Even thought SvR 08 & 09 weren't the best they still had a lot of quality features to make the game entertaining. They weren't bad games. They just weren't the best or a memorable one in the series but they obviously quite nostalgic & enjoyable revisiting back.
@@MazeDaGr8 major step back from 08 which was a step back from 07, i somehow dodged this game outside of getting the ds version which... unironically outside of the touch screen was more interesting and had a career mode reminiscent of htcp and sym and older season modes, and got svr 2010 for the 360 the next year instead, don't regret it one bit, Though i wish i would have also picked up the ds version of that too since it dropped the touch screen controls, and i suppose the Wii version is the definitive version of 09 since it actually has more stuff which is wack.
And if you're a fan of NewLegacyInc, they create horrifyingly long and brutal classic matches 😂 56 minutes of Punk vs Carlito in a parking lot CPU match
@@brettrossi034 i think it was just bad rng really, they did a backstage brawl in 08 recently that hardly went even half that time, i think whatever settings they had the game to contributed also.
Nah, SVR 2008 is the worst. The gameplay for me felt a bit too slow to my liking, the weakest roster in a while, and the 24/7 Mode is SO. OVER-RATED! After one run, it's the same cutscenes....over. and over. and over. And Over. AND OVER! So boring and lifeless. Was a cool concept, but terrible execution.
17:32 The thing with Chris Jericho's music in this game is actually due to a cut storyline. Chris Jericho was a heel in 2008 and was the World Heavyweight Champion on SmackDown feuding with Shawn Michaels over it. After Jericho smashed Shawn's head through the Jeritron 5000, this was supposed to be his theme song for 2 years. It debuted on WWE: The Music Vol. 8 album but never made it to TV. This slower, more rock-heavy version of Break the Walls was supposed to be his heel theme from 2008 - 2010. People complained about it and they just used the regular version instead.
It was 2020 , just months before the pandemic and had a PSP emulator on my phone to play games. I had never played or owned a WWE video game up to that point and SVR 2009 was the first WWE game that I owned and played. At first it was cool and could not stop playing and the RTWM mode was so much fun. After playing other better video games like SVR 06, 07, 2010, 2011; HCTP, No Mercy etc , It still holds a special place in my heart
HBK would occasionally use that figure four variant during the year this was made. It wasn't something he did every match, and I don't think he won many matches with it (I can only remember him winning with it once), but he was using it.
I gave up watching wrestling in 2006 because it just got so stale. With that I gave up on the games too. My mother died in 2009, just before SVR 2010 released and my cousin gave me his SVR 09 as a “sorry your mother died” present. This game holds a special place in my heart for sure.
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I skipped out on 09 as well. I took a year off before returning for SVR2010, and of course one of my all time favorites. SVR2011. Off topic a little, but if we could go back to the old games. Pluck story designer out, be able to share the stories like we could back then, and find a way to import them into Universe. It let's the community do all the work, and would make it endlessly replayable. Much like you say you felt create a finisher is a dream feature. That's my dream feature. Create a story/Universe Mode hybrid.
Hello again! Just came from the SvR 08 video and watching this one did not disappoint! Road to Wrestlemania was the biggest highlight for me. The Undertaker's story definitely being my favorite! I remember years ago, the lead writer for all these RTWM stories from SvR 09 to 11 made some TH-cam videos but now i am unable to remember his name. I ended up finding him in a comment from another youtuber's top 10 video on RTWM moments! Career mode was weird! I remember both enjoying it and disliking it. Since all the story was on RTWM, career mode could become boring if i played it enough! String of matches after string of matches for a championship with very little fanfare! But i did enjoy seeing what rank my match got, what awards i earned, and what awards i had left to earn! Using it to boost my created characters and give them perks however I recall being a slog! Highlight reel, however, is something i didn't get to experience till 2 years later when the PS3 version was lent to me for a time! If I owned that version I would have also spent an ungodly amount of time making stuff myself! Just like how i spent quite a lot in create a finisher which was a dream come true for me!! However i did detest those camera angles outside of the ring, and you precisely put into words how infuriating it was to get the opponent onto the announce table! As for personal stories, I certainly do have a personal story of my own for this game! My dad injured his knee while riding a bicycle. He had to be in a wheelchair for some time. Including when we took him to the Medical Center where he'd get treatment. Mom went back home with my sisters while I stayed with dad helping him with the wheelchair there. I was 11 years old at the time and technically had to be 12 to get in there for some reason but it didn't matter. While in the waiting room, or in the snack room, or nurse room, I'd be playing SvR 09 on my PSP! Specifically John Cena's RTWM story! I remember the moment MVP declared the creation of "Better than U-Topia" specifically! I also remember it because dad bought me burger king afterwards, lmao! Have a wonderful day!! 🤍
Shawn: Hey, Hunter, let’s bring back DX and let’s party like it’s 1997! Randy: Damnit! What are you, Hunter, are you trying to do your own version of 13 Going on 30 and act like some college frat boy?! Let’s bring Evolution back and rule the WWE with an iron fist just like in 2003! Triple H: Damnit! The whole crux of Triple H’s Road to WrestleMania storyline!
So, a few things: • Sabu was released from WWE around May, 2007, so it definitely makes sense as to why he in particular isn’t in the game. He reportedly had attitude and behavioral issues backstage as well as showing up late. • You can find that Jericho unused theme from 2008 on TH-cam if you really want to torture your ears. However, I’d instead recommend just getting an MP3 of his 2002 thene on a USB drive and editing it in as his theme in Create-An-Entrance. • Speaking od creation modes, I believe this was the last to allow you to have, for example, a male C-A-W and give them female attire, makeup, etc. I bring this up because it actually allowed me to make a pretty awesome looking Santina Marella, Santino’s on-screen sister. • Finally, last but certainly not least, this was the only game in the series on XBOX 360 which I was able to get all rhe achievements for. It’s definitely an accomplishment from my days playing XBOX consoles that I look back at fondly, right up there with the likes of having _Grand Theft Auto IV_ become the only game in the GTA series I’ve ever gotten 100% in-game completion in, along with the Key to the City achievement. Good times.
HBK was doing that sitdown figure four as a lead up to a submission match between DX and legacy (ted debiase jr and cody rhodes) after DX won that they then went on a month later to beat jerishow for tag titles to be honest I believe that's why the hype for this game was based around the tag aspect, DX was the biggest merchandise movers for there run during that time so they went with that as the game dropped when DX was there unified tagteam champs, I enjoyed this game as a 19 year old who was starting to get mega pissed at the wwe product at the time haha, removing GM mode made me so mad hahaha, anyway keep up the awesome vids Ian bro, love your work man, much love from Australia 🇦🇺..... and no, not all of us breakdance as bad as that Olympic chick hahaha
Another great video! I NEVER knew about the Godfather's exclusion until now. I also agree that the Transfer feature in WWE L.O.WM should've allowed legends to appear in SVR 2009. 14:48 I get the reference. And I agree 100%
Commented before watching the video: If you think SvR 2008 was worse, 2009 will prove that wrong. This game was so bare bones, similar to WWE 2K15 on the next gen. I remember playing this on the PSP, and yes, I played it for an entire year while waiting for SvR 2010 to come but man it was a drag. No actual career mode, no GM mode, heck, no challenges like the ones on SvR 06 and 07 or the Hall of Fame challenges like SvR 08. It didn't have anything! The only thing I loved about the game is Chris Jericho's Save Me tights and the Evolution stable.
I remember Shawn using that figure 4. however I don't remember anyone ever tapping out to it. Idk why it was allowed, but three men were using the figure 4 as a finisher. Greg Valentine,Ronnie Garvin and of course Ric Flair. Two were in the then WWF. While Ric was in the AWA/WCW. Back then finishers were protected. You didn't dare use another wrestlers finisher.
It happened from time to time during hbk’s feud with flair leading up to mania 24 but usually flair was either close by or in the tag match with Shawn during this
Hated that 09 got rid of GM mode and create a championship. Road to Wrestlemania is still better than the 2K career mode. 2011 is my favorite for the back stage interactions
While this game isn’t as beloved compared to the other games in this series, and some consider this as the weakest SVR game, I still enjoy this game quite a bit. The roster was decent enough for me despite some questionable decisions, Road to WrestleMania was an amazing time, Tag Team matches were fun with the new mechanics, and like previous years, I played the hell out of this game with my brother and cousins given we were still fans of wrestling at the time. So despite the problems as they truly are there, this game is still a good time for me and sometimes I’m lucky to play it again with my family, but most of the time, they’d prefer 06 or 07 to replay and I don’t blame them, given how legendary they are. Great retrospective, Ian, and although you had no personal stories here, I’m glad you still had a good time with this game🙂. I can’t wait for your future retrospectives, and I hope you and all the DanDans continue to have good days. Stay safe, and I love you all.❤️😊
i think weakest would go to the first svr honestly, coming off of HTCP and how much stuff they scrapped or toned down, but this game is at least the 2nd weakest after 08, which also gets lot of flack, 08 had the awful fighting styles but at least it had an actual GM Mode and "Career mode" outside of the very linear RTWM.
@@jp3813 Yeah I enjoyed SvR for what it was but it was a let down compared to HCTP. They started to move in a more realistic presentation and direction, the graphics and models are awesome but the AI is a bit dumb and for some god forsaken reason they removed the winning animations.
@@MarlonAnthony At least the Royal Rumble eliminations was a huge improvement. It was also the last time that "Create a PPV" was featured, and I believe the first time that championships & stables can be created as well.
The roster in this game should have been the roster for svr 2008 cause I’m like why they just now added London and Kendrick and Victoria into the game where they all should have made the cut for svr 2006-2008
I was also completely checked out from wrestling when this game came out, I checked it out and the game just felt really empty and had an off feeling and I haven't gone back to it since. Love these retrospectives honestly very interesting and always worth watching.
Off topic, but man I miss having Victoria in a WWE game! She’s just an irreplaceable character that can’t be replicated with anyone else. The model they used for her in 2009 was absolutely amazing! She definitely needs to return to the franchise at least once with 2K!
this and svr 2010 were the main wrestling games i played as a kid until i found shut your mouth and just bring it for a combined 8 dollars at gamestop. was born in 2001 so i knew about the attitude and ruthless aggression eras but i was too young to really watch those times and had no idea the games from that period were so much better than the ones i grew up with. i found it so cool to play with masked kane and american badass undertaker and i was especially blown away by shut your mouth as a lot of the animations from that game carried over to later versions. i found it incredible that a game from 2002 held up so well and still does today
I was a huge GM Mode guy. Was the main reason I bought SVR 06-08. When I bought this and saw it was removed, I was devastated. Didn't play longer than 3wks
Vince ruined everything for Linda's political career, and she STILL never got voted in. When Trump was in office naturally he gave Linda a role in his cabinet somewhere in economics because, all things considered, she WAS integral to turning things around for WWF during The Monday Night Wars, but clearly Vince ruining wrestling was all for nothing 😂
The best Smackdown games starting from Smackdown Shut Your Mouth all the way to SVR 2007 are the best ones. 2008 and later till now things went downhill
Idk if anyone else has commented about it yet, but Jericho's strange theme was supposed to be his when he turned heel. They even put it on the CD that came out of WWE theme songs, but they just never used it irl. And as for Shawn's inverted figure four, he used it a little bit in 2009, even in his match with undertaker at mania if I'm not mistaken, but they dropped it as a possible new move.
Michaels started using the modified figure four in the run-up to the Wrestlemania 24 match with Flair. Also I assume 'Normal submission' is a one fall submission-only match as opposed to an 'Ultimate Submission' match Edit: It appears Ultimate Sumbmission isn't even in the game so thats weird.
I've got a strong attachment to SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2009. I wasn't very fond of SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2008, and this game felt like a massive step up. For starters, as restrictive as it could be with wrestlers' abilities, you had much more freedom than the previous game's Fighting Styles gave you. My only major complaint is that you had to complete My Career Mode to unlock the Hardcore Championship. But I suppose that's a good incentive to see all the game has to offer. Speaking of which, the soundtrack is still pretty dope. And on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 Versions, you had the option to watch Undertaker Vs. Edge from WrestleMania XXIV.
SVR 09 is not only my first WWE game, but also what got me into wrestling period. In a period of wrestling only fondly remembered by people my age (because nostalgia) SVR 09 and especially 11 carried the WWE brand for us. 11 for its physics, creation, and Road to WrestleMania are worth checking out if you have the time.
Hey DanDan! Yes Shawn Michaels started using a modified version of the figure four leglock in early 2008 until he wrestled Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 24. The only reason I know is because he's my GOAT and I was watching every week excited because I had floor seat tickets for Wrestlemania at the Citrus Bowl.
Playing the ps2 versions of all the svr games on pcsx2. Graphics and gameplay are really good. 2009 was the most ok SVR of the series. Svr 1, 2006 and 7 are goat tier, while in 2007, the games slowly went downhill with SVR 2008.
I'll always remember this game for the following reasons. I had SVR08, I had a choice to upgrade to SVR09 or get TNA impact. I opted to get TNA just because I thought it was cool and different. I mean, the roster hadn't changed that much from SvR08 anyway aside from the legends. I bought 2 copies of TNA impact, this is because unbelievably BOTH copies were bugged. My Xbox would freeze every time I woke up in that Dusty hospital during the TNA story mode. I returned the game and got a new one which had the same problem.. I ended up finally swopping the 2nd bugged copy for SVR09. I vaguely remember the Batista/Rey RTWM , but other than that... I remember putting the game in and wondering why it had such a dark, almost yellowish tint to everything. WWE matches looked like Indy shows. It put me off alot. To where i havw no recollection of any other gameplay even tho i did play the game for a relatively long time until SvR10. But yeah til today I really do wonder who decided on the art direction and to make the inring stuff so...Gloomy
Remember being on an outing with my dad and my brother when we were off from school one week went to one of our favorite video games stores only had a little bit of money to pick out at least 2 games we had a playstation 3 at the time I ended up getting tekken 6 and my brother ended up getting this I'm pretty sure the trailer for smackdown vs raw 2011 had just dropped by that time this was passable at the time but 2010 and 2011 were much more enjoyable homely I'd much rather go back and play these rather than the current 2k series with the exception of 2k19 that was good ❤❤
Dude first off thanks for all the great content, secondly we both stopped watching during the same time period, i actually went to a raw in 08 right before they went fully PG and stopped watching within 2 weeks after that raw, I came back in 2011 when punk dropped the pipe bomb, I did have SVR09&10 love them both to this day mostly nostalgic reasons, but SVR 08 was absolutely dog shit
King of the ring tournament at the time was on the raw brand It’s called Normal submission match 1.to differentiate it from the ultimate submission match (Ironman submissions only match) 2. To have a quick way to set up the match without going through match rules first on normal match Chris Jericho never used that theme they just wasn’t able to get the rights to the song for some odd reason (if I recall correctly he had the correct theme on the Wii version tho That was Shawn Michaels secondary finisher for a time before just becoming a signature move
As for the Shawn Figure-Four, I remember him putting it on Jeff Hardy in the main event(?) of a RAW. That's the only time I remember him doing it off the top of my head.
This is my first time watching your channel, great video. I know you weren’t watching wrestling during this time but I wanna hear you talk about SvR10. That game was a big step up from 09
As always thank you for the content, recently subbed to patrion (low level) but the extra content is amazing, it's also got me watching GM showdown and noo taxes Nigel so thanks again 😂
Smackdown Vs Raw 2007 was the last wrestling game I've played on the PS2, and after that I stopped playing the later sequels. Even I lost interest in WWE games. Now I'm in the mood to play "Shut Your Mouth" and "Here Comes The Pain" again.
I used to get the new SvR game every year for Christmas. I played so much of 2008 and 09, that I got bored by the time 2010 came out. WWE 13 was the last game I got which is arguably one of my favourites besides Here Comes The Pain. 2009 was awesome for introducing the Road to WrestleMania mode for sure!
its a well know fact from a Dev from a few years ago, Road to WrestleMania creation was a year long collab with wwe writers and yukes story tellers. it had so much effort put in then the rest of the game
Same boat as you. Was fading out of wwe. But I remember rebuying it on Xbox 360 and it was alright and fun for a while. Just found a rom version someone made that added Wrestlers from 08, and 09 like Kurt Angle, Rock, RVD, Stone Cold etc with their moves and entrances and I think it’s the definitive version of it !
Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 was the last SVR game I played. In 2009 and 2010 I was not a WWE fan anymore I was just watching TNA wrestling and UFC and boxing 🥊
I agree smackdown and svr are their own separate series. However here comes the pain to svr 06 are practically identical from a gameplay aspect.. I’m enjoying these retrospectives. 06 was the final game I truly played and it’s pretty cool seeing the games I missed out on. So far I’d say 07 is much better than 08 and 09. Looking forward to the final 2 games
You pointed out something I didn't realize. Normal submission match is called that because in the previous games there were normal and ultimate submission match, however it seems here they only bring the normal one, and the ultimate is gone ? and the normal one left untouched instead of renaming it to just submission.
This one, to me, was the worst SVR that I played. It was how I felt at the time losing the gm mode and season mode. Felt like a chore to play when I had it. The way you felt about 08, is how I felt about 09. It was tough. We’re around the same age too so yeah I was feeling the same way about wrestling then. The only access to wrestling I had back then was SVR2010, which was GREAT love the reviews
MY personal memory of SvR2009 was... well... I didn't buy and didn't care. Was still playing good old SvR2006 at that time. The biggest issue I had with the SvR games, were the outdated move animations. Can you believe the "Benoit Elbowdrop" lasted from Just Bring It until SvR2010? Holy shiat!
I agree with you smack down vs Raw starts a new chapter so you're right Because I think the wwe raw games wasn't making that much money on xbox So I think that's why the company came together and started smackdown vs raw
I thought Shawn did that figure four in the Survivor Series match against Randy Orton in 2007 where he can't use sweet chin music. He does a bunch of submissions in that match but not that one. I do know he uses the move on Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 24 so he must have started using it for the build to that match.
Great video, 09 wasn't very memorable but it was an improvement over the experimental 08. It's funny how much they pushed the "reworked" tag matches even though all they did was add one new mechanic. It was half baked. Also, those tiny titles. What the fuck.
Lol I stopped watching WWE around 2006-2007 but I was a freshman in college when this game came out. I thought it was okay but my interest died until SvR2011 and wwe12 hit the scene.
for as much as I hated this game, I fucking loved that one off Jericho theme And the modified Figure Four was something Shawn was using for a very short time around January of 2008 to build to Flair’s retirement
Definitely agree 09 wasn’t a bad game but for me was the starting downfall of the wwe games, I was more and losing interest in wrestling and the game itself with a lack of a career mode and the short road to wrestlemania made this game a lot less fun.
After the WCW n64 titles, SvR 08 and WWE 13 are the two titles I spent the most time with. I check out every game yearly, although I don't think that's going to continue, But I put hundreds of hours into both of those.
Yeah I rode 13 til the wheels fell off literally I played it to the point I actually had to stop because I knew every animation and what was coming next the next best one was '17 then a case of I buy them and actually didn't enjoy them now I've just accepted I'm one of those guys who enjoys watching shit to do with wrestling but not actively engaging in anything with it
I played this game a lot with my Dad. We even made ourselves & my Dad put himself in a faction with Cryme Tyme. (They were our favorite tag team during that time.) Didn’t know The Godfather was in the files! Maybe he was suppose to be a DLC character?
@10:56 that’s my exact complaint about the new HIAC restrictions in recent games! Why the hell do they no longer let you fight by the ring post and make the wrestler automatically walk around it? You also can’t walk around the wrestler when they are downed there, and can’t hit them when they are standing near there. It RUINED my favorite match type
I was watching some RAW from 2008 on Peacock recently and I think I might've seen HBK using that move at one point, so maybe they got it from there? I don't know, I could be wrong and it might've been a different move. also Ashley's ball-kicker RKO finisher was amazing
I didn't miss GM mode. Well, I didn't miss WWE until 2012 for a bit and then until 2020 a bit and now again. Triple H really does a better job, the games never recovered though. 2K20 was the last fun one, like 2007 was back then, 2008 was such a trainwreck I lost interest in absolutely everything wrestling related for 4 to 5 years.
Check out EXE right here! Seriously, it's a great show. Tell Gwen we want Season 2!
th-cam.com/video/Op9njNp7ELI/w-d-xo.html
14:42 The Ashley Massaro 9 kick CockBreaker combo was absolutely brilliant.
Vince kind of had it coming from all the shit he put Ashley through. LMAO
I hope he posts it as a short. Endless loop.
The fact that you and Wrestlinggifs put out a video on SvR ‘09 on the same day is a wild coincidence! Two very different and well done fun videos.
Even thought SvR 08 & 09 weren't the best they still had a lot of quality features to make the game entertaining. They weren't bad games. They just weren't the best or a memorable one in the series but they obviously quite nostalgic & enjoyable revisiting back.
You are correct these are not bad games far from it. they just feel like step-backs compared to what we were getting the previous three years
@@MazeDaGr8 major step back from 08 which was a step back from 07, i somehow dodged this game outside of getting the ds version which... unironically outside of the touch screen was more interesting and had a career mode reminiscent of htcp and sym and older season modes, and got svr 2010 for the 360 the next year instead, don't regret it one bit, Though i wish i would have also picked up the ds version of that too since it dropped the touch screen controls, and i suppose the Wii version is the definitive version of 09 since it actually has more stuff which is wack.
And if you're a fan of NewLegacyInc, they create horrifyingly long and brutal classic matches 😂 56 minutes of Punk vs Carlito in a parking lot CPU match
@@brettrossi034 i think it was just bad rng really, they did a backstage brawl in 08 recently that hardly went even half that time, i think whatever settings they had the game to contributed also.
Nah, SVR 2008 is the worst. The gameplay for me felt a bit too slow to my liking, the weakest roster in a while, and the 24/7 Mode is SO. OVER-RATED!
After one run, it's the same cutscenes....over. and over. and over. And Over. AND OVER! So boring and lifeless. Was a cool concept, but terrible execution.
14:59 Ashley kicking Vince is just too perfect
17:32 The thing with Chris Jericho's music in this game is actually due to a cut storyline. Chris Jericho was a heel in 2008 and was the World Heavyweight Champion on SmackDown feuding with Shawn Michaels over it. After Jericho smashed Shawn's head through the Jeritron 5000, this was supposed to be his theme song for 2 years. It debuted on WWE: The Music Vol. 8 album but never made it to TV. This slower, more rock-heavy version of Break the Walls was supposed to be his heel theme from 2008 - 2010. People complained about it and they just used the regular version instead.
I actually liked Jericho's updated theme, shame he never got to use it on TV
@@tylerwatts3347 I did too.
That Jericho theme is goated
@@colonelhstinkmeaner8547 It really is.
Wasn't this a similar case with British Bulldog in SVR 06 with his theme?
That Ashley VS Vince demonstration was messy AF 😂😂🤣🤣!
My neighbor had this on his Wii growing up and the amount of fuckery we got into goofing around can’t be matched🙏🏿
THE SAGA CONTINUES….
To quote you from earlier "Hey that's the move I made!" 14:48
14:49 I see what you did there😂😂😂😂😂😂 brilliant 💯
Keith Lee doing that Death Valley Jackhammer was fucking sick
They removed Legends because of Legends of Wrestlemania. They didn't want to spoil LOW with being able to use all the guys on SvR
It was 2020 , just months before the pandemic and had a PSP emulator on my phone to play games. I had never played or owned a WWE video game up to that point and SVR 2009 was the first WWE game that I owned and played. At first it was cool and could not stop playing and the RTWM mode was so much fun. After playing other better video games like SVR 06, 07, 2010, 2011; HCTP, No Mercy etc , It still holds a special place in my heart
3:00 Yo you dealing with the X-Factor!
I GOT EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED AND I'LL NEVER GIVE THAT BACK
HBK would occasionally use that figure four variant during the year this was made. It wasn't something he did every match, and I don't think he won many matches with it (I can only remember him winning with it once), but he was using it.
I gave up watching wrestling in 2006 because it just got so stale. With that I gave up on the games too.
My mother died in 2009, just before SVR 2010 released and my cousin gave me his SVR 09 as a “sorry your mother died” present. This game holds a special place in my heart for sure.
The tag team division from '98 to '02 was something in the WWF/WWE I mean hot damn that was a stacked division.
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I skipped out on 09 as well. I took a year off before returning for SVR2010, and of course one of my all time favorites. SVR2011.
Off topic a little, but if we could go back to the old games. Pluck story designer out, be able to share the stories like we could back then, and find a way to import them into Universe. It let's the community do all the work, and would make it endlessly replayable. Much like you say you felt create a finisher is a dream feature. That's my dream feature. Create a story/Universe Mode hybrid.
Hello again! Just came from the SvR 08 video and watching this one did not disappoint!
Road to Wrestlemania was the biggest highlight for me. The Undertaker's story definitely being my favorite! I remember years ago, the lead writer for all these RTWM stories from SvR 09 to 11 made some TH-cam videos but now i am unable to remember his name. I ended up finding him in a comment from another youtuber's top 10 video on RTWM moments!
Career mode was weird! I remember both enjoying it and disliking it. Since all the story was on RTWM, career mode could become boring if i played it enough! String of matches after string of matches for a championship with very little fanfare! But i did enjoy seeing what rank my match got, what awards i earned, and what awards i had left to earn! Using it to boost my created characters and give them perks however I recall being a slog!
Highlight reel, however, is something i didn't get to experience till 2 years later when the PS3 version was lent to me for a time! If I owned that version I would have also spent an ungodly amount of time making stuff myself! Just like how i spent quite a lot in create a finisher which was a dream come true for me!!
However i did detest those camera angles outside of the ring, and you precisely put into words how infuriating it was to get the opponent onto the announce table!
As for personal stories, I certainly do have a personal story of my own for this game!
My dad injured his knee while riding a bicycle. He had to be in a wheelchair for some time. Including when we took him to the Medical Center where he'd get treatment. Mom went back home with my sisters while I stayed with dad helping him with the wheelchair there. I was 11 years old at the time and technically had to be 12 to get in there for some reason but it didn't matter.
While in the waiting room, or in the snack room, or nurse room, I'd be playing SvR 09 on my PSP! Specifically John Cena's RTWM story! I remember the moment MVP declared the creation of "Better than U-Topia" specifically! I also remember it because dad bought me burger king afterwards, lmao!
Have a wonderful day!! 🤍
I'm late to say thank you on this, but thank you! I'm trying to catch up on comments, I greatly appreciate your support.
Shawn: Hey, Hunter, let’s bring back DX and let’s party like it’s 1997!
Randy: Damnit! What are you, Hunter, are you trying to do your own version of 13 Going on 30 and act like some college frat boy?! Let’s bring Evolution back and rule the WWE with an iron fist just like in 2003!
Triple H: Damnit!
The whole crux of Triple H’s Road to WrestleMania storyline!
So, a few things:
• Sabu was released from WWE around May, 2007, so it definitely makes sense as to why he in particular isn’t in the game. He reportedly had attitude and behavioral issues backstage as well as showing up late.
• You can find that Jericho unused theme from 2008 on TH-cam if you really want to torture your ears. However, I’d instead recommend just getting an MP3 of his 2002 thene on a USB drive and editing it in as his theme in Create-An-Entrance.
• Speaking od creation modes, I believe this was the last to allow you to have, for example, a male C-A-W and give them female attire, makeup, etc. I bring this up because it actually allowed me to make a pretty awesome looking Santina Marella, Santino’s on-screen sister.
• Finally, last but certainly not least, this was the only game in the series on XBOX 360 which I was able to get all rhe achievements for. It’s definitely an accomplishment from my days playing XBOX consoles that I look back at fondly, right up there with the likes of having _Grand Theft Auto IV_ become the only game in the GTA series I’ve ever gotten 100% in-game completion in, along with the Key to the City achievement. Good times.
If you didn’t play online on this game, you missed out plain and simple. It was madness.
HBK was doing that sitdown figure four as a lead up to a submission match between DX and legacy (ted debiase jr and cody rhodes) after DX won that they then went on a month later to beat jerishow for tag titles to be honest I believe that's why the hype for this game was based around the tag aspect, DX was the biggest merchandise movers for there run during that time so they went with that as the game dropped when DX was there unified tagteam champs, I enjoyed this game as a 19 year old who was starting to get mega pissed at the wwe product at the time haha, removing GM mode made me so mad hahaha, anyway keep up the awesome vids Ian bro, love your work man, much love from Australia 🇦🇺..... and no, not all of us breakdance as bad as that Olympic chick hahaha
I thought he started using it when he feuded with randy orton after Randy punted him and took him out for months
Another great video! I NEVER knew about the Godfather's exclusion until now. I also agree that the Transfer feature in WWE L.O.WM should've allowed legends to appear in SVR 2009.
14:48 I get the reference. And I agree 100%
Commented before watching the video:
If you think SvR 2008 was worse, 2009 will prove that wrong. This game was so bare bones, similar to WWE 2K15 on the next gen. I remember playing this on the PSP, and yes, I played it for an entire year while waiting for SvR 2010 to come but man it was a drag. No actual career mode, no GM mode, heck, no challenges like the ones on SvR 06 and 07 or the Hall of Fame challenges like SvR 08. It didn't have anything! The only thing I loved about the game is Chris Jericho's Save Me tights and the Evolution stable.
I remember Shawn using that figure 4. however I don't remember anyone ever tapping out to it. Idk why it was allowed, but three men were using the figure 4 as a finisher. Greg Valentine,Ronnie Garvin and of course Ric Flair. Two were in the then WWF. While Ric was in the AWA/WCW. Back then finishers were protected. You didn't dare use another wrestlers finisher.
It happened from time to time during hbk’s feud with flair leading up to mania 24 but usually flair was either close by or in the tag match with Shawn during this
The hillbilly part😂😂🔥
Hated that 09 got rid of GM mode and create a championship. Road to Wrestlemania is still better than the 2K career mode. 2011 is my favorite for the back stage interactions
I came up with the following move in a dream: a fireman's carry into a facebuster where the person doing the move drops their opponent on their knees
While this game isn’t as beloved compared to the other games in this series, and some consider this as the weakest SVR game, I still enjoy this game quite a bit. The roster was decent enough for me despite some questionable decisions, Road to WrestleMania was an amazing time, Tag Team matches were fun with the new mechanics, and like previous years, I played the hell out of this game with my brother and cousins given we were still fans of wrestling at the time. So despite the problems as they truly are there, this game is still a good time for me and sometimes I’m lucky to play it again with my family, but most of the time, they’d prefer 06 or 07 to replay and I don’t blame them, given how legendary they are. Great retrospective, Ian, and although you had no personal stories here, I’m glad you still had a good time with this game🙂. I can’t wait for your future retrospectives, and I hope you and all the DanDans continue to have good days. Stay safe, and I love you all.❤️😊
i think weakest would go to the first svr honestly, coming off of HTCP and how much stuff they scrapped or toned down, but this game is at least the 2nd weakest after 08, which also gets lot of flack, 08 had the awful fighting styles but at least it had an actual GM Mode and "Career mode" outside of the very linear RTWM.
@@Waluigiisbest99 Hard to call SVR05 the weakest when it was still more fun to play than 08 & 09. Most wrestling games look weak compared to HCTP.
@@jp3813 Yeah I enjoyed SvR for what it was but it was a let down compared to HCTP. They started to move in a more realistic presentation and direction, the graphics and models are awesome but the AI is a bit dumb and for some god forsaken reason they removed the winning animations.
@@MarlonAnthony At least the Royal Rumble eliminations was a huge improvement. It was also the last time that "Create a PPV" was featured, and I believe the first time that championships & stables can be created as well.
The roster in this game should have been the roster for svr 2008 cause I’m like why they just now added London and Kendrick and Victoria into the game where they all should have made the cut for svr 2006-2008
I was also completely checked out from wrestling when this game came out, I checked it out and the game just felt really empty and had an off feeling and I haven't gone back to it since. Love these retrospectives honestly very interesting and always worth watching.
Off topic, but man I miss having Victoria in a WWE game! She’s just an irreplaceable character that can’t be replicated with anyone else.
The model they used for her in 2009 was absolutely amazing! She definitely needs to return to the franchise at least once with 2K!
Thank you bro for helping us simple folk get through the day by giving us 30 min pockets of simplicity and happiness ❤
this and svr 2010 were the main wrestling games i played as a kid until i found shut your mouth and just bring it for a combined 8 dollars at gamestop. was born in 2001 so i knew about the attitude and ruthless aggression eras but i was too young to really watch those times and had no idea the games from that period were so much better than the ones i grew up with. i found it so cool to play with masked kane and american badass undertaker and i was especially blown away by shut your mouth as a lot of the animations from that game carried over to later versions. i found it incredible that a game from 2002 held up so well and still does today
I was a huge GM Mode guy. Was the main reason I bought SVR 06-08. When I bought this and saw it was removed, I was devastated. Didn't play longer than 3wks
If i had to take a guess, they probably cut The Godfather because that was the year that they went full PG.
Vince ruined everything for Linda's political career, and she STILL never got voted in. When Trump was in office naturally he gave Linda a role in his cabinet somewhere in economics because, all things considered, she WAS integral to turning things around for WWF during The Monday Night Wars, but clearly Vince ruining wrestling was all for nothing 😂
The best Smackdown games starting from Smackdown Shut Your Mouth all the way to SVR 2007 are the best ones. 2008 and later till now things went downhill
Idk if anyone else has commented about it yet, but Jericho's strange theme was supposed to be his when he turned heel. They even put it on the CD that came out of WWE theme songs, but they just never used it irl.
And as for Shawn's inverted figure four, he used it a little bit in 2009, even in his match with undertaker at mania if I'm not mistaken, but they dropped it as a possible new move.
Tag team matches with our created superstars is what me and my brother played all the time. Did not miss the legends at all
Michaels started using the modified figure four in the run-up to the Wrestlemania 24 match with Flair. Also I assume 'Normal submission' is a one fall submission-only match as opposed to an 'Ultimate Submission' match
Edit: It appears Ultimate Sumbmission isn't even in the game so thats weird.
although i never fell outta wrestling, i did fall outta the games from svr 08- svr 11, wwe 12 brought me back and wwe 13 is still my fav til this day
I've got a strong attachment to SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2009. I wasn't very fond of SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2008, and this game felt like a massive step up. For starters, as restrictive as it could be with wrestlers' abilities, you had much more freedom than the previous game's Fighting Styles gave you. My only major complaint is that you had to complete My Career Mode to unlock the Hardcore Championship. But I suppose that's a good incentive to see all the game has to offer.
Speaking of which, the soundtrack is still pretty dope. And on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 Versions, you had the option to watch Undertaker Vs. Edge from WrestleMania XXIV.
SVR 09 is not only my first WWE game, but also what got me into wrestling period. In a period of wrestling only fondly remembered by people my age (because nostalgia) SVR 09 and especially 11 carried the WWE brand for us. 11 for its physics, creation, and Road to WrestleMania are worth checking out if you have the time.
I guess cause I played in an e-fed with at least 20-30 other people. this game was epic.
Hey DanDan!
Yes Shawn Michaels started using a modified version of the figure four leglock in early 2008 until he wrestled Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 24. The only reason I know is because he's my GOAT and I was watching every week excited because I had floor seat tickets for Wrestlemania at the Citrus Bowl.
This was my brothers and I’s first SvR game. I remember having a good time with it.
Man, I love this game honestly. It was my first wrestling games I owned. And it was great on the Wii.
I remember playing this a lot during the mid to late 2010s, fun times.
Playing the ps2 versions of all the svr games on pcsx2. Graphics and gameplay are really good. 2009 was the most ok SVR of the series. Svr 1, 2006 and 7 are goat tier, while in 2007, the games slowly went downhill with SVR 2008.
Wasn't expecting this upload but it's a welcome one thanks Ian makes my Friday easier.
Lemme tell ya BROTHER, I love these wrestling retrospectives and can’t get enough 👌
I'll always remember this game for the following reasons. I had SVR08, I had a choice to upgrade to SVR09 or get TNA impact. I opted to get TNA just because I thought it was cool and different. I mean, the roster hadn't changed that much from SvR08 anyway aside from the legends.
I bought 2 copies of TNA impact, this is because unbelievably BOTH copies were bugged. My Xbox would freeze every time I woke up in that Dusty hospital during the TNA story mode. I returned the game and got a new one which had the same problem.. I ended up finally swopping the 2nd bugged copy for SVR09.
I vaguely remember the Batista/Rey RTWM , but other than that... I remember putting the game in and wondering why it had such a dark, almost yellowish tint to everything. WWE matches looked like Indy shows. It put me off alot. To where i havw no recollection of any other gameplay even tho i did play the game for a relatively long time until SvR10. But yeah til today I really do wonder who decided on the art direction and to make the inring stuff so...Gloomy
This was my first wrestling game I played, my friend had it and he was the one who got me into wrestling with this game
This was the first wrestling game I ever played and it will always have a special place in my heart
I hear you on that one.
Remember being on an outing with my dad and my brother when we were off from school one week went to one of our favorite video games stores only had a little bit of money to pick out at least 2 games we had a playstation 3 at the time I ended up getting tekken 6 and my brother ended up getting this I'm pretty sure the trailer for smackdown vs raw 2011 had just dropped by that time this was passable at the time but 2010 and 2011 were much more enjoyable homely I'd much rather go back and play these rather than the current 2k series with the exception of 2k19 that was good ❤❤
Dude first off thanks for all the great content, secondly we both stopped watching during the same time period, i actually went to a raw in 08 right before they went fully PG and stopped watching within 2 weeks after that raw, I came back in 2011 when punk dropped the pipe bomb, I did have SVR09&10 love them both to this day mostly nostalgic reasons, but SVR 08 was absolutely dog shit
You actually touched on the reason why there are no legends in the game. It's so people will buy the Legends of WrestleMania game.
Can’t wait until you talk about SVR 2011🐐🐐
King of the ring tournament at the time was on the raw brand
It’s called Normal submission match
1.to differentiate it from the ultimate submission match
(Ironman submissions only match)
2. To have a quick way to set up the match without going through
match rules first on normal match
Chris Jericho never used that theme they just wasn’t able to get the rights to the song for some odd reason (if I recall correctly he had the correct theme on the Wii version tho
That was Shawn Michaels secondary finisher for a time before just becoming a signature move
As for the Shawn Figure-Four, I remember him putting it on Jeff Hardy in the main event(?) of a RAW. That's the only time I remember him doing it off the top of my head.
So it is indeed a case of "hey he's done this thing a couple times... put it in there" lol
@616Entertainment Would certainly seem so. I don't even know why I remember such a specific match tbh lol
This is my first time watching your channel, great video. I know you weren’t watching wrestling during this time but I wanna hear you talk about SvR10. That game was a big step up from 09
As always thank you for the content, recently subbed to patrion (low level) but the extra content is amazing, it's also got me watching GM showdown and noo taxes Nigel so thanks again 😂
Smackdown Vs Raw 2007 was the last wrestling game I've played on the PS2, and after that I stopped playing the later sequels. Even I lost interest in WWE games. Now I'm in the mood to play "Shut Your Mouth" and "Here Comes The Pain" again.
I used to get the new SvR game every year for Christmas. I played so much of 2008 and 09, that I got bored by the time 2010 came out. WWE 13 was the last game I got which is arguably one of my favourites besides Here Comes The Pain. 2009 was awesome for introducing the Road to WrestleMania mode for sure!
14:49 Dude! This was fucking amazing! She got her revenge!
its a well know fact from a Dev from a few years ago, Road to WrestleMania creation was a year long collab with wwe writers and yukes story tellers. it had so much effort put in then the rest of the game
The modified Figure 4 was used by HBK when he had that feud with Ric Flair
Same boat as you. Was fading out of wwe. But I remember rebuying it on Xbox 360 and it was alright and fun for a while. Just found a rom version someone made that added Wrestlers from 08, and 09 like Kurt Angle, Rock, RVD, Stone Cold etc with their moves and entrances and I think it’s the definitive version of it !
Even tho SvR 09 did look more realistic, I still always preferred the look of SvR 07’s next gen graphics on Xbox 360.
Replacing GM Mode with Career Mode was A Highway Robbery
Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 was the last SVR game I played. In 2009 and 2010 I was not a WWE fan anymore I was just watching TNA wrestling and UFC and boxing 🥊
Yea, MMA was a huge catalyst in me leaving wrestling behind.
I agree smackdown and svr are their own separate series. However here comes the pain to svr 06 are practically identical from a gameplay aspect..
I’m enjoying these retrospectives. 06 was the final game I truly played and it’s pretty cool seeing the games I missed out on. So far I’d say 07 is much better than 08 and 09. Looking forward to the final 2 games
I'd put 2007 over them, yea.
You pointed out something I didn't realize. Normal submission match is called that because in the previous games there were normal and ultimate submission match, however it seems here they only bring the normal one, and the ultimate is gone ? and the normal one left untouched instead of renaming it to just submission.
This one, to me, was the worst SVR that I played. It was how I felt at the time losing the gm mode and season mode. Felt like a chore to play when I had it.
The way you felt about 08, is how I felt about 09. It was tough. We’re around the same age too so yeah I was feeling the same way about wrestling then. The only access to wrestling I had back then was SVR2010, which was GREAT
love the reviews
Also Shawn used that inverted figure 4 in his story leading up to flairs retirement
Shawn's submission would barely qualify as a signature. He used it frequently there for a stretch but i dont think it ever ended a match.
Been waiting for another one of these
This game is my childhood.
Red smack pizza is worse..... it's raw.
MY personal memory of SvR2009 was... well... I didn't buy and didn't care. Was still playing good old SvR2006 at that time. The biggest issue I had with the SvR games, were the outdated move animations. Can you believe the "Benoit Elbowdrop" lasted from Just Bring It until SvR2010? Holy shiat!
14:22
I give this a 7 out of 5 stars in the Meltzer meter. 😄
I agree with you smack down vs Raw starts a new chapter so you're right Because I think the wwe raw games wasn't making that much money on xbox So I think that's why the company came together and started smackdown vs raw
I thought Shawn did that figure four in the Survivor Series match against Randy Orton in 2007 where he can't use sweet chin music. He does a bunch of submissions in that match but not that one. I do know he uses the move on Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 24 so he must have started using it for the build to that match.
Doing a little research. He uses the move in a tag match with Ric Flair against Cade and Murdoch so that might be the first time he used it.
Great video, 09 wasn't very memorable but it was an improvement over the experimental 08. It's funny how much they pushed the "reworked" tag matches even though all they did was add one new mechanic. It was half baked. Also, those tiny titles. What the fuck.
Lol I stopped watching WWE around 2006-2007 but I was a freshman in college when this game came out. I thought it was okay but my interest died until SvR2011 and wwe12 hit the scene.
I wasn't a gm mode fan. So it wasn't any loss for me on this. The tag focus seemed like they really wanted to capitalize on Jeff hardy's return.
for as much as I hated this game, I fucking loved that one off Jericho theme
And the modified Figure Four was something Shawn was using for a very short time around January of 2008 to build to Flair’s retirement
Definitely agree 09 wasn’t a bad game but for me was the starting downfall of the wwe games, I was more and losing interest in wrestling and the game itself with a lack of a career mode and the short road to wrestlemania made this game a lot less fun.
After the WCW n64 titles, SvR 08 and WWE 13 are the two titles I spent the most time with. I check out every game yearly, although I don't think that's going to continue, But I put hundreds of hours into both of those.
Yeah I rode 13 til the wheels fell off literally I played it to the point I actually had to stop because I knew every animation and what was coming next the next best one was '17 then a case of I buy them and actually didn't enjoy them now I've just accepted I'm one of those guys who enjoys watching shit to do with wrestling but not actively engaging in anything with it
I played this game a lot with my Dad. We even made ourselves & my Dad put himself in a faction with Cryme Tyme.
(They were our favorite tag team during that time.)
Didn’t know The Godfather was in the files! Maybe he was suppose to be a DLC character?
I think EVERYONE had checked out of wrestling by 2008. Your a fucking TRUE fan if you went through the attitude era and stuck around till now.
This retrospective makes me want to check this game out.
Hasn't gotten high in price, I'm sure you can track down a nice, affordable copy. =)
@10:56 that’s my exact complaint about the new HIAC restrictions in recent games! Why the hell do they no longer let you fight by the ring post and make the wrestler automatically walk around it? You also can’t walk around the wrestler when they are downed there, and can’t hit them when they are standing near there. It RUINED my favorite match type
I love WWE SmackDown Vs Raw 2009 on PS2 but WWE SmackDown Vs Raw 2010 is so much better than 2009.
Oh man, I think when I tried 2010 I hated it. Might've been 2011, we'll see whenever I get there.
I was watching some RAW from 2008 on Peacock recently and I think I might've seen HBK using that move at one point, so maybe they got it from there? I don't know, I could be wrong and it might've been a different move. also Ashley's ball-kicker RKO finisher was amazing
I didn't miss GM mode. Well, I didn't miss WWE until 2012 for a bit and then until 2020 a bit and now again. Triple H really does a better job, the games never recovered though. 2K20 was the last fun one, like 2007 was back then, 2008 was such a trainwreck I lost interest in absolutely everything wrestling related for 4 to 5 years.
I think its called Normal submission is because they had ultimate submission which was most submissions in a time limit.
As much as I loved watching Celebrity Death Match I never played the game.
CM Punk's RTWM was really good.
Funny enough my good memories of this version of SVR is of the Nintendo DS version 😂