WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006

WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006
Also known as: Exciting Pro Wrestling 7 (JP) Developer: Yuke's Publishers: THQ (US/EU), Yuke's (JP) Platforms: PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2 Released in JP: October 12, 2006 Released in US: November 14, 2005 Released in EU: November 14, 2005 Released in KR: December 9, 2005 (PS2), January 19, 2006 (PSP) This game has unused playable characters. This game has unused sounds. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences.

To do: Two builds from July 2005 were released from Hidden Palace's Project Deluge, document them - there are complete models of Luther Reigns and Maven in them. There's also an October review build in that release. Commentary/announcer lines/Superstar lines were uploaded to The Sounds Resource, and there's a lot of unused lines.

WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 introduced the General Manager mode and saw the start of the infamous Undertaker Curse; Eddie Guerrero died several days after the game was released, where the season mode featured a cutscene of casket match which the Latino Heat lost to 'Taker. It was also the last game in the series published by Yuke's under the Exciting Pro Wrestling banner in Japan, as that turned out to be a legal headache for all parties involved.

Unused Characters

To do: Dump all the important stuff pertaining to these.

There were 15 characters removed from this game. Throughout the series, the roster would be updated for each game with each character being assigned their own character slot. This included non playable characters as well. Instead of replacing removed characters, the game developers simply created new character slots for new models in later games. Data relating to removed characters would be deleted, but the character slot would remain. These were referred to as "No Models" by the modding community, simply because there was no character model assigned to these character slots. In most cases, the No Model character slots are the locations for characters that featured in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw, but not in this game. One example is that The Rock is always assigned the first slot in this series, even in 2009, where he isn't playable.

Unlike later games in the series, character information was not completely removed from the No Model slots. They still have full attributes and complete move sets listed, and 3 of these characters have 2 sets of unused announcer introductions. They consist of a short version where only their name is announced, and a longer version which includes their weight and home town. The No Model slots correspond to:

Name	Reason
Brock Lesnar	Left the company in 2004; talks to rejoin fell through in August 2005 in favor of joining NJPW in October. Arguably the most complete of the cut superstars, as he also has animation for versus screen and entrance, the latter available for custom wrestlers. Data for his moveset, as well as his name on the character select screen, exists in the July 23 build, though he is erroneously referred to as "Block Lesnar".
Matt Hardy	Infamously suspended for a while by the company due to the Edge/Lita affair incident; he was quickly reinstated, but not in time for inclusion. Leftover data for his moveset exists in the July 23 prototype, although it is labelled as "AI TEST". Like Lesnar, Hardy also has an entrance available for custom wrestlers
Bubba Ray Dudley	Left the company after ECW One Night Stand (June 2005). Leftover data for his moveset and HUD name exists in the July 23 build.
D-Von Dudley	Left the company after ECW One Night Stand (June 2005). Leftover data for his moveset and HUD name exists in the July 23 build.
Maven	Released by WWE in July 2005. Has unused announcer introductions detailed above, and in the July 23 prototype, has an existing model, moveset, character select render, as well as his name on the HUD & superstar select. He also has a unique entrance in the prototype as well.
Kenzo Suzuki	Released by WWE in July 2005. Has unused announcer introductions detailed above. This is Suzuki's only references in the entire SmackDown series, as many of his trademark moves and mannerisms would never be included (he would appear in WWE Day of Reckoning 2, however).
Luther Reigns	Released by WWE in May 2005. Has various leftovers in the July 23 prototype, including a model, moveset, character select render, name display on the superstar select screen & HUD. albeit lacking his own entrance.
Victoria	Unknown. Leftover data for her moveset and her name on the character select screen & in-game HUD exists in the July 23 prototype.
Stephanie McMahon	Removed from television from 2003 until Raw Homecoming. Leftover data for her moveset exists in the July 23 prototype, though it is labelled as "AI TEST".
Masked Kane	Based on the Legend incarnation from WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw. This variation has slightly different attributes to the modern Kane present in-game, but has an identical moveset. Likely made redundant because that version became an outfit for the regular Kane in this game. Leftover data for his name on the superstar select screen exists in the July 23 build, where he is labelled as "Kane with Mask".
The British Bulldog (SvR)	While the British Bulldog is playable in this game, this slot corresponds to his unused incarnation from the previous game, where licensing issues rendered him unused despite a finished character model and move set existing.
Road Warrior Animal	Unknown. Leftover data for his moveset exists in the July 23 prototype.
Road Warrior Hawk	Unknown. Leftover data for his moveset exists in the July 23 prototype.
Roddy Piper	Likely related to Mr. America's removal mentioned below, as Piper was heavily involved in the Mr. America storyline. Leftover data for his moveset exists in the July 23 prototype.
Mr. America	Removed at the request of Hulk Hogan, who played the character in a brief storyline in 2003. Has unused announcer calls detailed above, and leftover data for his name on the character select screen exists in the July 23 prototype.

Interestingly, an entry for "Warrior" is grouped in with the names displayed on the in-match HUD in the July 23 prototype, presumably corresponding to The Ultimate Warrior, a superstar with no leftovers in the retail game.

Strangely, the second of the 15 No Model slots (which was formerly Jeff Hardy's unused slot from SmackDown vs. Raw) seems to be for a fictional character. His move set is quite unique and uses moves that are not used by any WWE performer at the time. He also has very high attributes, being the only character to have an Overall rating of 109 (exceeding the 99 maximum). This slot is labelled as "Waza Dajoe" in the July 23 prototype, with a marginally different rating of 108. In later games, this specific character slot would be used instead for additional AI data that related to all male characters.

There are characters which are not normally playable that can be unlocked through hacking, said characters usually appearing in some of the Career Mode's cutscenes as well as staff characters during matches. Some of them even have selection screen images. In most cases, they all have a generic move set and basic attributes (0.5 for all categories) although Tazz, Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler (all of which even have entrance music and videos for use with created wrestlers) all have unique attributes and move sets.

(Source: Code-X.ws)

Unused Cutscene Audio

In the files for the cutscene voice audio, there is a file named S8H_1_PC_45.ahx, which contains a recording of Shawn Michaels performing the final scene of the Legends Tour storyline. However, it's impossible to get to this state in game due to Shawn already being in the storyline as one of your opponents.

To do: See if using GameShark or Action Replay to force him into the storyline gets the cutscene to work (he doesn't have other dialogue recorded for the other cutscenes in the storyline, I already checked)

(Source: original research)

Regional Differences

The Japanese release has no online multiplayer.

Version Differences

Exclusive to the PlayStation Portable version of the game is the Arcade Mode, which contains three minigames: Texas Hold'Em (a gambling betting game), Eugene Airplane Race (a game where you must control Eugene from the entrance stage to the ring in time), and WWE Game Show (a trivia consisting of questions relating to WWE-related things that appear in the game), as well as addition of Jake "The Snake" Roberts to the Shopzone; Roberts can be transferred to the PlayStation 2 version of the game by connecting the PSP version of the game to the PS2 counterpart.

The PlayStation Portable version runs in the 16:9 ratio, with the PlayStation 2 version running in a 4:3 ratio instead.

Arcade Mode Minigames (PSP Only)

Texas Hold-Em	Eugene Airplane Race	WWE Game Show

Menu Screen

The menu in the PSP version adds a arcade mode, and "Online" is renamed to "Wireless"

PlayStation 2	PlayStation Portable

CAWs

Aside from the similar menus, the quality of the CAWs vary on different platforms. The number of layers allowed on custom wrestlers on the PlayStation Portable version is also halved from 32 to 16, a change carried to later PSP SvR games. Due to the layer limit, some of the sample CAWs have less features (Such as the Sample 1 CAW, having no tattoos).

PlayStation 2	PlayStation Portable

The PSP version also warns that using custom wrestlers can cause matches to load longer, an issue fixed in later games.

Locker Room

The Locker Room is simplified in the PlayStation Portable version, and the ability to customize items inside it or walk around it has been removed.

PlayStation 2	PlayStation Portable

Season Mode Locker Room

The Locker Room in Season Mode on the PlayStation Portable version does not have pictures on the lockers, and the floor is different.

PlayStation 2	PlayStation Portable

Announcer Tables

Announcer tables were removed on the PlayStation Portable version, due to reduction in graphical fidelity. As such, the challenge involving that was changed to destroying two regular tables in a TLC match.

PlayStation 2	PlayStation Portable

Other Changes

Other changes in this version:

• Kane's mask in his masked costume is oddly mirrored.
• Audio commentary is removed due to UMD space issues.