Pro wrestling games are never timely. They try to capture the personalities and idiosyncrasies of a few dozen athlete/actors fully aware that, by the time the game has come out, the plots and subplots that are dictated by wrestling management could send some talent into retirement, some into free agency and some into a character turn, from good guy to bad guy. Pro wrestling games cannot sell themselves as roster updates.

So THQ and Yuke’s are pushing Smackdown vs RAW in the only direction that makes sense for a game that is behind the story curve the minute it comes out. They will give you as many options, customization tools and user created content access as they can cram in. You could always create your own wrestler and follow your own career. But now you can design your own finishing move, using a branching tree of actions. You can create highlight reels of great performances, adding sound effects and graphics, and then upload your creations for the world to see and rank. You can give these reels custom DVD covers. The reportedly underused “Create a Belt” feature is gone, but it’s not likely you’ll miss it.

And of course there are dozens of different match types to play, either as a solo wrestler or in a tag team. There are Ladder Matches, where you have to climb a ladder in the center of the ring and grab a belt suspended above it. Naturally, it’s more fun to wield the ladder as a club. In Inferno Matches every action slowly raises the temperature of the ring to an improbable 500° Fahrenheit so you can set your opponent on fire for the win. There are so many variations that the list of options looks a little overwhelming. Will anyone play most of these modes more than a couple of times?

Seeing all that there is to play with, there’s a nagging feeling that a lot of this stuff is there because they can do it; it’s in the game. Newcomers might be a little confused about all the rule changes and how that affects strategy in the ring. THQ is insistent, however, that the changes and improvements made were in response to both player demand and critical opinion. Gamers wanted to make their own finishing moves, and, with the rise of online video, the highlight reel and editor seemed to be a natural direction for a sports game that is based on a TV show.

The desire to upgrade the experience is most apparent on the Wii version. The 2008 Wii edition was, according to the publishers themselves, a rush job that failed to take full advantage of the possibilities presented by the platform’s unique controllers. Instead of simply copying the interface and cues from the PlayStation and Xbox versions, the 2009 Wii edition has dual bars to track, one for momentum and one for health. Waving the Wii controller at specific times allows the wrestler to feed off the energy of the crowd. Entrances become a sort of mini-game, where the proper timing can give you a momentum boost as the match starts.

The game then becomes one that is as much about matching the action cues on screen as it is about mastering the holds, reversals and body targeting. Whipping the Wii remote to cross your arms in a taunting gesture creates an intimate connection between the player and wrestler. This transcends the controller-as-toy approach and makes use of the inherent strengths of the device. The DS version has also been improved, moving from simple stylus control to an interface equally reliant on the D-pad.