For gamers who owned an N64 back in the year 2000 who were also fans of WWF (now known as WWE) or "professional wrestling", whenever a new wrestling game comes out it will inevitably be compared No Mercy from the aforementioned console. So far the closest we've come to a game that could peek out from the shadow of No Mercy were the Day of Reckoning games on the Gamecube. But with the transition to the Wii that brand has also fallen by the wayside as THQ make the Smackdown vs. Raw brand the standard across all consoles. However that should not mean we may never see a SDvsR game that could bring us back to the glory of No Mercy. The previously reviewed SDvsR09 for Wii is certainly making steps in the right directions, if it's issues are correctly addressed next year we could be in for a surprise.

But when you have a console that is similar in power to the N64 one would think someone at Yukes would ponder the idea of emulating No Mercy on it, given how highly acclaimed it was by fans and critics alike. Sadly this has not happened and the DS is seeing something totally different but not necessarily good each year.

Last years SDvsR08 on the DS was purely touch controlled with fights playing out like some sort of turn-based meets rock-paper-scissors blending. And giving you zero control of your characters movement to walk around the ring. This year things start looking up. While the controls are still mainly touched based you can now use the D-Pad to walk and run (double tapping) freely around and outside the ring as you please. You can also use the L button to perform a taunt and finishing moves. Everything else is done by way of the touch screen and your handy stylus. Basic striking is just simple taps on the screen, holding a direction on the D-Pad and you get different moves. Want to pick up a weapon? Just stand near it and touch it with the stylus. To perform a grapple draw a single circle for weak grapples or two circles (without lifting the stylus off the screen) for a strong grapple. Like striking you can use the d-pad to perform different and varying moves.

This all sounds decent in theory but in practice it just doesn't work for a number of reasons. While basic strikes and weak grapples work well enough, when it comes to strong grapples you might as well forget about them. The extra time required to draw the second circle, while it might seem short is usually enough time for your opponent to get in a strike long before your grapple animation even starts, leaving you wide open to attack. Leaving you to rely on weak grapples which of course won't do as much damage and halves you move options.

Then there's the controls biggest flaw, which is possibly down to the decision for the touch based controls leaving the developers with no idea how to implement this crucial function. Blocking and countering. That's right you are unable to do either, so if you get caught in a grapple there's nothing you can do but take it and hope you can recover once your character gets on his feet again. This will then lead you to realise there is a very simple way to win every single fight you play, making the game become highly shallow and repetitive.

While you do have numerous move options available all you really need are two moves to win. A heavy striking move that will knock down the opponent and a good submission move to break him down slowly. Once you've knock them down since they can't counter as long as your quick enough to get in before they stand up locking in a submission is 100% guaranteed. Once they break the lock just knock them down again and repeat until they eventually submit or you fill your momentum meter and get to activate your finisher and get the pin.

This type of game requires full button control to be properly playable. The way it is now it just feels like the sole reason touch controls were used is because it is on the DS and no other options were even considered. Sure most games can transition to full touch controls and still play great like Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for example, but there are still those that just can't work correctly with a full touch interface and this is one of them.

Match options also at first glance seem plentiful. Your standard one on one, ladder, cage, hardcore matches etc. However everything is one on one. There are no triple treats, fatal four ways or even tag matches. Which takes away a lot of variety from the overall experience and further enforces a repetitive feeling in the gameplay.

Moving on then to the games Create-A-Wrestler mode which is normally a high point for any wrestling game allowing you to create your fantasy superstar or other wrestlers that are not on the games roaster. While creating an original wrestler is of course possible, with the extremely limited options available in this version I would be very surprised to see any CAW remotely resemble anyone. And with only two slots for saving CAWs those with a creative itch are best off sticking with the home console versions.

There are a few good points for the game however these are of course not enough to salvage it but I'll give them a mention nonetheless. Graphically this is one great looking game for the DS. The character models are solid and nicely textured, looking like low-res versions of the models from the Wii version and I mean that in a good way. Movements are also very solid considering they used the motion capture data from the console versions this should be no surprise. However as great as the game looks on the DS there is one flaw which might not be evident as first but select a match between Rey Mysterio (one of the smaller wrestlers on the show) and The Great Kali (possibly the tallest wrestler on the show) and you will quickly notice something has gone wayward as Rey stands shoulder to shoulder with Kali.

Sound is ok, every wrestler has there own actual theme music play as they enter the ring and a ring announcer voice over introducing them like on the show. But that's it. During matches all you've got is the fighting sound effects and the roar of the crowd, neither of which are particularly interesting. Crowd sound effect especially, which are meant to provide the matches with some atmosphere are so dull you'll think the arena is nearly empty.

There is also the Season mode which shows some promise playing with small RPG like elements. The basics of the story are that you are a newly signed superstar (best to use a CAW then) and you have to prove yourself in the ring and make your way up the ranks to become champion. You've got a small over world map with four locations to visit. Your house, where you can save the game, sleep (moving the game forward by one week), and buy and equip items (which help raise your stats). WWE HQ, allowing you to visit General Managers and the WWE King Pin, Vince McMahon (who gives you your tasks throughout the mode). A Gym where you can perform three different exercises (one per week) to help improve stats further. These play out like mini games which are pretty decent, but very short lived. And finally of course the Arena where you have your fights each week.

This mode could have been good but it's missing one vital aspect, a storyline. There's no interaction between wrestlers, no dialogue and trash talk setting up feuds. And when you end up fighting the same guy two, sometimes three weeks in a row you start to wonder did you forget to save, exit the game, restart and are playing the same week over and over. If there was some sort of dialogue between them which played out as if it were on the show this would make sense as you know you are feuding with this person, so fighting them again isn't a problem. But without this you're just left bored and confused as to way you don't get to fight someone different.

Overall a great looking game and little else. Season mode has potential if there was just some story added it would have improved it greatly and hold your interest. But poor control schemes and limited options serve to severely damage this game.