The 2000s decade of the wrestling scene saw many highly-received video games coming from WWE. The Smackdown series, the Smackdown vs. Raw series, Day of Reckoning and WrestleMania 19 are still praised to this day, but WWE Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain remains arguably the best wrestling game THQ and Yuke's ever produced.
In a world where WWE games are typically slow-paced with moves that don't make much of an impact, Here Comes The Pain would probably surprise a lot of people with the nature of its explosive, hard-hitting offense that comes at a breakneck speed. Moves that are as basic as German suplexes and clotheslines feel bone-rattling in this game, while big moves like the F-5 and the Goldberg Spear look absolutely deadly. This style of gameplay is not only great for powerhouse brutes and high flyers like Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam, as they can have incredibly up-tempo matches with one another. With exaggerated movesets that are simultaneously accurate to what the wrestlers do in real life (mostly), this was the best example of a wrestling game combining both arcade and simulation styles into one.
Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain's control system often garners a mixed reaction from people due to the difficulty of having two reversal buttons; L2 for strikes, R2 for grapples and both at the same time to counter finishers. However, having two reversal buttons creates more of a challenge on the defense. It may seem jarring at first because there are also no prompts, but getting the hang of countering in this game is quite rewarding. Timing is key, and mastering it increases the game's enjoyability, as the constant back and forth counters make wrestling matches feel like action movie fight scenes. The controls also shine when it comes to hardcore matches, where pressing Circle allows players to throw any weapon at the opponent and perform a running attack with a weapon results in a headshot instead of stomach shots like in current games.
The game also has the most incredibly packed roster, with some of the biggest names in wrestling history like The Rock, Stone Cold, Undertaker, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Shawn Michaels and Eddie Guerrero all as regular characters that don't need to be unlocked, as well as future stars like Batista, John Cena, Randy Orton, Edge and Rey Mysterio. Unlockable characters include legends like the Road Warriors, 90s Undertaker, Sgt. Slaughter and Ted DiBiase. Underrated mid-carders like Ultimo Dragon and Tajiri pack a hell of a punch as well. With such a dense and diverse roster, character selection never really gets boring.
The roster isn't the only thing that's diverse, though. There's also an immense amount match types to choose from, with stipulations that haven't been included in modern games for years, such as Three Stages of Hell, which is a two out of three falls match where each fall has a different match type, or the Slobber Knocker match, a gauntlet-style match that ends once the player gets pinned. HCTP was also the first game to include the then-new Elimination Chamber. Last Man Standing matches are wildly intense, as it requires incredible amounts of damage to put a highly-rated wrestler down for the 10-count (Brock Lesnar is nearly indestructible in this match).
However, if there's one match that is more incredibly outlandish in this game than any other, it's the backstage brawls. Wrestlers can fight amongst any area inside and outside the arena, and every prop can be used as a weapon, from forklifts to motorcycles to shopping carts. Fights can even end up on the ledge of a building in Times Square, where wrestlers can either throw each other off or perform a massive dive. Yuke's really set a high standard with this match type that hasn't been reached since.
All these things combined make for a top-tier wrestling game. It may not be complex, but the number one thing that WWE 2K and any other wrestling title should realize is that fun gameplay is a top priority for many players. Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain is exciting despite its simplicity in presentation; it doesn't even include any commentary, voice acting in season mode, or full entrances. Yet it still manages to be more captivating than WWE Games' recent outputs. If 2K can focus more on enjoyability and less on realism, wrestling games may finally feel like video games again.