WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2009 featuring ECW

WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2009 featuring ECW for PSP is THQ and Yuke’s 2008 professional-wrestling game, bringing WWE’s Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands to Sony’s handheld. It is the fifth SmackDown vs. Raw game and the tenth entry in the broader SmackDown video-game lineage, following WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008. Its late-2008 roster reflects the period’s WWE television landscape, with Superstars and Divas drawn from all three brands, including John Cena, Triple H, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Batista, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Jeff Hardy, and ECW regulars such as Matt Hardy, Mark Henry, and John Morrison.

At its core, the PSP game is a 3D wrestling simulation built around striking, grappling, reversals, Irish whips, running attacks, pins, and submission holds. Movement and button combinations change the moves a wrestler performs in the ring, at the ropes, in corners, and from the turnbuckles. Wrestlers build momentum during a match, then spend a full meter on a signature attack or a finishing move; a stored signature can be saved for later. Timing is especially important on defense, since separate reversal inputs can counter strikes and grapples, while a successful counter to a signature or finisher can swing momentum back to the defending wrestler.

The 2009 edition places special emphasis on tag-team wrestling. Partners share momentum and can work together with double-team finishers, while the match system adds situations intended to make the non-legal wrestler matter beyond simply waiting on the apron. A struggling wrestler can reach for a hot tag, and teams can use tandem offense and ringside interference to turn a match around. Singles bouts, multi-wrestler contests, championship matches, backstage fighting, Gauntlet matches, and the series’ first video-game Inferno Match give the PSP version a varied selection of WWE-style scenarios. In the Inferno Match, repeated heavy offense raises the ring temperature until an injured opponent can be forced toward the flames surrounding the ring.

Road to WrestleMania replaces the earlier season-style approach with authored story paths. Players can follow individual campaigns centered on John Cena, Triple H, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, or CM Punk, each built around that performer’s onscreen character and rivalries. A separate Batista and Rey Mysterio path puts the year’s tag-team focus into a cooperative storyline. These routes combine matches and scenes into focused journeys toward WrestleMania rather than asking one wrestler to move through a single all-purpose season.

Career Mode offers a different long-term route through the roster. Any available Superstar, Diva, or created wrestler can pursue championships, earn progress through matches, and improve a created character’s attributes. Championship paths lead toward titleholders, and performance can open contender opportunities and additional match choices. The game also retains a substantial set of creation and management options for its handheld format: Create-A-Superstar lets players build an original wrestler, roster editing can alter brand assignments and alignments, Team Management handles groups and teams, and Create-An-Entrance supports personalized presentations. Create-A-Finisher lets players assemble a standing finishing sequence from selectable animations and adjust its speed.

WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2009 featuring ECW arrived during a period when ECW was part of WWE’s active brand structure, making that third roster central to the game’s identity rather than a guest attraction. The release also marked a change from the previous game’s fighting-style classifications: wrestlers instead receive abilities that complement their in-ring strengths. By pairing the PSP’s portable wrestling action with the series’ revamped tags, targeted Road to WrestleMania stories, character progression, and a roster spanning Raw, SmackDown, and ECW, the game captures the WWE presentation and rivalries of the 2008 era.