Remember when wrestling games were fun and exciting as hell? It was some time ago now, but this was definitely the case way back when. It was the early 2000s when the revolution was beginning to flower: first was the fairly epic WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, which was then followed by WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth (an iconic name as well), and finally the best out of the lot, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain – and who wouldn’t want to see a remake of the latter by the way?
A remake isn’t out of the question either because WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain is currently being championed by current WWE superstars who, just like us, would love to see the game make a comeback. One of those stars is Karrion Cross, and someone who is usually seen as a heel character might just have turned face for some fans.
Cross is one of several WWE stars who are seen talking about the legendary game in a new documentary series called The Legacy of SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain: This is Awesome which you can see a sneak peek of below. The documentary series is all about the impact the game had back in the day and how it’s being looked back on by people now – they should have interviewed me because I’d call it the best wrestling video game of all time, and it isn’t even close.
The game was developed by Japanese developer Yuke’s, known for being the studio behind every main wrestling game before and after this installment, including all of the WWE 2K and AEW games that have taken over. The game was released in 2003, and I don’t mean to exaggerate when I say it, but none of the following games have ever matched up to the magic that this game possessed – it’s not all about improved graphics you know.
Here Comes the Pain featured a monstrous roster of over 50 playable wrestlers, who at the time were all active members of the WWE. But one of the other great aspects was the introduction of so many legendary wrestlers like Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and The Iron Shiek, while also being the last game that The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin would be classed as non-legend characters. Not only that but this was also the game that first featured future mainstays like John Cena, Batista, and Rey Mysterio as playable characters, while also being the first game to depict Kane without his mask.
All these iconic features made this the most magnificent wrestling game imaginable, and that’s why this Here Comes the Pain deserves a remake of some kind.
