In anticipation of every WWE game released since 2000, some group of fans always dubs it the No Mercy-killer. Then when the game comes out, those same fans are sorely disappointed.

There is no doubt that the Smackdown games sell a ton and will continue to do so; yet, we still aren't close to finding a suitable contender to the throne. If Yukes/THQ, Midway, or any other wrestling game developer wants to beat No Mercy, they need to follow these guidelines: consistency, simplicity, and attention to detail. With the Smackdown series being the most frequent offender, we’ll use that franchise as the basis of our comparison.

This year THQ will push a brand new, never-before-seen feature in a wrestling game. Every press release will push this new mode or match prominently. The back of the game box will highlight this feature above everything else. The question should not be what Yukes has added to the game though. What the real fans should be asking is, what has been taken out?

Moves, match types, and anything else you can think of has been taken out in the past. Yukes should be adding to the features already in the game, not mixing-and-matching every year.

With that in mind, it’s tough to be surprised when the roster list comes out months before the game’s release, because like the MLB All-Star teams, there are always a few snubs.

In addition, new WWE wrestlers join the fray and need to be in the game, but not at the cost of wrestlers currently on the roster. The company lets go of enough guys as is, so only those grapplers should be taken out of the most recent game.

With that in mind, it’s tough to be surprised when the roster list comes out months before the game’s release, because like the MLB All-Star teams, there are always a few snubs. It almost seems that Yukes sets their roster a year-and-a-half before the game comes out. Why is Johnny Nitro in Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 which was released in November, when he changed his name to John Morrison in June? If they could not change his character model, they could have at least changed his entrance music to fit the current WWE landscape.

...but now on the current consoles, the games have become too complicated for beginners.

It is laziness and not the type of detail you would expect from a top flight game. Of course there are wrestlers who join the roster too late. Still, why is my favorite wrestler wearing the attire he has not worn in a year? No Mercy allowed for editing of garments and color schemes. If Jeff Hardy wore a green shirt from here on out, you could change it in No Mercy.

My friends and I have been playing wrestling games since they were in 2D on the NES, but now on the current consoles, the games have become too complicated for beginners. Yukes always adds more functionality to their games, but at the cost of pick-up-and-playability. Nobody should have to move the sticks in ten different directions when trying to pull off a submission move.

No Mercy was simple in that regard. All you had to do was strike, grapple, and run -- the rest was easy to figure out the more you played. However, by no means does this style of gameplay mean it was dumbed down: A veteran No Mercy player would block every strike and reverse every grapple until you threw down the controller in frustration.

With the move to Xbox 360 and PS3, there should be no more excuses. Should we be reminded that No Mercy was released on the N64? To be fair, it was AKI’s fourth wrestling game on the system? They had a few chances to tweak the engine and add the features they could not fit in the first few times. Yukes has had nine tries and they still have not gotten it perfect. They have gotten close, but every two steps forward is at least another step back. Then again, maybe this year will be different...

Has the Smackdown series been all that you desired? Do you want to Samoan Spike the guys at Yukes? Would you rather check out the Divas instead? Sound off below!