WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009

The Road to WrestleMania mode debuted in this game, replacing the popular Season mode from previous games. It was then featured in every new game in the series, before it was removed for ''WWE '13''. This mode allows the player to play through personalized storylines for John Cena, Triple H, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, and a tag team storyline for Batista and Rey Mysterio. ==Gameplay==

Match gameplay One of the game's most prominent features is the enhanced tag team match. Teams will now share their own momentum meter, attributes and double team finishers. However, this match is not available for the Nintendo DS or Wii. Several matches absent in previous games also returned to the series. The backstage brawl, where players can battle in either the locker room or the backstage "Gorilla position" with a variety of weapons at their disposal, returned and replaced the parking lot brawl match featured in the last game. The Gauntlet match is a newly featured match selection in the Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 series where one superstar takes on three others one immediately after the other. The General Manager mode and Create-A-Championship were removed from this version. Both the Wii and DS versions now include new match types, such as the Steel Cage and Ladder match, with the DS version also featuring tables and TLC matches. A new semi-auto targeting system was implemented into the game, which will generally automatically target a particular wrestler the player wants to attack but can also be controlled in-game by the player. Japanese company TOSE took over from Amaze Entertainment in development for the Nintendo DS version. ===Game modes=== Road To WrestleMania: In this new mode, players can choose from five superstars to play as in single-player storylines: Triple H, CM Punk, The Undertaker, John Cena, or Chris Jericho. The storylines featured in the mode are tailor-made to fit the chosen wrestler's character with each cutscene made exclusively for the wrestler. • As part of the game's new emphasis on tag teams, a co-operative storyline was also included in the mode, in which players can take the parts of Rey Mysterio or Batista. Nintendo DS: Fully inspired by the TOSE-developed game, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, the Nintendo DS version has an RPG element to their season mode. Players will be able to roam around the arena, improve their characters through the training room or WWE Shop and interact with superstars to start feuds. The player is given missions to complete in order to become a champion. Created wrestlers will be eligible to use this career mode. Created finishers are limited to moves starting with both wrestlers standing face-to-face The mode is featured only on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Both Create-A-Finisher and Highlight Reel have replaced the Create-A-Belt feature, which was taken out due to its lack of support from fans. The Create-A-Superstar mode is in the major consoles, but now features physics-based clothing items that will sway around realistically such as loose clothing and necklaces. About 70% of the parts in the mode are now 3D with about 25 to 30% of the mode featuring new content. The Create-An-Entrance mode has now been extended to feature created entrances for tag teams. The Wii version features a Create-An-Entrance mode like the other versions except a limited created entrance for tag teams. Instead, utilizing the Wii Remote and nunchuk, it features interactive entrances and victory celebrations, such as posing or beating down an opponent post-match. Successful poses during the player's entrance give them more momentum and bonuses at the start of the match. Online features The Wii version included online gameplay as well as rankings. Voice chat functionality is present in PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. Also, if a tattoo is used on a created superstar, he/she will be prohibited from playing online. Online play is not available for the PlayStation 2 version. ==Development==

The in-game commentary in the major console versions feature three announcing teams like the previous version but is considered to have a more play-by-play aspect this time. The players can also give any wrestler their own entrance music from any audio file saved on console's hard drive, although this feature is restricted to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, as the other consoles have no capability to save MP3s or other format sound files, and this is not the first game to include the feature on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as the previous game, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 was the first game for both systems to allow the feature. P.O.D. contributed with two of their songs, "Addicted" and "Booyaka 619", featured in the game's soundtrack. ==Marketing and release==

Production of the game was officially announced in March 2008 by IGN and THQ. A demo for the game was released in October for the PlayStation 3 console, featuring the singles and tag team matches with Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Shawn Michaels and Triple H as playable characters. As with the previous game, a special collector's edition of SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 for the PlayStation 3 was released, which includes the game, special steel cage packaging, and a Blu-ray Disc featuring matches from Raw and SmackDown shows as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the game. This release was exclusive to the North American region. A similar collector's edition was released in European regions, which features a special plastic ring, which has the same dimensions as a Blu-ray case. It also has the same Blu-ray disc as the North American release included in this package. The game had a marketing budget of $5 million. ==Reception==

The game has received generally mixed to positive reviews from gaming critics. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 79.38% and 79 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version; and 56.76% and 58 out of 100 for the DS version. While the reception for the Nintendo DS version was varied between critics, both IGN and GamesMaster criticized its touch-screen control scheme, suggesting that button-based control would have been more ideal. During the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 for "Fighting Game of the Year". ==See also==