HCTP by far. It was endless of hours of fun and was so damn good that the lack of commentary wasn't even noticeable. Smackdown 2 was a Christmas gift in 3rd grade and is probably the most nostalgic. Beat the fukk out of HHH with Jericho that morning.
Yall remember the menu music?
Smackdown Shut Your Mouth was great, too, and in some ways, I thought it did certain things better than HCTP, but HCTPs roster, along with the expanded match selections AND the (at the time) revolutionary limb & weight systems were too much to overcome. This is also whete I believe rating were introduced.
Using Kurt was totally different than Undertaker. Controlling Rey was worlds different than Big Show. Guys had strengths and weaknesses. It was no longer about spamming general moves. If you had a submission specialist, you were better served working limb. A cruiserweight? Better hit the top rope and avoid grappling. If you had a powerhouse like Brock or Goldberg, you should focus on power attacks. The grappling system was deep. I think stamina mattered, too. IIRC, it also had a dope heel/face system that influenced gameplay. I had the most fun with those three though and for all the technological leaps that have been made, none of the wrestling games post the PS2 era have had the same charm or fun factor.
Unsurprisingly enough, they went as the product did.
