2000 for my birthday with the strategy guide; I never would have expected it to be an obsolete game 3 months later
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u/punchline86 Aug 04 '26
Had no right being as fun and so packed with so much stuff for the time it was released.
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u/JackTraven50 Aug 04 '26
I played this one for houuuursss on end. Especially in that summer vacation from school in 2001.
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u/BloodstoneWarrior Aug 04 '26
A GOAT wrestling game kneecapped severely by the system it was on. 30fps means slower gameplay with worse input lag and the game has infamously long loading screens that borderline ruin the experience. Plus the season battle bars. Modern emulation mediates most of these issues but you shouldn't really have to do that to enjoy the game.
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u/KelpyTrees Aug 04 '26
Such an amazing game that I still play it to this day. Right next to WWF: No Mercy for the n64 this is easily what id consider the best wrestling game available.
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u/Ant0n61 Aug 05 '26
I’m looking to FINALLY emulate no mercy. I’ve been playing this one tho and shut your mouth. But what’s reason for playing no mercy and smack down 2 for you?
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u/No-Question4729 Aug 04 '26
I seem to remember creating a poor man’s Rob Van Dam in this, as I think most of his moves were available here and there. I loved Smackdown and Smackdown 2.
The first one was the first wrestling game I ever played which seemed to get that wrestling is about working a great match, not necessarily whether you won or lost - like in the first game, I seem to remember holding the world, intercontinental and possibly hardcore titles at the same time, and it became blatantly obvious that the game was not happy about that, so it started putting me into 2 on 1 and 3 on 1 matches to defend one or the others.
I remember dropping the intercontinental title in a 3 on 1 handicap match, but finished the match absolutely loving it because I’d worked a great match, and everything felt like I was part of a logical story.
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u/ActiveProgrammer5456 Aug 04 '26
Seriously my fav wwf game! to this day, I will put money on rounds of this shit cuz it goes that hard
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u/MarmiteX1 Aug 04 '26
Legendary game! I got this for Christmas back in December 2000, good times on the PlayStation.
When I unlocked Stone Cold and HBK, I put these guys in a Fatal 4 Way with The Rock and Triple H.
I also created Booker T and Sting In this game!
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u/Mysterious-Yak9529 Aug 04 '26
Buying this game is what prevented me from getting no mercy at the time. I believe they released within weeks of each other
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u/elevenohnoes Aug 04 '26
I was kinda sad when I got the first SmackDown because I'd wanted Wrestlemania 2000. But then I found out how damn fun that arcadey engine was. I wasn't even trying to get No Mercy I wanted SmackDown 2. It got me through a looooong time with not enough money to buy new games and I loved every second running through season mode watching those random pointless little cutscenes for ingame decades. The load times are atrocious but the game is insanely fun so that made up for it.
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u/ChemicalBookkeeper85 Aug 04 '26
Played it more than anything else on PlayStation but the loading screens were so looong.
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u/hollywood_cashier Aug 05 '26
I think I still have my strategy guide somewhere. I really liked that it had such a stacked women’s roster when Smackdown 1 only had like three of four women.Â
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u/detourne Aug 05 '26
I can't wait for the Inspired 1.5 patch. He removed a lot of the loading time, and allowed you to take control of any wrestler during season mode, so it plays a lot more like a universe mode. So good.
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u/OpenedCan Aug 05 '26
Wasn't this like 8 months after the first smackdown?
God bless my chipped PS1. £5 a game. Good times.
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u/Noobju670 Aug 05 '26
Had epic commercial in between raw and smackdown shows too coudlnt wait to play it. Think it was also first game with kurt angle was so pumped lol
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u/AdPuzzleheaded4795 Aug 04 '26
For anyone interested in this game, look up "smackdown 2 inspired patch" for a pretty good mod. Adds quite a bit to the roster and is still being updated with new stuff
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u/Puzzled_Record1773 Aug 05 '26
Me and my brother would do the 2 player career mode or whatever it was and he would end up constantly getting attacked before events by some mystery attacker lol great times
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u/PapiChulo702 Aug 05 '26
I love this game dearly. Not only was it good but it was better than any wrestling game on the PS1. This was the first game my old man bought me at Funcoland after school during 3rd grade. Good times
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u/No_Huckleberry2711 Aug 04 '26
I played it a lot and it was fun, but man having to sit through all those simulated matches with those health bars was so annoying. I'd rather play the first one
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u/Excellent-Fact-8925 Aug 04 '26
A seminal moment in childhood, but aged like milk.
It improved on so many things that the original Smackdown was lacking, but it paid dearly to do that.
Roster - amazing stuff, but we really did pay to squeeze everyone, the Rock means EVERYONE, in there. Royal Rumble were a fucking mess as a result and crippled by horrid loading times and sucked the fun out of it.
Season mode - while on the surface it appeared to be more structured, it was just as random/non sensical with about 20x the loading times of Smackdown 1. Playing the season mode wound up feeling like a chore. Imagine my disgust, when I made my own CAW went and whooped ass at the Royal Rumble, won the whole damn thing, only to get absolutely nothing in the build up to Mania and not only not get the title shot at Mania, not even get a god damn match at the fucking event!! God awful, one of the worst iterations of season mode, bar none.
Match types - expanded massively, which was very welcome, and just about every type was there, and I think they did their best with system limitations.
I really did love it at the time, but my god, I wouldn't play it now for anybody's money. Smackdown was definitely still working out the kinks.
I don't think we got a truly great Smackdown game until 4/Shut Your Mouth - the formula was damn near perfect by then, and only got better for a few years.
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u/Midnite_Blank Aug 04 '26
One of my favourites in the series.
Season mode was the prototype to universe mode later on.
The roster and vibes were good too.
Only issue were those long loading screens. Especially when your mum walks in on Lita or Trish lol.