The WWE on the GameCube has had a tough history indeed. After the inventive, highly fun THQ wrestlers on the N64, developer AKI left THQ for the greener pastures of EA, so THQ was forced to put Yukes (WWE Smackdown! for the PlayStation) in charge of the GameCube's WWE titles. After making WWE Wrestlemania X-8 and XIX, it was easy to see that, with their shoddy graphics and highly inferior story modes; they were miles behind their Smackdown! counterparts, Shut Your Mouth and Here Comes The Pain. Needless to say, the GameCube's fans were not too happy about being considered second priority to Sony's, and yearned for a return of the classic gameplay of the AKI titles. Although Yukes partially did what the fans wanted with Wrestlemania XIX, Day of Reckoning brings the GameCube titles full circle, offering excellent graphics, intuitive gameplay, and a much-improved story mode to make this by far and away the best WWE title on the GameCube to date.

WWE Day of Reckoning does a great job of combining various aspects of previous WWE games with new ideas to create a unique experience - a move that WWE Wrestlemania XIX tried, and ultimately failed at. The game features the WWE basics, including an expansive roster featuring many of the top superstars from the Raw and Smackdown brands, like Triple H, Chris Benoit, Randy Orton, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, Shawn Michaels, Booker T, and John Cena. Also playable are WWE Divas like Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler, as well as a good amount of unlockable WWE legends like Bret "The Hitman" Hart and the 8th wonder of the world, Andre the Giant. However, although the final amount of superstars goes into the 40's, the roster is actually one of the weakest parts of the game. Several key WWE superstars were left out of the game, such as current WWE Champion John Bradshaw Leyfield, and former 18-time World Tag Team Champions, The Dudleyz. Although these characters can simply be made in the game's Create-a-Superstar mode, their omission, given their current status on the WWE roster, is really unforgivable.

I'm pretty sure I saw a porno that started like this...

The game also sports a wide variety of various modes for play. You can play alone or with friends in singles, tag team, triple threat and fatal four way matches, in such modes as Steel Cage, Ladder, Tables, TLC (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs), Hell in a Cell, Ironman, and First Blood. There's also a new match type put in for the first time on the GameCube - Bra & Panties. The match pits two WWE Divas against each other in a battle to see which woman will be the first to strip the opposing Diva's clothes off. While any red-blooded American male should get a kick out of this match initially, it's really not all it's cracked up to be - a frantic tug of war of button mashing that gets old pretty quickly, but still is fun for a little while. The rest of the modes are excellent as well, but still pales in comparison to Smackdown when you consider that Here Comes the Pain had all of these modes, plus an Elimination Chamber mode, as well as the ability to have 6 wrestlers on the screen at one time (Day of Reckoning only can have 4). Still, this is a good package all around.

However, the best, and most often the biggest part of any wrestling title, has always been the Create-a-Wrestler mode, or CAW for short. Since WWE Warzone for the N64, WWE fans have had the opportunity to create their favorite wrestling superstars, legends, or even to make someone new up. It's good to see that WWE Day of Reckoning presents one of the deepest CAW modes ever seen in a wrestling game, and probably the deepest ever for a GameCube title. You begin by picking a model for your wrestler from various generic types - you can use one of these, or customize your wrestler into the image you want. Practically every aspect of a wrestler's body and face structure can be altered; with numerous choices available for outfits, hairstyles, and added accessories to customize your wrestler to exactly the way you want him (or her) to be. You can then choose from a wide selection of bone-crushing moves your wrestler can use to put the smackdown on your opponents, right down to finishing moves. You can even customize your wrestler's entrance, complete with various lighting choices and pyrotechnics! Overall, the Create-a-Superstar mode is probably the most fun part of the game, and probably what you'll spend the most time with - although it can be quite time-consuming, and it isn't as option-filled as Smackdown or even Raw for the XBox - but that doesn't mean you can't have fun with this. After about 2 hours of work, I came away with a pretty much picture perfect Stone Cold Steve Austin. My next mission will be to create the entire Café staff - too bad there isn't a bag head for Carl, but a Darth Vader helmet will do quite nicely, I think.

There is a reason that the Create-a -Superstar mode is so integral this time around, as it plays a major part in the game's story mode, which plays out like an actual wrestling event. After you've created your own custom wrestler, you can test his skills as a WWE superstar by entering them in the story mode, where your wrestler will meet WWE chairman Vince McMahon, who will offer you a WWE contract and a path to instant fame and fortune - IF you pay your dues. To become a full-fledged WWE Superstar, you need to enter the dredges of the WWE minor leagues, taking on two-bit nobodies just like you, trying to get a leg up on the competition and get noticed. Your minor league experience will see WWE interviewer Jonathan "The Coach" Coachman giving you tasks to complete during your matches, which allow you to move on to later levels. After cutting your teeth for a while, you'll move onto the WWE's second-level show, Sunday Night Heat, where you'll take on the WWE's low-end "stars" like Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak. Win some matches there, and you'll receive the big call-up to either the Raw or Smackdown brands, where you'll immediately be thrust into a storyline with the main faction of your respective league, and battle through opponent after opponent, winning matches and championship belts, on your way to Wrestlemania and a final showdown for the World Championship belt.

The best part about Day of Reckoning's story mode is that it tries something innovative without trying to be so innovative it takes away from the game, which we saw in last year's Wrestlemania XIX. That said, it does have its drawbacks, one of which being the fact that the story mode is far too linear. When you lose a match in most other wrestling games (like Smackdown, or even WWF No Mercy for the N64) the story still continues, but this is not the case in Day of Reckoning - if you lose here, you're asked if you want to retry - that's it. Also, you don't really have a lot of options as to choices you want to make in your career, apart from whether you go to Raw or Smackdown. However, even that choice pales since the storyline is pretty much the exact same thing for both choices, except Raw superstars are interchanged with those from Smackdown, and the events and titles change as well (which is different from actual wrestling how? - ed). Still, a good effort on THQ's part, and THQ should definitely consider using this idea again for future WWE games on the GameCube, perhaps with a less linear story and the option of using a female to go through the mode with.

One of the most appealing parts of the game has to be the graphics: I can say, without question, this is the best-looking WWE game I have ever seen. All of the entrances look amazing (I literally got goosebumps the first time I saw Triple H's entrance, it is just, well, that damn good) and the moves look truly bonecrushing and painful, and are animated quite well to be the most realistic moves ever seen in a WWE game (the Pedigree and RKO are good examples of this). Still, there are some problems, most notably with clipping during submission holds and running attacks.

We'll let you make your own caption

The sounds of the game are also really good - THQ was nice enough to license just about all the official WWE theme music, as well as take a page from EA's playbook and license actual music from the game, featuring bands such as Tantric, Anthrax, Zebrahead, and Breaking Benjamin. If you've never heard of any of the bands, they normally exist in the rap/rock realm that is so popular in the WWE nowadays, so if that's your kind of music, you're in luck. Although the style of music is up to interpretation, there is one fact that there really isn't much of it, and it can get quite repetitive. The crowd sounds are great, complete with realistic chanting and cheering on big moves, and all of the sound effects are terrific.

The gameplay of Day of Reckoning is probably what the game holds closest to its N64 predecessors - pure simulation-style wrestling based around strong and weak strikes and grapples, running moves, submission moves, high-flying moves, and finishers, which can be executed by filling up your special meter so one of the "WWE" icons turns red, and pressing A+B together. In special mode, you can unleash various finishers by pushing A+B from various positions. Another part of the gameplay that's extremely cool is body-point specific damage (when a part of the body is attacked, it loses health - by continually working on a specific part with submission holds you can make an opponent tap out) and Momentum (hitting numerous moves in succession will increase it, getting hit will decrease it). There is also the aspect of counters and reversals - by pressing L or R, sometimes together, you can block opponent's attacks and counterattack as much as you see fit. However, they are a bit difficult to pull off - but apparently no one told that to the AI. Even on the Easy difficulty setting, the computer is a reversing machine, while it's difficult for most people to even block a grapple. Hopefully Yukes will make reversals a bit easier in the next game, since they're such an integral part of the gameplay and of pro wrestling in general.

There are some changes as well that make the gameplay much better, such as a revamped tug-of-war style of submission holds - when one wrestler locks the other in a hold, both players battle in a button-mashing minigame to see how much damage is allotted, and to see if the opponent submits, losing the match. Another new addition is that of the Momentum Shift, kind of like the reverse of a special move. When a wrestler's momentum is knocked down to the level of "Danger" an icon will appear allowing you to perform your momentum shift - execute it by pressing A+B together to unleash an out-of-nowhere move that will steal all of his momentum, as well as any specials he has obtained. This inventive aspect adds a new dimension to the gameplay, and creates a new way for a wrestler to "snatch victory from the jaws of defeat". The final gameplay innovation is that of the Momentum Lift, which is a way for a smaller wrestler like Booker T. or John Cena to pick up and slam a massive guy like The Big Show. When the smaller wrestler attempts the slam, a meter will appear similar to the submission meter - fill it up enough by pressing A repeatedly, and the opponent will be slammed, but miss and you'll be the one slammed. All in all, these new additions make for a great gameplay wrestling experience for multiple players, although the AI can be a bit frustrating to play against.

There's no question here - WWE Day of Reckoning is the best WWE game on the GameCube, bar none. This should be an instant purchase for all WWE fans, big or small. It's probably the best wrestling game out right now, so if you're a WWE fan who owns a GameCube, your ship has come in. If you can look past its flaws, WWE Day of Reckoning is truly an amazing game…if you smell what the Rock is cooking! Alright, that was lame…