Ever since create-a-wrestler debuted in WWF Warzone for the Nintendo 64 and PSone, the mode has been a staple in virtually every wrestling game. I remember tinkering with it obsessively back then, as the game was released at the height of the "Attitude" era of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, D-Generation X, etc. Subsequent WWF (and later, WWE) games have always built upon this feature, allowing for increasing levels of customization for your characters. This led to the birth of a huge "CAS" (create-a-superstar) community online. Gamers shared formulas on how to create celebrities and fictional characters, and the most rabid and active wrestling fans created new superstars and retired legends. If Bret Hart is your favorite wrestler and you'd love to play through a season mode with him, his creation "recipe" was just a Google search away. Obviously, the publishers of the games can't include non-contract grapplers directly, but CAS has always provided fans with the tools to make them on their own.

SmackDown vs. RAW 2010 features the next step in customization and creation modes for the hardcore wrestling fan. Not only can you create Bret Hart, Doink the Clown, or Razor Ramon for your own use, you can now make them available to the rest of the gaming world via the new Community Creations feature. Fight Night Round 4’s sharing system almost immediately featured incredible recreations of boxers that weren't in the game (as well as Obama, Micheal Jackson, and various Rocky villains), and it doesn't take a psychic to realize that the same is bound to happen with created wrestlers from WWE's past. Those active online communities will jump at the chance to create the best Rick Rude or Mr. Perfect, and anyone with the game can download them and rate their quality.

Pushing the creative options even further is the new Create A Storyline mode. Now fans can recreate Wrestlemania X versions of Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, even directing their own version of the Intercontinental Title feud leading up to the classic ladder match. I'll be shocked if we don't see storylines based on Bret Hart's gradual heel turn, the buildup to The Rock and Steve Austin's Wrestlemania XV title match, or the original NWO invasion soon after the game is released. These storylines aren't restricted to wrestling history, as someone blessed with plenty of free time could easily create all of the X-Men and make a storyline pitting them against Mortal Kombat fighters, for example. When someone chooses to download the storyline, they're getting the entire package ­– characters, dialogue, settings, and matches.

Granted, historic storylines and wrestlers only appeal to a select demographic of longtime wrestling fans. Many casual fans will just want to mess around in the game and throw someone off of the Hell In A Cell or play through Road to Wrestlemania. However, the tools are in place for sports entertainment fans to make this year's installment of SvR an especially enjoyable one.