Viva La Lucha Libre Dot Net: SmackDown 3: Revenge of the Luchadores

Articles, columns, tape reviews, and random observations from the Viva staff Who's in? Who's out? The CAW feature is near limitless in Smackdown 3. NEAR limitless. Although the game designers have gone out of the way to include wrestlers like Psicosis, Hurican Ramirez and Blue Demon in the possible creations, several key luchadores are curiously absent from the festivities. A masked Rey Misterio Jr's out. So is Santo (what?!?), and Blue Panther. And believe me, I've spent countless hours trying to create something close enough, and the results are very discouraging. There's a very limp-wristed effort to include La Parka, but key elements of his costume are sadly absent (Check out my take on Parka in the CAW section below). Ultimately, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives, not to mention the MANY vintage mask designs I wasn't able to identify (including several Mil Mascaras designs), as well as an abundance of facepaint and japanese mask designs. Creating-A-Wrestler I've only listed the appearances of each wrestler, so it's up to you to put together the other aspects of luchador. The movesets can especially be a bitch. Although the game has about 20 pre-created movesets for japanese wrestlers, we're only given 1 generic moveset labeled MEX, which is pretty bad. My advice is to use the moveset of a similar preexisting wrestler, and edit it to better acomadate the wrestler you're creating. Use La Arena as a reference when looking for finishing and signature moves.			The "Ultimo Guerrero, Black Warrior, Antifaz" dilemma When designing masks, certain liberties need to be taken to get a certain effect. The positive aspect of this is that during gameplay, the intricacies of the mask are less noticeable, and the resemblance to the actual luchador becomes much clearer. The negative aspect is that wrestlers wearing similar masks begin to look a lot alike. This becomes especially important with two specific mask components. The 'Psicosis' mask (mask 48) and the Lyger eyes (mask 77) are very useful, because when used together (and with a quick color change), they can resemble a wide range of modern mask designs. Specifically Ultimo Guerrero, Black Warrior and Antifaz. And while you may be able to let it slide with Antifaz, the resemblance of the Black Warrior and Ultimo Guerrero is intolerable. Damn you, SmackDown 3. Damn you for forcing me to choose between two of best damn luchadores around. Two things you will need to remember is that the suicide dives (Black Warriors calling card) are almost impossible to execute, and without Ultimo Guerrero, you can't create a certain stable of rudos that are just itching to invade the WWF.
	Wrestling video games, much like the wrestling industry as a whole, have historically had it out for lucha libre. With the exception of WCW/NWO Revenge on the N64, which featured the WCW cruiserweight roster at it's prime, the luchadore has typically been ignored (shouts out to El Stingray!). As the technology has advanced, game makers have begun offering a new feature called, Create-A-Wrestler, which allowed gamers to create their own superstars. Suddenly, the odds were a little more even, and wrestlers from different companies, or original characters created by the player, were able to mix it up with the regularly available wrestlers. And while most create-a-wrestler (CAW for short) features make vague references to mexican wrestling, Smackdown 3: Know Your Role for the PS2 finally allows you to recreate the lucha libre experience from the comfort of your own couch.
	Aside from the great CAW feature (which we'll get into soon enough), there's a great storyline mode that allows you create alliances with other luchadores, and mix it up with the WWF yahoos. There's nothing quite as satisfying as watching William Regal shaking his fist as he throws Psicosis out of his office. Mixing it up a bit, the game also features a wide range of stipulation matches. Although ladder matches and Hell in a Cell are fun to play, the real prize here is the oh-so-necessary 6 Man tag. Lil' Earl Hebner will frantically run around the ring, trying to keep control of the ring as 6 angry Mexicans disregard the tag rules and beat the shit out of each other. I suppose my only real complaint about the gameplay would be the difficulty of pulling of suicide dives. There's a good chance that I'm just a moron, though, so if you have any tips for executing la tope suicida, give 'em up.
	The masks. The main reason this games stands heads above it's peers. The selection is pretty good, but the real beauty is the layering. You see, rather than let you choose from a selection of created hoods, you are allowed to layer multiple mask options on top of each other. This requires a bit more work, but ultimately gives you near unlimited potential for your mask. Many traditional designs are available (see feature on left), and by layering the familiar design over a blank hood, they are easily creatable. If you are prepared to go the distance, however, you can layer design upon design to create almost any effect you'd like. To add to the selection, the face paint designs also lend themselves as mask components, nearly doubling your options. Another great aspect of SmackDown 3 is the Create-A-Stable feature. This allows you to indicate which wrestlers (created or otherwise) associate themselves with each other. This is great in storyline mode, as certain moments will require for you to team with another wrestler. If your wrestler is in a stable, at least one of your partners will be backstage, allowing you to team with them, adding to the realism of the game. An even better advantage to this is the kick-ass stable entrances. You select what music, and entrance moves your stable uses, and when it's time to enter the ring, as many as three stable mates hit the ramp at the same time. To test this feature out, I created lucha hooligans, Los Guerreros Del Infierno. I literally got goosebumps as the three rudos arrogantly strolled down the ramp and posed in the ring together. If you needed any reason to check this game out, it's the Guerreros stable entrance. If you're into this type of thing, I guarantee that the game will warrant more than one renting (I was able to pick a previously played copy at BlockBuster for $15). I've heard that SmackDown 4 is due out before the end of the year, so rest assured that I will be back with the skinny on it, as well. To conclude this article, I will leave you with six creations I thought might help you start building a lucha army. If you have any others, please send them my way.
		Shocker I chose Kane's pants to mimic his tights' lightning effect, but you may want to go with a less obvious design. Shocker CAW
	Dr Wagner Jr I tried to give him the updated singlet look, but the traditional white trunks design seemed to work a lot better. Wagner CAW
		La Parka I was pretty much convinced that Parka would allude me, but I was pleased with my last attempt, capturing a resemblance to his WCW attire. La Parka CAW
	Ultimo Guerrero If you decide to create all three Guerreros, just copy Ultimo twice and change the face/upperbody. This will save you the time of creating his intricate tights 3 times. Ultimo Guerrero CAW
		Tinieblas Like him or not, the Tinieblas' CAW is just begging to made. Tinieblas CAW
	Halloween Although Damien 666's design is sadly absent, the facepaint options make it easy to recreate almost any other design. Halloween CAW