If you want to see The History of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, now is the time to sign up. I will be refreshing and rehauling the Patreon Support Project goals in June. Thanks for watching! www.patreon.com/616Entertainment
@HotmanGaming129 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater means Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. THUG, THAW, THP8, THPG, those are all separate things. The History of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater will cover games called 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (number).'
My interest in wrestling was roughly from 1991 to 2003. Rock and Austin being gone, the name change, the brand split, Triple H’s rot, adding a second world championship, retiring the IC, Euro and Hardcore belts, and Scott Steiner being a main eventer killed my interest.
Same here. I’ve always loved the aesthetics of the game’s menu and renders and how Yuke’s interpreted the garish product visually into a cool looking fighting game. Even if it’s not up to standard with other entries, I’ve always loved it and I’ve owned it on every console it came out on other than the PSP/PS2.
The ECW commentary in this game is probably my favourite commentary in any wrestling game ever. "It's truly a game of human chess." "And I'm stuck here next to the lonely pawn." LOL
This is bizarre for me because this was probably the height of my fandom as a kid. This was the first WWE game that I had ever bought with my own money and then I was disappointed in it. '08 didn't give me the same feeling that '06 & '07 did and even my friends agreed with me. I think I played '08 for a week before going back to '07. OP Sandman is dope in this one, but the gameplay just didn't cut it.
As a kid, I LOVED this game so much. I couldn’t tell you how much I played the shit out of it back then. But nowadays, while I wouldn’t say it’s my least favorite game in the SVR series, I definitely agree that it has A LOT of flaws. The roster while it is a lot of big names, it still is missing a lot of current talent at the time, the gameplay while not the worst, it was such a downgrade from SVR 2007, and 24/7 mode sucks with the repetitive cutscenes and that. But the few positives there are, they help me like it a bit more. The soundtrack is one of my all time favorites in the whole series, the fighting styles while controversial, I appreciated the uniqueness they delivered, GM mode was still as fun as ever, and I love the ECW content. In general tho, I respect your opinion, Ian, and I thank you for always being honest in all of your retrospectives. It truly makes these videos more unique and I love that. So thank you for another banger video in my favorite series on 616, I hope you and all the DanDans have a lovely and safe weekend, and I love you all.😊❤️
couldn’t have said it better myself. I played this game religiously as a kid but going back to it now, I was FLOORED by how slow the movement was and the odd qol issues with the game. it still has the best SvR soundtrack oat imo
This game could've been salvageable if it had a more accurate roster. I still cannon forgive them for leaving out RVD, Big Show, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch, Kevin Thorn, Ariel, Boogeyman, Miz, Layla, Brooke, Stevie Richards, Joey Mercury, Hardcore Holly, Santino Marella, Viscera, Matt Striker, Deuce N' Domino, Cherry, Jimmy Wang Yang, Dave Taylor, London and Kendrick. This was big concern for me considering I mostly played GM Mode. Thank God for the definitive edition.
WWE SvR 08’s 24/7 Mode somehow foreshadowed the Authority storyline in which the players’ chosen WWE Superstars have to go toe to toe against the evil McMahon Family who’ll use their power to screw everyone just for the heck of it! Also, I remember playing SvR 08 in a PSP Emulator, using John Cena and Cena has been on a dominant run, whooping the competition left and right and the McMahons said “Let’s make Cena look like a chump just because we have the power to do so! Mwahahahahaha!” I fought Umaga in a No DQ match and I lost due to McMahon Family BS, putting a stain on Super Cena’s winning record.
This really feels like how me and my brothers felt with svr08. We figured out in a few hours we didn't really like it and went back to svr06/07. They traded at their school a week later for another game and we never thought about it again.
FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE TALKED ABOUT THE DINGY LIGHTING IN THIS GAME! I thought I was the only one who noticed! It really took the immersive experience away for me and for a decade I thought I was the only one who cared
I think every wrestling fan has a point in their life where they just grow up / grow out of / become tired of wrestling. But they always come back to it...
I'm going to he completely honest... this game is a guilty pleasure of mine. And it might just be my favourite wrestling game of all time, and I'll explain why. (TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE MENTION) It's 2007. I'm 3 years old. Me and my older brother were obsessed with professional wrestling at this time. My mom knew this and so, for Christmas, managed to get us an XBOX 360 and a copy of SvR 2008. We played that game so much, I'm confident that our playtime reached triple digits within weeks of getting it. We loved the music, the creation suite, GM Mode, everything. Sure, it was a flawed game, but to a bunch of younge kids, we loved it. Fast forward to 2008. It's Christmas time again, and I assume that we're going to get SvR 2009 for Christmas. Well, a few days before Christmas, my mother decided to end her own life. It was sudden, shocking and broke all of our hearts. We ended up moving in with my dad, who brought over everything from our old house. We didn't get any presents from mom that year, as she knew she was going to die, and didn't bother buying any. My dad soon went out and bought SvR 2009 to try and take our minds off of mum. While my brother played SvR 2009, I was hesitant to. I eventually did, but once I unlocked everything, I went straight back to SvR 2008. Ever since then, I've made it a tradition to boot SvR 2008 back up every now and again to relieve my childhood. Does it remind me of a really dark part of my childhood? Yeah, it does. But it also reminds me of my mom, and what a wonderful and caring woman she was. Thanks for buying me my favourite game, Mom. I miss you so much.
24/7 is weird. You need to understand how it work to get different storylines. Basically you need to consider that every raw or smackdown up to the pay per view as a block. Every block has three potential storylines. 1-normal story (no world title involed) 2-Number one contender (you challenge for the world title) 3-Championship defense Usually if you win every match in a normal story, you’ll get an email from coach or Teddy long at the end of the ppv that ask you if you wanna compete for the world title. If you accept, you get a number one contender storyline. If you refuse you get another normal storyline.
I like this game growing up Christmas of 2007 we decided to get a 360 as a family Christmas gift and this was the main game me and my bros wanted and our daddy got devil may cry 4 our friends that we went to school with would come over and we'd spend hours playing this game soundtrack still holds up for the most part I know a lot of people see this on as downgraded but I personally still love this game ❤❤❤
Shout out to your snail! It moves faster than the cruiserweights in this game. 😂 Even as a kid who saw the world thru rose color glasses, even I didn’t enjoy this game all that much. I played Thrillville more than I did this game & I got both on Christmas Eve. The only thing that saved this game for me was Extreme Rules Matches & GM Mode. The soundtrack was really good too! Sevendust is such an underrated band. 👍🏽
TBF about the Jeff Hardy springboard DDT move, i think he did actually pull it off a few times around 2002-2003 during his first solo run But also TBF, i also hate it when game devs take up precious move-slots w/ moves the wrestler did maybe once ever (they do this a lot w/ HBK these days a lot i feel, adding uncharacteristic moves he pulled off 1 time only during his matches with Angle, like powerbombs and whatnot lol)
Finally caught this last night. The gameplay being so slow would have broken me if I bought this back in the day. The different modes are great, but not being able to have a save for each one at the same time is really frustrating. Having fully voiced story modes is interesting on paper, but then having some of these guys doing line reads…you start to think “maybe this was a mistake” haha. Great video as always, I laughed too hard at the nonchalant crowd response and commentary after a guy gets powerbombed off a cell through a table.
Yea, this was during the time when the brand was transitioning to the PG era. Also happened during the Benoit tragedy and WWE tried to save face. I can understand how people who grew up on wrestling during the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras felt after that, and I'm with them. But I never stopped watching back then because it is what it is. But now it seems like they are slowly getting back to the more aggressive style since competition is heating up with AEW around. Anyway, I can't remember how I liked this game back when I played it, as it was just another yearly wrestling game. I do remember enjoying it for what it was. But I can see your points on it that it was flawed.
Correction (I know imma sound like a nerd in this comment but who cares) Jeff Hardy actually has done a springboard moonsault before he just never did it in WWE. The match where he had done it was in a IWA match against Super Crazy.
I know this game got bashed in this video, but I love this game. My grandpa was diagnosed with cancer when I got this game, and I played it constantly to get my mind off of that and to make me feel better. I needed this game. So maybe it’s not a great game, but I love it.
Going from SVR 2007 to this one was a hard downgrade as far as overall quality goes. I remember playing this one thinking I’d be getting the same enjoyment as SVR07 with a different roster and being so disappointed. SN: this was Michelle McCool’s second game ☺️
I only played 24/7 mode twice and never again after that. They took away Season Mode and replaced it with that? I still can't cope with that after all these years.
SVR 08 was the first game i preordered from Gamestop. My parents got me 07 for Christmas and it remains one of my favorite games of all time. The hype coming into 08 was insane. When I finally got my hands on it it was one of the most deflating moments as a gamer. Fortunately HCTP 06 & 07 all got me through the next few years.
The introspective is always funny as our stories often line up, this was the last wrestling game I ever bought and I was also at that age where after years of liking wrestling that time/era was just done. This was a ton of fun and a great walk down memory lane to an often overlooked memory
Funny story, I remember downloading and installing a PS2 Memory card file that changed John Morrisons name and drafted all of the wrestlers to their 'actual legit' show.
This was actually my favorite or second favorite of the vs. series. I loved finally getting Jeff Hardy and making him and Rey mysterio a tag team was always a good time
Ian, your personal story about quitting wrestling was the exact same story for me and my brother. We even came back for a short stint when CM punk dropped his pipe bomb!
Bro, I felt exactly the same. Pro wrestling quickly died for me around the start of the HD-Era. And every time I check back on it, I'm more ashamed of it than ever, the whole industry just keeps getting worse. Continuously.
Ian, I remember you in your Smackdown vs Raw video and you said that the sequel burnout was avoided for that game. Well, I think we found the game where sequel burnout has happened.
This was my first new wrestling game and I remember booting it up on Christmas Day on PS2 and playing a bit of it. Then later on in the day I remember playing the game over at my Nans with my cousins. And I believe one of them had the Wii version of the game.
This was the first wrestling game I owned, since it came out around the time wrestling started being popular with kids around my age at my school. My parents pre-ordered it, first time I ever heard you could do that with a game. I know I look at it with rose-tinted glasses but it's impossible to not have a soft spot for it, given that it was what we used to play back then. I don't know what would have happened if I got 07 instead, since this game also introduced me to ECW and taught me a bit about some of the legends from that promotion that I appreciate now. I would definitely play other games before it now, but I can thank it for what it was worth.
Great work as always Ian. Our wrestling journeys are very similar as after 2008 I pretty match checked out of anything Wrestling related. I bought SvR ‘09 but didn’t enjoy it nor played it much. I didn’t buy another game until WWE 2K14. Gotta say though that I did enjoy ‘08 mostly due to the roster and match variety, but I agree thar compared to ‘06 and ‘07 it was a step down.
I’ve been watching wrestling since 1997 and I graduated in 2004. Sadly I fell out of love with wrestling from 2006-2015. Quite a hiatus. I got to play a lot of the svr series for the first time a few years ago. Now they are a part of my collection! I think I stopped playing wrestling games around Day of Reckoning 2.
I don't care what anyone says, Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 is an awesome game and up there with 07 as the best SVR games in the series. GM mode was great, season mode -24/7 mode was great. Soundtrack, Roster, Hall of Fame. Played it so much
It's fun no I disagree the roster was a letdown they hardly had any ecw wrestlers plus this has the smallest on disc roster for the 360/ps3 era. 24 7 mode got repetitive cool idea poor execution
This game was not great the lack of roster depth didn't help this empty game, it's fun for a bit but once you've seen it all in that game it's just repetitive cutscenes and nonsensical storylines
This was the first WWE game I played. I actually enjoyed this game until I got svr 2006 & 2007. Once I got those. I put this game on the back burner. Even I felt something felt off the first time I played it. Keep in mind I didn't play any WWE game before this. I'll never forget playing SVR 2008 one night during a thunderstorm. I either completed something or unlocked something. Either way I put in a lot of time doing it. Right as I went to save & right as the save successful message popped up the power went out.
Your trajectory of interest is very similar to mine. After the Benoit tragedy, I had sort of checked out for a while. Never even bought 08. I bought 09 and remember being disappointed by it. And didn’t really check back in fully until the pipebomb. And even then didn’t buy a new wrestling game until 2K14.
This was my last wrestling game that I've played, and then after that my interest in wrestling games began to diminished after the next one came out. Looking at Smackdown Vs Raw 2008, makes want to revist it.
Thank you Ian, for another great video. I really liked your personal storys. I played this on the PS2 and I was happy that the belts did not look like in the Next Gen versions. SVR08 is really the worst of the SVR Games but I played it so much with a friend.
Finally got to hear your opinion on this one! It's been a while since I played it too. Last time I played it, i made a successful GM Mode attempt playing as ECW! It's also clear GM mode wasn't really balanced for three brands, because on every playthrough of GM Mode, one of the three brands always ended up with 0 fans and no way of recovery! Only way I could save that brand was by trading my popular superstars for theirs and giving them a fighting chance! While this wasn't my introduction to the SmackDown games, Svr 08 was the first I owned on my PS2, and I fell in love with it! Played it so damn much even buying the PSP and PS3 versions too! It's no longer my favorite and even less so it's not the best, but I'll always hold it dear to my heart! But this game still has my favorite licensed music out of ALL the Smackdown games! Famous, Well Enough Alone, etc. With SvR 09 having my second favorite licensed music! That being said after experiencing the other games myself, you're criticisms are very fair and understandable. Especially going from 07's speed to 08's speed would have been super jarring if I played them in order. GM Mode was the biggest lost for me for so long! It was my absolute favorite game mode no matter which game it was! 09's Career, 10/11's Create a Story, and Universe Mode were never a true replacement. Will move on to your 09 video now! Hope you this puts a smile on your face whenever you read this!
Wanna know some cool glitches in this game.. (its long when I'm describing them) Glitch 1: steel cage match use brawler wrestler Irish whip your opponent on lower left corner Activate brawler Once perform grapple and land the camera angle all messed up as your opponent won't be able get up ------------- Glitch 2: Wanna get inside the crowd go out the ring you or friend either do special grapple of back breaker on the ring pose then walk toward barricade ----------- Glitch 3: Get outside steel cage you and friend need climb to the top don't leave both need to jump at same time when done correctly you can explore as the ring bell your way enter and exit whenever you want
I played the svr games before high school. I dont remember all the negetives, honestly. Me and my friends and I bought them to go wild with the custom characters, and that was hours of endless fun. Royal rumbles with 30 custom characters were the shit. There would be guys like mr.clean, sonic the hedge hog, borat, santa, mike tyson, a random garbage man, an alean, our own personal custom wrestlers, big foot, jason voorhees, chuck norris, carl johnson, ... you get the idea, lol. We went nuts and customized everything about those guys. It was some of the most fun ever watching Santa Clause throw borat off the hell in a cell for hours. I loved it
Same here Ian Smackdown vs Raw 2008 was the last Smackdown vs Raw franchise that I played. The wrestling game that got me back into wrestling games was WWE 2k13! My friends told me you can play in Attitude era and it had old school wrestlers! That’s the game that got me interested back in wrestling!
I always said that after the PS2 "big five" (which is from Shut your Mouth to SvR 2007) as I call them, wrestling games were not the same for a while until we got SvR 2011 that wrestling games were back to be great again, they weren't the same as the old ones but still great. Side note: Michelle McCool debuted in SvR 2006, just saying.
Hey, I just tried the 360 version of the game next to the PS3 one. It turns out the PS3 version is a lot more slower and the framerate is way under 30, which is the normal for a game. 360 version is way faster and smoother. Any chance you can try the 360 one and update us on what you think about the faster and smoother version of the game ? (and 2009 is the same framerate mess as well) The framerate problem get's bigger when you try to put 6 man match , on the 360 is perfect no slow down whatsoever, on the PS3 for example elimination chamber it's barely playable.
I remember getting this on Christmas 2007 along with WWE SVR 2007, Sonic Unleashed, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2006), Tomb Raider Legend, Splinter Cell Double Agent, and Tenchu Z. WWE SVR 2008 is not bad, but it's extremely slow like they all gained steel hips. This game was the last to not only have a season mode or GM mode, but also the last for fighting in the crowd, buried alive match, and it was the last game that was released under the WWE Ruthless Aggression era I grew up with. Obviously, WWE SVR 2009 was the last game with intergender wrestling and was made during the WWE Ruthless Aggression era, but released during the WWE PG era. I played every WWE SVR game on Xbox 360, so I know the other three games in the series if you want some info on it.
Yay even back then i knew something was off about svr 08 and i was only 9 years old and two years into watching wrestling. Thank God svr 09 introduced Road to Wrestlemania mode.
Not gonna lie, I was not expecting you to cover this game in TXSO. I assumed you said all you wanted to say on it when I asked about it on the 616 Discord. Color me surprised when I saw this video pop up in my notifications and I saw you had so much more to say on 2008. Great job on this video, Dan Dan. X3 BTW, is it funny that although SvR 2008 was the game that made you lose interest in the series, it was also my introduction to the series? lol
It's been bothering me for a long time that I couldn't figure out what the music at the end of your videos was and it just fuckin hit me! Boy meets world! 😂
Okay this retrospective was awesome and I agree entirely, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that we need a "Shoot Snail" T-shirt from Wrestling Tees
I share your experiences with the hassle of Strong Grapples. Me and my friends stuck solely to weak grapples so we didn't have to bother. I also agree with you on the WWE games getting slower in gameplay as they moved toward the simulation-based systems used by the 2K games. I recall finding WWE SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2006 very slow in gameplay one day. But it moves at a breakneck speed compared to WWE SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2008. After playing WWE 2K19 one day, I was floored by how much faster SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2006 was more than the former. I think I only found SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2006 slow, because I was playing Here Comes The Pain earlier. And Here Comes The Pain moves like a Formula 1 Race Car compared to SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2008. And it's night and day when stacking up to the 2K Games.
This was one of my favs and I don’t remember it being that slow I found the game play very enjoyable I loved that they added ECW and I thought the roster what really good but I wasn’t falling out of love with wrestling like you said you were so I get it
If you want to see The History of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, now is the time to sign up. I will be refreshing and rehauling the Patreon Support Project goals in June. Thanks for watching!
www.patreon.com/616Entertainment
I loved this game.
If I could make a suggestion for one of those goals I'd love a retrospective on the Simpsons hit and run
@@BrianTXtreme classic
@HotmanGaming129 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater means Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. THUG, THAW, THP8, THPG, those are all separate things. The History of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater will cover games called 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (number).'
My interest in wrestling was roughly from 1991 to 2003. Rock and Austin being gone, the name change, the brand split, Triple H’s rot, adding a second world championship, retiring the IC, Euro and Hardcore belts, and Scott Steiner being a main eventer killed my interest.
Oh man the “Stacy Keibler!” Into silence got me good
Dude, Stacy Keibler was super hot.
@@adnanasif9538 Still is.
Weirdly enough, SVR 2008 got me INTO wrestling which is wild enough to think about 17 years later.
Same here. I’ve always loved the aesthetics of the game’s menu and renders and how Yuke’s interpreted the garish product visually into a cool looking fighting game.
Even if it’s not up to standard with other entries, I’ve always loved it and I’ve owned it on every console it came out on other than the PSP/PS2.
Same . First one I owned
i SWORE i was the ONLY PERSON who noticed how MINIMIZED the belts were 😂😂😂
The ECW commentary in this game is probably my favourite commentary in any wrestling game ever.
"It's truly a game of human chess."
"And I'm stuck here next to the lonely pawn." LOL
That Benoit part was so savage 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Benoit is in svr 2008🔥🔥🔥 ua-cam.com/video/C070NoSJOB0/v-deo.htmlsi=csxHnoocYHpzfzQW
Smackdown vs Raw 2011 is such a gem. That would be a great review.
This is bizarre for me because this was probably the height of my fandom as a kid. This was the first WWE game that I had ever bought with my own money and then I was disappointed in it. '08 didn't give me the same feeling that '06 & '07 did and even my friends agreed with me. I think I played '08 for a week before going back to '07. OP Sandman is dope in this one, but the gameplay just didn't cut it.
As a kid, I LOVED this game so much. I couldn’t tell you how much I played the shit out of it back then. But nowadays, while I wouldn’t say it’s my least favorite game in the SVR series, I definitely agree that it has A LOT of flaws. The roster while it is a lot of big names, it still is missing a lot of current talent at the time, the gameplay while not the worst, it was such a downgrade from SVR 2007, and 24/7 mode sucks with the repetitive cutscenes and that. But the few positives there are, they help me like it a bit more. The soundtrack is one of my all time favorites in the whole series, the fighting styles while controversial, I appreciated the uniqueness they delivered, GM mode was still as fun as ever, and I love the ECW content. In general tho, I respect your opinion, Ian, and I thank you for always being honest in all of your retrospectives. It truly makes these videos more unique and I love that. So thank you for another banger video in my favorite series on 616, I hope you and all the DanDans have a lovely and safe weekend, and I love you all.😊❤️
couldn’t have said it better myself. I played this game religiously as a kid but going back to it now, I was FLOORED by how slow the movement was and the odd qol issues with the game. it still has the best SvR soundtrack oat imo
Ps2 version was much better
I played the 24/7mode over and over again didn’t care it was repetitive it was so good!
I loved 24/7 mode
Bro I never knew you could see your entrance in first person what the hell!!
That was a PS3 exclusive
This game could've been salvageable if it had a more accurate roster. I still cannon forgive them for leaving out RVD, Big Show, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch, Kevin Thorn, Ariel, Boogeyman, Miz, Layla, Brooke, Stevie Richards, Joey Mercury, Hardcore Holly, Santino Marella, Viscera, Matt Striker, Deuce N' Domino, Cherry, Jimmy Wang Yang, Dave Taylor, London and Kendrick.
This was big concern for me considering I mostly played GM Mode. Thank God for the definitive edition.
WWE SvR 08’s 24/7 Mode somehow foreshadowed the Authority storyline in which the players’ chosen WWE Superstars have to go toe to toe against the evil McMahon Family who’ll use their power to screw everyone just for the heck of it!
Also, I remember playing SvR 08 in a PSP Emulator, using John Cena and Cena has been on a dominant run, whooping the competition left and right and the McMahons said “Let’s make Cena look like a chump just because we have the power to do so! Mwahahahahaha!” I fought Umaga in a No DQ match and I lost due to McMahon Family BS, putting a stain on Super Cena’s winning record.
This really feels like how me and my brothers felt with svr08. We figured out in a few hours we didn't really like it and went back to svr06/07. They traded at their school a week later for another game and we never thought about it again.
When it starts getting around that era, the games start blending together for me. I forgot how batshit insane some of the season mode stories are
Someone call the fire dept, cause this man’s on fire. Another one!! Dude do you even sleep??
No. Hahahaha. Man I'm just constantly working. Constantly. Raising the Panda puppy and working, those are my waking moments, lol
FINALLY
SOMEONE ELSE TALKED ABOUT THE DINGY LIGHTING IN THIS GAME! I thought I was the only one who noticed! It really took the immersive experience away for me and for a decade I thought I was the only one who cared
I think every wrestling fan has a point in their life where they just grow up / grow out of / become tired of wrestling. But they always come back to it...
So refreshing to see newer games being covered on this channel. Hopefully you do retrospectives on games like WWE12 or even 2k24.
I'm going to he completely honest... this game is a guilty pleasure of mine. And it might just be my favourite wrestling game of all time, and I'll explain why.
(TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE MENTION)
It's 2007. I'm 3 years old. Me and my older brother were obsessed with professional wrestling at this time. My mom knew this and so, for Christmas, managed to get us an XBOX 360 and a copy of SvR 2008. We played that game so much, I'm confident that our playtime reached triple digits within weeks of getting it.
We loved the music, the creation suite, GM Mode, everything. Sure, it was a flawed game, but to a bunch of younge kids, we loved it.
Fast forward to 2008. It's Christmas time again, and I assume that we're going to get SvR 2009 for Christmas. Well, a few days before Christmas, my mother decided to end her own life. It was sudden, shocking and broke all of our hearts.
We ended up moving in with my dad, who brought over everything from our old house. We didn't get any presents from mom that year, as she knew she was going to die, and didn't bother buying any.
My dad soon went out and bought SvR 2009 to try and take our minds off of mum. While my brother played SvR 2009, I was hesitant to. I eventually did, but once I unlocked everything, I went straight back to SvR 2008.
Ever since then, I've made it a tradition to boot SvR 2008 back up every now and again to relieve my childhood.
Does it remind me of a really dark part of my childhood? Yeah, it does. But it also reminds me of my mom, and what a wonderful and caring woman she was.
Thanks for buying me my favourite game, Mom. I miss you so much.
This is probably the only time I've ever teared up while reading a UA-cam comment. Hope you and your brother are doing better these days.
24/7 is weird. You need to understand how it work to get different storylines. Basically you need to consider that every raw or smackdown up to the pay per view as a block.
Every block has three potential storylines.
1-normal story (no world title involed)
2-Number one contender (you challenge for the world title)
3-Championship defense
Usually if you win every match in a normal story, you’ll get an email from coach or Teddy long at the end of the ppv that ask you if you wanna compete for the world title.
If you accept, you get a number one contender storyline. If you refuse you get another normal storyline.
I like this game growing up Christmas of 2007 we decided to get a 360 as a family Christmas gift and this was the main game me and my bros wanted and our daddy got devil may cry 4 our friends that we went to school with would come over and we'd spend hours playing this game soundtrack still holds up for the most part I know a lot of people see this on as downgraded but I personally still love this game ❤❤❤
Shout out to your snail! It moves faster than the cruiserweights in this game. 😂
Even as a kid who saw the world thru rose color glasses, even I didn’t enjoy this game all that much. I played Thrillville more than I did this game & I got both on Christmas Eve.
The only thing that saved this game for me was Extreme Rules Matches & GM Mode. The soundtrack was really good too! Sevendust is such an underrated band. 👍🏽
TBF about the Jeff Hardy springboard DDT move, i think he did actually pull it off a few times around 2002-2003 during his first solo run
But also TBF, i also hate it when game devs take up precious move-slots w/ moves the wrestler did maybe once ever (they do this a lot w/ HBK these days a lot i feel, adding uncharacteristic moves he pulled off 1 time only during his matches with Angle, like powerbombs and whatnot lol)
To be fair, cena was also a heel in SvR 07 as well 😅
Finally caught this last night. The gameplay being so slow would have broken me if I bought this back in the day. The different modes are great, but not being able to have a save for each one at the same time is really frustrating. Having fully voiced story modes is interesting on paper, but then having some of these guys doing line reads…you start to think “maybe this was a mistake” haha. Great video as always, I laughed too hard at the nonchalant crowd response and commentary after a guy gets powerbombed off a cell through a table.
While this game didn't live up as a follow-up to svr07, its waaay better than svr09.
With 08, I was disappointed. But I regretted buying 09.
Yea, this was during the time when the brand was transitioning to the PG era. Also happened during the Benoit tragedy and WWE tried to save face. I can understand how people who grew up on wrestling during the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras felt after that, and I'm with them. But I never stopped watching back then because it is what it is.
But now it seems like they are slowly getting back to the more aggressive style since competition is heating up with AEW around.
Anyway, I can't remember how I liked this game back when I played it, as it was just another yearly wrestling game. I do remember enjoying it for what it was. But I can see your points on it that it was flawed.
19:00 this is Michelle McCool’s second game. She was in svr 06
I had SD vs Raw 08 on the PS2 and it was pretty good and fast IMO. Really got my CAW chops burning
i get hyped every time you post bruh
Correction (I know imma sound like a nerd in this comment but who cares) Jeff Hardy actually has done a springboard moonsault before he just never did it in WWE. The match where he had done it was in a IWA match against Super Crazy.
I know this game got bashed in this video, but I love this game. My grandpa was diagnosed with cancer when I got this game, and I played it constantly to get my mind off of that and to make me feel better. I needed this game. So maybe it’s not a great game, but I love it.
A gun spitting a loogie. Lol brilliant
I love your retrospectives man
The Chris Benoit fast cut got a huge pop out of me, kick ass as always Ian!
Going from SVR 2007 to this one was a hard downgrade as far as overall quality goes. I remember playing this one thinking I’d be getting the same enjoyment as SVR07 with a different roster and being so disappointed.
SN: this was Michelle McCool’s second game ☺️
I only played 24/7 mode twice and never again after that. They took away Season Mode and replaced it with that? I still can't cope with that after all these years.
SVR 2006 is forever my favorite
SVR 08 was the first game i preordered from Gamestop. My parents got me 07 for Christmas and it remains one of my favorite games of all time. The hype coming into 08 was insane. When I finally got my hands on it it was one of the most deflating moments as a gamer. Fortunately HCTP 06 & 07 all got me through the next few years.
The introspective is always funny as our stories often line up, this was the last wrestling game I ever bought and I was also at that age where after years of liking wrestling that time/era was just done. This was a ton of fun and a great walk down memory lane to an often overlooked memory
"I! JUST WANNA BE FAMOUS, BE SO FUCKIN' JADED!"
I cant remember if 07 or 08 was my first wrestling game...but it changed my childhood
Shoot snail is a phrase that never existed before
Funny story, I remember downloading and installing a PS2 Memory card file that changed John Morrisons name and drafted all of the wrestlers to their 'actual legit' show.
This was actually my favorite or second favorite of the vs. series. I loved finally getting Jeff Hardy and making him and Rey mysterio a tag team was always a good time
I’ve had fun playing the season on Smackdown as undertaker and Kane and on raw as hhh and John cena
Is the slowness of the game a next gen issue? Because I owned the game for ps2 and absolutely loved it, it ran absolutely flawless on my PlayStation 2
"Look this is a shoot snail"
Underrated line
Best soundtrack of all the wrestling games of that counts for anything 👍🏻
they should bring back hall of fame mode , that was so much fun than the showcase as of late 😁
Ian, your personal story about quitting wrestling was the exact same story for me and my brother. We even came back for a short stint when CM punk dropped his pipe bomb!
I’ve probably seen A wrestling match. Despite having zero dogs in this fight, I was totally drawn in. Well done, Ian.
Bro, I felt exactly the same. Pro wrestling quickly died for me around the start of the HD-Era. And every time I check back on it, I'm more ashamed of it than ever, the whole industry just keeps getting worse. Continuously.
Ian, I remember you in your Smackdown vs Raw video and you said that the sequel burnout was avoided for that game. Well, I think we found the game where sequel burnout has happened.
For me this game Is like the ugly kid no one wants to play with but once you play with him you realized he wasn't as bad as you thought
The best thing about this game to me was the fact that I could use my own music as my entrance music
Damn i do not remember this game being slow; taker in mania 21 makes it to the ring faster than gameplay in this game.
This was my first new wrestling game and I remember booting it up on Christmas Day on PS2 and playing a bit of it. Then later on in the day I remember playing the game over at my Nans with my cousins. And I believe one of them had the Wii version of the game.
This was the first wrestling game I owned, since it came out around the time wrestling started being popular with kids around my age at my school. My parents pre-ordered it, first time I ever heard you could do that with a game. I know I look at it with rose-tinted glasses but it's impossible to not have a soft spot for it, given that it was what we used to play back then. I don't know what would have happened if I got 07 instead, since this game also introduced me to ECW and taught me a bit about some of the legends from that promotion that I appreciate now. I would definitely play other games before it now, but I can thank it for what it was worth.
Great work as always Ian. Our wrestling journeys are very similar as after 2008 I pretty match checked out of anything Wrestling related. I bought SvR ‘09 but didn’t enjoy it nor played it much. I didn’t buy another game until WWE 2K14.
Gotta say though that I did enjoy ‘08 mostly due to the roster and match variety, but I agree thar compared to ‘06 and ‘07 it was a step down.
Yea, 06 > 07 > 08 for sure.
This game was awesome.
Hell yes to the Goonie "our time" reference
I’ve been watching wrestling since 1997 and I graduated in 2004. Sadly I fell out of love with wrestling from 2006-2015. Quite a hiatus. I got to play a lot of the svr series for the first time a few years ago. Now they are a part of my collection! I think I stopped playing wrestling games around Day of Reckoning 2.
I always hate how stripdown SvR 08 was compared to 2007 it was the debut of the downfall of the franchise !!!
Downfall indeed.
2007 TNA was on fire bro
I don't care what anyone says, Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 is an awesome game and up there with 07 as the best SVR games in the series. GM mode was great, season mode -24/7 mode was great. Soundtrack, Roster, Hall of Fame. Played it so much
It's fun no I disagree the roster was a letdown they hardly had any ecw wrestlers plus this has the smallest on disc roster for the 360/ps3 era. 24 7 mode got repetitive cool idea poor execution
This game was not great the lack of roster depth didn't help this empty game, it's fun for a bit but once you've seen it all in that game it's just repetitive cutscenes and nonsensical storylines
Can I get some of that copium?
Man, ur weird.
This was the first WWE game I played. I actually enjoyed this game until I got svr 2006 & 2007. Once I got those. I put this game on the back burner. Even I felt something felt off the first time I played it. Keep in mind I didn't play any WWE game before this. I'll never forget playing SVR 2008 one night during a thunderstorm. I either completed something or unlocked something. Either way I put in a lot of time doing it. Right as I went to save & right as the save successful message popped up the power went out.
Your trajectory of interest is very similar to mine.
After the Benoit tragedy, I had sort of checked out for a while. Never even bought 08. I bought 09 and remember being disappointed by it. And didn’t really check back in fully until the pipebomb. And even then didn’t buy a new wrestling game until 2K14.
This was my last wrestling game that I've played, and then after that my interest in wrestling games began to diminished after the next one came out. Looking at Smackdown Vs Raw 2008, makes want to revist it.
I can only imagine the response the game would've gotten if the gameplay was sped up.
Thank you Ian, for another great video. I really liked your personal storys. I played this on the PS2 and I was happy that the belts did not look like in the Next Gen versions. SVR08 is really the worst of the SVR Games but I played it so much with a friend.
Are you also going to do SVR 2009 through 2011? Thanks If you haven't already
I recall playing smackdown vs raw 2008 first as a rental at blockbuster
I was drinking when the clip played showing you in the blonde wig with the titles and now i need to clean my screen 😂 such good shit!
Finally got to hear your opinion on this one!
It's been a while since I played it too. Last time I played it, i made a successful GM Mode attempt playing as ECW! It's also clear GM mode wasn't really balanced for three brands, because on every playthrough of GM Mode, one of the three brands always ended up with 0 fans and no way of recovery! Only way I could save that brand was by trading my popular superstars for theirs and giving them a fighting chance!
While this wasn't my introduction to the SmackDown games, Svr 08 was the first I owned on my PS2, and I fell in love with it! Played it so damn much even buying the PSP and PS3 versions too! It's no longer my favorite and even less so it's not the best, but I'll always hold it dear to my heart!
But this game still has my favorite licensed music out of ALL the Smackdown games! Famous, Well Enough Alone, etc. With SvR 09 having my second favorite licensed music!
That being said after experiencing the other games myself, you're criticisms are very fair and understandable. Especially going from 07's speed to 08's speed would have been super jarring if I played them in order.
GM Mode was the biggest lost for me for so long! It was my absolute favorite game mode no matter which game it was! 09's Career, 10/11's Create a Story, and Universe Mode were never a true replacement.
Will move on to your 09 video now! Hope you this puts a smile on your face whenever you read this!
Thank you again, and yea, this episode was a long time coming. The GM Mode being completely broken is insane, hahaha.
I loved this game just because it had Jeff Hardy back in the game and some awesome ECW originals
I went back to play this last month, all I remember was that it felt super slow
Wanna know some cool glitches in this game.. (its long when I'm describing them)
Glitch 1:
steel cage match
use brawler wrestler
Irish whip your opponent on lower left corner
Activate brawler
Once perform grapple and land the camera angle all messed up as your opponent won't be able get up
-------------
Glitch 2:
Wanna get inside the crowd go out the ring you or friend either do special grapple of back breaker on the ring pose then walk toward barricade
-----------
Glitch 3:
Get outside steel cage you and friend need climb to the top don't leave both need to jump at same time when done correctly you can explore as the ring bell your way enter and exit whenever you want
I played the svr games before high school. I dont remember all the negetives, honestly. Me and my friends and I bought them to go wild with the custom characters, and that was hours of endless fun. Royal rumbles with 30 custom characters were the shit. There would be guys like mr.clean, sonic the hedge hog, borat, santa, mike tyson, a random garbage man, an alean, our own personal custom wrestlers, big foot, jason voorhees, chuck norris, carl johnson, ... you get the idea, lol. We went nuts and customized everything about those guys. It was some of the most fun ever watching Santa Clause throw borat off the hell in a cell for hours. I loved it
Same here Ian Smackdown vs Raw 2008 was the last Smackdown vs Raw franchise that I played. The wrestling game that got me back into wrestling games was WWE 2k13! My friends told me you can play in Attitude era and it had old school wrestlers! That’s the game that got me interested back in wrestling!
Am I the only one that didn't like the commentary in this game?
The commentary was pretty mid yes😂
Ngl other than Jeff and Punk I didn’t like nearly anything about this game lol
Yeah, it sucked. JBL sounded like he had a head cold and read his lines after waking up from a nap.
Replaying these games recently the commentary in these games has never been that good and it’s honestly worse than I remembered.
all the games were repetitive with the commentary but something about 2008 was extremely repetitive 😂
I felt that intro 1000 percent. This was the last wwe game I played and 2007-08 is about the time I stopped watching.
I always said that after the PS2 "big five" (which is from Shut your Mouth to SvR 2007) as I call them, wrestling games were not the same for a while until we got SvR 2011 that wrestling games were back to be great again, they weren't the same as the old ones but still great.
Side note: Michelle McCool debuted in SvR 2006, just saying.
Hey, I just tried the 360 version of the game next to the PS3 one. It turns out the PS3 version is a lot more slower and the framerate is way under 30, which is the normal for a game. 360 version is way faster and smoother. Any chance you can try the 360 one and update us on what you think about the faster and smoother version of the game ? (and 2009 is the same framerate mess as well) The framerate problem get's bigger when you try to put 6 man match , on the 360 is perfect no slow down whatsoever, on the PS3 for example elimination chamber it's barely playable.
I remember getting this on Christmas 2007 along with WWE SVR 2007, Sonic Unleashed, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2006), Tomb Raider Legend, Splinter Cell Double Agent, and Tenchu Z. WWE SVR 2008 is not bad, but it's extremely slow like they all gained steel hips. This game was the last to not only have a season mode or GM mode, but also the last for fighting in the crowd, buried alive match, and it was the last game that was released under the WWE Ruthless Aggression era I grew up with. Obviously, WWE SVR 2009 was the last game with intergender wrestling and was made during the WWE Ruthless Aggression era, but released during the WWE PG era. I played every WWE SVR game on Xbox 360, so I know the other three games in the series if you want some info on it.
Honestly if your ECW fan you're going to love this game this is not the worst one in the series that would be the first one Smackdown versus Raw
A lot of people will argue with you for that😅
Yay even back then i knew something was off about svr 08 and i was only 9 years old and two years into watching wrestling. Thank God svr 09 introduced Road to Wrestlemania mode.
Love the Goonies reference! "Its our time down here!"
Would love to see you play through all of the Hall of Fame mode at some point. Would be a fun playthrough to sit through and watch.
Not gonna lie, I was not expecting you to cover this game in TXSO. I assumed you said all you wanted to say on it when I asked about it on the 616 Discord. Color me surprised when I saw this video pop up in my notifications and I saw you had so much more to say on 2008. Great job on this video, Dan Dan. X3
BTW, is it funny that although SvR 2008 was the game that made you lose interest in the series, it was also my introduction to the series? lol
Hey I saw your loading screen in AEW:FF yesterday! Hahaha
@@616Entertainment Squee! X3 That's awesome!
It's been bothering me for a long time that I couldn't figure out what the music at the end of your videos was and it just fuckin hit me! Boy meets world! 😂
…what? It’s a cover of HIM’s ‘Into The Night.’
Boy Meets World?!
This was the first mainline WWE game I played growing up where I said “This game is ass” and I’ve always hated this game for it
This game was my peak for WWE
Wow u actually went beyond sdvr 2007 😮🔥🔥🔥
Okay this retrospective was awesome and I agree entirely, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that we need a "Shoot Snail" T-shirt from Wrestling Tees
In all fairness, SVR 08 on the ps3 runs at 30 fps in slow motion. Every other port of the game runs at almost double speed.
I share your experiences with the hassle of Strong Grapples. Me and my friends stuck solely to weak grapples so we didn't have to bother. I also agree with you on the WWE games getting slower in gameplay as they moved toward the simulation-based systems used by the 2K games.
I recall finding WWE SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2006 very slow in gameplay one day. But it moves at a breakneck speed compared to WWE SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2008. After playing WWE 2K19 one day, I was floored by how much faster SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2006 was more than the former. I think I only found SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2006 slow, because I was playing Here Comes The Pain earlier. And Here Comes The Pain moves like a Formula 1 Race Car compared to SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2008. And it's night and day when stacking up to the 2K Games.
This was one of my favs and I don’t remember it being that slow I found the game play very enjoyable I loved that they added ECW and I thought the roster what really good but I wasn’t falling out of love with wrestling like you said you were so I get it
Hell remember the magazines. I got the last ever one they made but lost mine 😢