Niche as the industry might be,WWE gamesare a staple of the gaming scene. Over the last few decades, each year seemed to produce at least one wrestling title headlined by WWE’s many superstars, be it the Attitude Era’s Stone Cold and The Rock or recent superstars like Becky Lynch and Roman Reigns. Naturally, not every game is of the same quality, and the franchise is responsible for some true stinkers; conversely, the series is also responsible for some truly great fighting games.
WWE games have evolved quite a bit over the years, and most fans have their favorite periods. While personal taste plays a part in dictating someone’s top pick, a few releases stand out above the crowd. What are thebest WWE gamesever?
Updated on June 13, 2025 by Mark Sammut:WWE 2K25 will likely be released around March 2025, and there is nothing to suggest the upcoming project will fail to maintain the momentum set by its predecessors. To fill the time until its debut, two moregreat WWE wrestling gameshave been added as recommendations.
Compared to its competitors, the Xbox’s WWE lineup was underwhelming.WWF Rawhad good visuals for its era but clunky gameplay and a surprising lack of content, whileWWE WrestleMania 21had similarly bad combat, which was arguably even more frustrating as it was a 2005 release. Sandwiched in between these two games wasWWE Raw 2, which came the closest to offering a solid experience for Xbox players.
The 2003 release has quite a few positives in its favor. The roster was and still is fantastic, reflecting WWE’s stacked lineup at the time. Although not that focused, the season mode grants players quite a bit of freedom in how they progress, allowing them to craft a unique road to WrestleMania to an extent. Finally and most importantly,WWE Raw 2’s customization features were top-notch, arguably the best in class at the time.
As great as all of the above sounds, the game is undermined by disappointing gameplay that falls somewhere in the middle between slow-paced sim and fast-paced arcade goodness, satisfying neither in the process.
WWE Raw 2 Critical Reception
While not coming close to matching the highest of PlayStation’sSmackDown!series,WWE Raw 2garnered a mostly positive reception, even if all-around praise was rare. Nowadays, the game is quite rare due to being an Xbox exclusive that is notbackward compatible with the Xbox One/Series X.
Released during a time whenWWE gameswere primarily sims,WWE All Starswas an over-the-top arcade brawler that pitted legends versus wrestlers of that era (many of whom are surprisingly still active in 2024). A change in expectations is required to appreciate this 2011 release as it is a wildly different experience from nearly every post-2000s WWE project, including arcade fighters likeHere Comes the Pain.
WWE All Stars' gameplay is stripped down considerably, arguably sharing more in common with beat ‘em ups than something likeWWE 2K12. The game has no season mode, with most of the content revolving around completing dream matches to unlock more characters. That said, Path of Champions provides a few unique stories, so there is some single-player content.
Honestly,WWE All Starsis a fun enough distraction that is particularly great with friends. As a solo experience, the game can get dull fairly quickly since a lot of matches play out in the same way.
For all its flaws,WWE All Starsis far better than its spiritual successor,WWE 2K Battlegrounds.
WWE All Stars Critical Reception
Somewhat surprisingly,WWE All Starsgarnered a positive reception during its debut; at least, the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions went down well with critics. While not receiving aggregate scores on Metacritic, the handheld versions are not bad either. In the right mood, this game can be awesome.
WWE 2K16is an entry in the series that serves as a grand improvement when compared to its2K15predecessor. After the negative reception ofWWE 2K15, fans were about ready to give up on theWWE 2K games series.Developer Yuke’s went above and beyond to improve everything they could from their previous installment and succeeded in a majority of different ways.
The greatest thing about2K16isn’t the improvements or added match types though. The overflowing roster containing over 120 characters is what makes this game stand out. Adding some much-needed diversity to a stale cast of playable talent with the introduction of numerous NXT superstars makes this entry stand out especially.
WWE 2K16 Critical Reception
This game was not disregarded by fans, however, it wasn’t the best-received either. Many, including some critics, believedWWE 2K16to be a step in the direction, as it mostly moves away from a lot of the faults plaguing past WWE2Kgames.
WWE (or, WWF at the time) produced a couple ofarcade games, and they are mostly fine.WWF SuperstarsandWWF Royal Rumbleare not particularly worth revisiting in this day and age, but they were OK releases for their eras. Comparatively,WWF WrestleFesthas aged considerably better, largely thanks to a colorful presentation and simple but fun controls. As with many arcade games, this 1991 release is fairly straightforward and repetitive, although it offers two modes (Royal Rumble and Saturday Night’s Main Event) that are just different enough to warrant playthroughs. The latter revolves around tag team wrestling, which was a fresh take in 1991.
As long as expectations are kept realistic,WWF WrestleFestis still worth a playthrough in this day and age. The gameplay aims to be somewhat realistic, offering almost a sim-like experience (at least compared to other early WWE games). However, the game still prioritizes accessibility, and most matches should not overstay their welcome.
In 2012, 2K releasedWWE WrestleFest, a remake that incorporates modern superstars. This version is pretty hard to find in this day and age.
WWF WrestleFest Critical Reception
Contemporary reviews forWWF WrestleFestare relatively hard to come by in this day and age, but it seems like the game was received fairly well. Retrospective reviews tend to be positive as well.
In terms of wrestling games, the early 2000s were dominated by the PS2. During this era, Yuke’s rarely failed to hit a home run when developing entries for Sony’s system, and titles likeShut Your Mouth,Here Comes the Pain, andSmackDown! vs. Rawhogged the limelight. However, the developer did not ignoreNintendo’s GameCube, producing four exclusives for the console between 2002 and 2005. All these releases have something to offer, butWWE Day of Reckoning 2is the pick of the bunch, although its predecessor is roughly of the same quality.
Superficial as this compliment might sound, butDay of Reckoning 2’s graphics are seriously impressive. They were cutting-edge for the era, and they still hold up. Outside ofHere Comes the Pain,Day of Reckoning 2is arguably the easiest early 2000s WWE game to revisit in this day and age, and that goes beyond the visuals. The gameplay was also great and offered a more sim-like experience than the PS2 releases of this era. That said, a few things keep this title back from greatness, specifically the poor handling of multi-man matches due to an overly sensitive collision system.
WWE Day Of Reckoning 2 Critical Reception
WWE Day of Reckoning 2garnered a generally positive reception from critics, even if its overall Metascore is slightly lower than its predecessor. While not looked back on as an all-time great, this fighting game tends to be fondly remembered.
The originalSmackDown Vs. Rawwas met with mostly positive reviews. At this point (2004), WWE’s brand split was gaining real traction, with fans picking a side and deciding what weekly show they’d support.WWE Raw, WWE’s long-running flagship program, orWWE SmackDown, which is generally seen as the B-show.
SmackDown Vs. Rawmade full use of the marketing that was the WWE brand war, and the rivalry the two shows had. While this game had its flaws, it still made up for it with advanced mechanics and showed what customizable options could look like for future installments down the road.
SmackDown Vs. Raw Critical Reception
This title sold over 300,000 copies in the UK alone, meaning that the sum of the profits made in addition to North American (and global) sales would have been enormous for the time. As such, the popularity of the game with fans helped spawn many following titles of similar nature for the WWE game library.
In terms of mechanics and presentation,WWF WrestleFestis arguably the pick of the bunch from this era, and it is a great option if someone is craving a game that captures the magic of the golden era. However, when it comes to just pure fun,WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Gameis an absolute delight, particularly in arcades and on the Genesis.
Coming out in the company’s worst year and during the much-hated New Generation,WWF WrestleManiaembraced the silliness that defined this period by just throwing any attempts at realism out of the window (except for the pretty decent graphics). Midway’sMortal Kombatbackground shines through the impressive visuals, satisfying combat, and fast-paced action.
WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game Critical Reception
For the most part,WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Gamereceived positive reviews across all of its platforms. While perhaps not remembered as one of the all-time great fighters, it is a very solid early attempt to translate wrestling into video game format.
One of the biggest complaints WWE fans have is that modern games are lacking in a good story mode. This is mostly true, but this is not the case forWWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth.
ThisPlayStation 2classic is highly regarded for its advanced story mode, where players select rosters and choose their own designated path through the WWE ladder. Many fans are still begging for this concept to be replicated since it is arguably the most intricate and highly interactive story mode in any WWE game to this day.
WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth Critical Reception
The story mode was popular with fans, who were also able to enjoy custom-created characters to behold with graphics that were incredible for the time.
SmackDown Vs. Raw 2007was the first WWE game to be released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, and while there weren’t many new additions such as game modes, match types, commentary, etc. it’s still a great entry in the series nonetheless.
Keeping much of what made the 2006 edition of the game so successful, but not offering anything new likely due to developer Yuke’s having to create four different versions of the game due to the newly released console’s arrival. One aspect worth mentioning isSmackDown Vs. Raw 2007’s impressive roster allows the game to feel like a proper snapshot of WWE’s Ruthless Aggression at close to its peak.
SmackDown Vs. Raw 2007 Critical Reception
Despite being plagued by numerous bugs, such as ones involving announcer dialogue lines and certain game types being nearly unplayable, some of the collision glitches were hilarious to behold, albeit annoying if detrimental. With that said,SmackDown Vs. Raw 2007had a lot of content and replay value…if one could enjoy the unrefined aspects.
While better than the 2007 entry in the series, and a majority of the other titles as well,SmackDown Vs. Raw 2010isn’t the best of the SmackDown Vs. Raw era of WWE games, but it’s a sequel worthy of the namesake in its own right.While the roster is a lot more lacking when compared to the 120 playable characters that2K16possesses, it still makes up for that with major enhancements to gameplay and a few standout game modes.
Character creation was exponentially expanded in this title, allowing players to customize every attribute of their wrestler, along with creating their own entrance, highlight reels, and finishing moves. Another welcomed addition was the improvements to the vastly underrated Road to Wrestlemania game mode, which allowed players to create personalized stories for every single wrestler in the game where one’s imagination could run rampant.
SmackDown Vs. Raw 2010 Critical Reception
SmackDown Vs. Raw 2010was considered to be a notable improvement over its immediate predecessors. The amount of time that can be lost delving into custom storylines and creating bizarre original characters can easily end up being in the hundreds for fans of the franchise.
