One of the game's most prominent features is the enhanced tag team match.[5] Additions in the match include new ways of tagging the player's tag team partner such as the hot tag, which can help save the player in the match if they are in trouble, and the forced blind tag, where the illegal partner can tag his or herself into the ring. The legal player's tag team partner has more of a part to play in this match and will aid the player by holding an opponent on the ropes while on the apron (pictured), and pulling down the ropes for an opponent who is dashing towards them, sending them out of the ring.[6] Teams will now share their own momentum meter, attributes and double team finishers.[3]
Tag teams are a major focus in this game with a reworked tag team match and co-operative season mode.
SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 is the first WWE video game to include the Inferno match, a match where the player has to set their opponent on fire. It is similar the real life match which takes place with the ring surrounded by fire coming from gas fed pipes. To win the player must increase the temperature of the ring by performing more devastating moves. As soon as the temperature reaches 500°F (or in the EU version 300°C), the player can then begin to set their opponent on fire. To set a person on fire, the player raises the temperature to the maximum and drags the person towards the ropes, provided that the opponent is badly injured.[7] However, this match is not available for the Nintendo DS or Wii.
Several matches absent in previous games also returned to the series. The backstage brawl, where players can battle in either the locker room or the backstage "Gorilla position" with a variety of weapons at their disposal, returned and replaced the parking lot brawl match featured in the last game.[8][9] The Gauntlet match also is a newly featured match selection in the Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 series where one superstar takes on three others one immediately after the other.[10] The General Manager mode and Create-A-Championship were removed from SmackDown vs Raw 2009.
Both the Wii and DS versions now include new match types, such as the Steel Cage and Ladder match, with the DS version also featuring tables and TLC matches.[3]
Fighting styles, a major feature from the previous version, were removed. Some abilities used there were kept and enhanced with each wrestler possessing six out of twenty different abilities that would aid the player in specific areas.[7] New to the game is the inclusion of signature moves, moves secondary in importance next to their finishing moves. When in full momentum, the players can choose to store a signature move instead of performing a finishing move which they can perform later.[11]
A new semi-auto targeting system was implemented into the game, which will generally automatically target a particular wrestler the player wants to attack but can also be controlled in-game by the player.[12]
Japanese company TOSE took over from Amaze Entertainment in development for the Nintendo DS version.[4] Unlike the previous year's game whose gameplay was focused exclusively on the handheld's stylus, this year's edition instead uses by default the D-pad for movement and the left shoulder button for finishing moves. The DS version's gameplay is now similar to that from the other consoles with full movement control around the ring for the wrestler and a stamina meter to build up for a finishing move. Grappling, attacks and submissions would still be controlled by the stylus.
