The worst game in the SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 releases has to be the DS version, which goes out of its way to create a wrestling experience that no one wants to play. Instead of giving us a real-time action based grappling game, developer Amaze (with THQ's blessing, apparently) has decided to give wrestling fans a turn-based wrestling game that relies too heavily on the touchscreen. It's a great idea to support unique features on a system but they have to actually work well. The DS version of the game is really the odd man out this year, giving gamers a turn-based / real-time game hybrid that will agitate even the most hardcore wrestling game fan...

Perhaps if this touch screen style game play were an extra mode gamers could learn to enjoy it but when this is the depth and breadth of your experience everything starts to fall apart. It's hard to understand why this game, which is fully 3D and looks pretty good, couldn't just be played with the system's buttons. SvR2008 proves that innovation is only good if it factors in fun – and this game just isn't fun.

First the one good thing about the DS version you'll notice is that it looks very good. Developer Amaze took the time to create a fully 3D experience and it shows. The wrestlers look like their real world counterparts and the action in the ring does its best to look and feel as authentic as it can.

The problem is that the flow of the game is just awful because you are locked into playing a strategic game of cat and mouse. Here's the game flow in a nutshell: You are given several options on what you can do with little icons. You click on the icon and then you have to use the touch screen to make things happen. For example to kick upward you quickly run the stylus in an upward motion as the screen indicator shows. If you do it wrong you'll mess up. This is how the entire game is played out and if you don't get a handle on it can be very very frustrating to deal with.

Every match begins with both wrestlers standing in the center of the ring, with the action flowing from that point on. At these moments, as I've already mentioned, you'll be given some choices that are color coded. Yellow indicates a light attack, orange a medium attack and red a heavy attack. once you make your selection you'll have to perform some silly stylus motion like drawing upward or downward, swirling in a circle on the screen, tapping a couple of times, etc. Combining this turn-based selection with real-time stylus use feels kind of strange and doesn't always work for the player because it requires dexterity and patience. The flow is just so foreign and out of sorts compared to all the other Smackdown! games. Why THQ let Amaze deviate from the formula on this game is beyond my understanding.

But beyond this strange way of playing a wrestling game, you also have to deal with the fact that the list of moves at your disposal are very, very limited. That means you'll be pulling off the same moves over and over again. But that's not the only thing in this game that has been limited. There are also very few superstars to play in the DS version.

While most of the season mode takes place in ring, players will occasionally wander around back stage looking for things. You'll be digging through other superstar's stuff and trashcans to find items and other things like time tokens. The searching is pretty silly, but if you want stat upgrades you'll have to do it.

When you aren't wandering around digging in the trash like a homeless person, you can take on three training sessions: the heavy bag, weights and rope. In these three mini-games you use the stylus just like in the ring, with the end result being some increased stats and some extra wear and tear on your touch screen. The question is, is it really worth it?

While SmackDown! VS. RAW 2008 on the DS does try to be innovative and different, the game play is so weird and goes against everything that the franchise is about. Like this year's game on the Wii, the DS version tries to be innovative at the expense of a deeper feature set and game play that is actually fun. Your best bet is to avoid this game and look for it on another platform like the PS2, Xbox 360, PS3 or even the PSP.