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Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
1997
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PLAYSTATION
9.9
1997 · Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
WWF SmackDown!
Reviewed by Marcus Webb & Elena Castillo ·
The PS1 wrestling game that launched one of gaming's longest-running sports franchises. Yuke's wrestling engine delivered Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, and the complete Attitude Era roster in a PS1 exclusive that proved the platform could host premium wrestling — kicking off the SmackDown series that ran uninterrupted for two decades.
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💡 WWF SmackDown! — Key Facts
- → WWF SmackDown! was developed by Yuke's and published by THQ
- → Released in 2000 on PLAYSTATION
- → Genre: Sports, Wrestling
- → We rate it 8.8/10 — highly recommended
- → Part of the WWE SmackDown franchise
- → The PS1 wrestling game that launched one of gaming's longest-running sports franchises. Yuke's wrestling engine delivered Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, and the complete Attitude Era roster in a PS1 exclusive that proved the platform could host premium wrestling — kicking off the SmackDown series that ran uninterrupted for two decades.
Overview
WWF SmackDown! launched in March 2000 with two commercial advantages that no N64 wrestling game could match: the PlayStation’s larger install base and the WWF’s cultural dominance at the peak of the Attitude Era. Steve Austin, The Rock, and Triple H were mainstream entertainment figures in 2000. The game that put them on PlayStation was going to sell regardless of its quality.
The game was also genuinely good. Yuke’s wrestling engine wasn’t as mechanically deep as AKI’s N64 work, but it was accessible in ways that the N64 games weren’t, and the story mode — simulating a full year of WWF television — provided structured content that the N64 games’ simpler career modes lacked.
The Attitude Era Roster
The roster represented WWF at its most commercially relevant moment. D-Generation X, the Corporate Ministry, the Dudley Boyz, the Hardy Boyz — factions and individuals who were selling out arenas and winning cable ratings wars were all in the game. The Undertaker’s Lord of Darkness persona. Mankind’s mask period. Chris Jericho’s debut personality. Val Venis at peak parody performance.
Playing SmackDown! in 2000 meant controlling people who were on television every Monday and Thursday, whose storylines were active, and whose matches you might have watched last week. The roster as cultural artifact had real weight.
The Story Mode Innovation
The story mode simulated a wrestling season: television appearances, promo segments between matches, rivalry development, and championship pursuit structured across weeks of programming. It wasn’t just fight-fight-fight — there were story beats, the player made choices about allegiances, and the WWE television format shaped the game’s structure.
This was substantially different from what N64 wrestling games offered, and it created a gameplay mode that the AKI engine, for all its mechanical superiority, hadn’t matched. Players who wanted wrestling as narrative experience found something in SmackDown! that No Mercy’s simpler career structure didn’t provide.
The Franchise It Started
SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role arrived in November 2000, improved on its predecessor, and the franchise never stopped. Twenty years of annual wrestling games, franchise rebranding, studio changes, but continuous production — all of it tracing back to March 2000 and the game that proved PlayStation wrestling could compete.
Our Review
8.8
Excellent / 10
🎮
Gameplay
★★★★★
🎨
Graphics
★★★★★
🎵
Audio
★★★★★
🔄
Replay
★★★★★
Gameplay
WWF SmackDown! is a three-button wrestling game (Strike, Grapple, and Irish Whip) with a grapple-based move system different from AKI's N64 games. The submission system uses a meter rather than tapping mechanics. Story mode provides a year-long wrestling career with television angles, promo segments, and championship matches that simulate WWF programming. Character roster includes the full 1999-2000 Attitude Era roster: Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Mankind/Mick Foley, The Undertaker, Kane, and 20+ others.
Graphics
SmackDown! character models accurately represent 1999-2000 wrestler appearances. The arena atmosphere — crowd, lighting, entrance ramps — creates an authentic WWF TV presentation. Entrance animations match each wrestler's actual entrance style.
Audio
Authentic WWF themes for each wrestler. Commentary is limited. Crowd reactions respond appropriately to match events.
Replayability
Story mode provides structured content across a wrestling season. Exhibition mode offers two-player matches across match types (standard, tag team, Hell in a Cell, Royal Rumble, Ladder Match). Create-a-Wrestler mode allows custom character creation.
Historical Significance
WWF SmackDown! (2000) launched a franchise that ran continuously through WWE SmackDown vs. Raw and WWE 2K series to the present day — one of gaming's longest-running licensed sports franchises. The game proved that PS1 could host a premium wrestling experience after years of the N64's AKI games dominating the market. Yuke's SmackDown series outsold competing N64 wrestling games through a combination of PS1's larger install base and accessible gameplay. SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role (2000) immediately improved on the original, but the first game remains the franchise's origin point.
✅ Pros
- + Complete Attitude Era roster at peak roster quality
- + Story mode simulates an actual WWF television season
- + Hell in a Cell, Ladder Match, and Royal Rumble match types
- + Create-a-Wrestler mode for custom rosters
- + Launch of one of gaming's most successful sports franchises
❌ Cons
- - Combat system less mechanically deep than AKI's N64 games
- - Two-player mode is basic compared to multiplayer alternatives
- - Grapple system feels less responsive than WWF No Mercy
Also Known As
WWF SmackDown 1SmackDown PS1
In the Series
WWF SmackDown! FAQ
Is WWF SmackDown better than WWF No Mercy?
WWF SmackDown! and WWF No Mercy are different games targeting different platforms. No Mercy (N64, 2000) uses AKI Corporation's grapple engine — generally considered the most mechanically deep wrestling game ever made. SmackDown! (PS1) uses Yuke's engine, which is more accessible but less mechanically complex. No Mercy is the recommendation for players seeking the deepest wrestling gameplay. SmackDown! has advantages in story mode depth, PS1 accessibility, and match type variety. For the pure wrestling game mechanical experience, No Mercy wins. For the most WWE television-accurate story experience, SmackDown! wins. Both are worth playing.
Who are the wrestlers in WWF SmackDown PS1?
WWF SmackDown! features the full 1999-2000 Attitude Era WWF roster. Main event stars: Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Mankind/Mick Foley, The Undertaker, Kane, Shawn Michaels (in story mode context), and Big Show. Mid-card and other roster: Edge, Christian, Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley (Dudley Boyz), Jeff and Matt Hardy (Hardy Boyz), Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, X-Pac, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Val Venis, Gangrel, and others representing the era's roster depth.
What match types are in WWF SmackDown PS1?
WWF SmackDown! includes standard singles matches, tag team matches (two-on-two), six-man tag matches, the Royal Rumble (over-the-top-rope battle royal), Hell in a Cell (cage structure around the ring and ringside area), Ladder Match (requiring climbing to retrieve a suspended object), Steel Cage Match, and championship matches. The match type variety was a selling point that differentiated SmackDown! from some competing wrestling games of the era. Hell in a Cell and Ladder Match recreated specific WWF pay-per-view match types that were culturally prominent in 1999-2000.
How long is the SmackDown franchise history?
The SmackDown franchise ran from WWF SmackDown! (2000) through SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role (2000), then became SmackDown! vs. Raw from 2004 through the 2010s, before transitioning to the WWE 2K series. The franchise ran continuously from 2000 to the present, making it one of gaming's longest-running licensed sports franchises. The early PS1 games (SmackDown! 1 and 2) are considered the foundation era; SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 and 2007 are often cited as the franchise's best games; the modern WWE 2K era continues the series.
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