In recent years, the wrestling game series, WWE 2K has been in the spotlight for its failure in providing worthy innovations and often being filled with annoying bugs. Despite using the latest technologies and graphics, it feels like the WWE 2K series is quite the opposite of the best WWE game of all time, SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain.

The History of SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain

SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain is a wrestling game released by THQ, developed by Yuke’s for PlayStation 2 in 2003. Included in the WWE 2K series, this game is a sequel to the WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, which was released the year before.

As the name suggests, SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain was directly adapted from the TV show SmackDown produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Although the name is taken from the SmackDown show, this game also boasts the characters from RAW (another wrestling show by WWE) as well as some legendary wrestlers from the past. 

Game Modes

When compared to the WWE 2K series released in recent years that try to show a realistic tussle between wrestlers in the WWE ring, SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain emphasizes on a faster and more bombastic fight compared to the real wrestling. And the “bombastic” factor is what makes this into such an entertaining game.

Although its graphics are obviously inferior compared to WWE 2K20, SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain’s graphics were considered top-notch in its heyday. As mentioned earlier, this game intentionally doesn’t use a realistic approach, it can be seen from the body and muscle sizes of the characters that are much bigger than a normal human being. This makes the wrestlers, such as The Rock, Undertaker, and Triple H look so inhumanly muscular and scary.

In its game modes, this game has what’s called ”Season Mode”, that challenges the players to build their wrestling career from the very bottom into a title contender. This isn’t the first time in the WWE 2K series to bring “Season Mode”, but in SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain, this mode is completely refined and the players are given much freedom in building their own careers.

Moreover, you can also make your own wrestler. If your character has a rating lower than 60, you have to start off your career in the “Division 2” event,  Sunday Night HEAT. Although it’s more difficult and long, creating your own character will feel a lot more fun since you can unlock a lot of attires, movesets, and even new arenas.

Records

At the time of its release, SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain immediately received positive reviews from numerous video game critics. The high rating of this game translated well into its exceptional sale.

In 2006, or three years after the release, this game was recorded to have sold more than eight million copies in the US alone. The game magazine, Next Generation, even gave it honor as the 44th best-selling game of all time. 

Rumors on A Remastered Version

SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain is so significant in gamers’ memories, up to the point that in the middle of last year, it was rumored that this game will have its remastered version for the next-gen consoles. This news came from Bryan Williams as the design supervisor of Yuke’s.

On his social media account, Williams stated that he had just had a six-hour meeting with his colleagues in Yuke’s on the alternatives of the next WWE game. Williams also didn’t hesitate to mention that he and his colleagues loved SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain, which was released by the company 17 years ago.

Let’s hope that it’s not just another rumor.

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