The first thing worth noting about WWF Raw is that it's not developed by Yuke's - the peeps behind the mighty PlayStation SmackDown! series. Instead, it's been coded by the tiny Tokyo-based development team Anchor Inc, who are best known for coming up with the fantastic Dreamcast version of Ultimate Fighting Championship - still the most realistic and brutal beat-'em-up yet released for any console.

As such, WWF Raw has a grittier, harder edge to it than any of the SmackDown! series ever did. As soon as you pick up the pad, you immediately feel more in control of your character, with even basic kicks and punches feeling much meatier and the wrestlers themselves looking a lot more solid.

Despite early speculation that this would be the closest thing yet to a true wrestling 'sim' though, it still owes a lot to the sheer arcadey feel of the SmackDown! games. The interface is actually a slightly modified version of that utilised by the PlayStation games. So, combining different directions with either the strike or grapple buttons will result in a myriad of different moves, depending on where you are in relation to your opponent.

It's an accessible system but lacks the rewarding nature of Tekken-style combos - which were last seen (and used to great effect) in a WWF game in Acclaim's groundbreaking WWF Attitude. You almost get the impression that the developers were scared of messing about too much with SmackDown!'s control system as so many people would already be familiar with it. But it's a bit of a shame they couldn't have taken the bold (and much-needed) step of throwing out the wrestling game rule book and starting from scratch.

There is, however, a greater emphasis on making the fights more convincing. Counters and reversals play a big part, as do submission holds - a true reflection in the subtle change in the WWF's in-ring style of late. That said, there's still something rather improbable about seeing The Rock attempt to win a match with an armbar.

But one glaring absence is the complete lack of blood. Early in its development, publishers THQ lauded this as the 'adult' WWF game (compared to the supposed 'family' SmackDown! games). Indeed, in the first versions of Raw (then still WWF Raw Is War), pints of blood would gush from the wrestlers' heads after a weapon shot. In the finished US version, though, there's no sign of the red stuff whatsoever - a shame for anyone hoping for a more realistic product. No doubt it's explained by THQ's wish to garner a 'Teen' rating.

Along with standard energy bars (which hover next to each character), there's also a 'Voltage Meter' at the bottom of the screen, which measures the crowd's attitude towards you. It's only when your Meter maxes out that you'll be able to execute your finishing move so, as per the recent Legends of Wrestling, keeping the crowd entertained is as important as wearing out your opponent.

When it comes to the choice of matches and modes, you cannot help but be underwhelmed. Admittedly, no one's ever likely to better SmackDown! Just Bring It's ridiculous number of match permutations but, even so, Raw's menu screen does look rather stark.

There are four main modes to pick from - but no Story or Career mode. So while there is plenty here to keep you busy, it's really limited when sat next to JBI, not least because that crucial in-depth single-player game, along with the ability to brawl through a variety of backstage areas, is sorely lacking. Instead, you're given a simple choice of Exhibition, Title Match, King of the Ring and, that old favourite, create-a-wrestler.

Exhibition is split into eight different match types, including one-on-one, tag team, Triple Threat and handicap matches but, while each match has a 'hardcore' option that allows you to make use of weapons, there's no sign of the classic WWF gimmick bouts such as table matches or Hell in a Cell. The best you get is the option of a four-character Battle Royal but even that's not quite done properly as wrestlers are eliminated by pinfall as opposed to the traditional 'over-the-top' rules being in place.

Title Match is the closest the game ever gets to a Career mode, giving you the opportunity to work your way up the rankings and challenge for six different titles, from the WWF title itself, all the way down to the Hardcore and Light Heavyweight belts. Bizarrely, anyone can take a shot at the Women's belt - even performers such as 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin or The Rock who are, we would imagine, quite clearly not women (in spite of the shaved legs).

The King of the Ring mode is, for regular WWF followers, fairly self-explanatory and allows you to take part in an eight-man elimination tournament. And bringing up the rear is ye olde bog standard create-a-wrestler function. After all, it's grappling game law that every wrestling outing must now include it, however indifferent the end results may be.

So it really is safe to say that WWF Raw is nothing at all special. It's not terrible, by any means. It's just that, considering the degree of expectation surrounding it and the power of Xbox itself (Halo, anyone?), it should - and could - have offered so much more. Where it should have been the videogame incarnation of a WrestleMania, it comes across more as Sunday Night Heat. We can only hope that, when it does see a UK release, it'll be able to boast of a significant range of improvements over the ho-hum US game.