It’s often said that we live in an era of nostalgia. With so many remakes and remasters of classic video games, movies, tv shows, and more, everyone is getting a taste of what it would be like to see the things you loved as though they were made in modern times.
Usually, these remakes and remasters are done by companies who purchased the license to an IP at one point in time or another — see Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2. For one classic game, however, it isn’t a major publisher or developer keeping it alive and well. It’s actually all being done by a group of fans.
WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain is arguably one of the greatest wrestling video games ever made. Released back in 2003, the game features a great mix of wrestlers, fun gameplay, and a deep season mode to keep players entertained for hours on end. Since that time, wrestling games have become a spotty genre with more disappointing entries that acclaimed ones, leaving many to replay the older titles without modern-day superstars.
That’s where Muhammad Fathur has come in to help save the day. Known better by his username Ryokudou on the Legends of Modding forum, Fathur has led an effort over the past few years building a full mod of the classic title, simply known as Here Comes The Pain 2.0. From rosters to arenas to visuals to music, Fathur and a group of fellow modders on the forum have taken a beloved game and injected it with a breath of fresh air for players.
“It’s always been my dream [to do something like this],” he said. “I mean Here Comes The Pain already had a stacked roster, you know? It had (John) Cena, Batista, (Randy) Orton, and many more.
“There was one thing that always crossed my mind: What if I could get “Super Cena”, World Champion Batista, and “The Viper” Orton to Here Comes The Pain? Wouldn’t be that really cool?”
Originally, Fathur never actually planned to release the patch to anyone. He was just doing it for personal use, specifically for his younger brother due to them not being able to afford to get newer consoles to play the latest games. Eventually, community interest in the game led to him reaching out for help to get a full mod of the game completed and to make it available to the public.
That help, he said, has been tough to come by at times due to it not being a very popular game for the modding community to dive into.
“That’s been the biggest difficulty,” he said. “A lack of tutorial and discovery for Here Comes The Pain made it tricky, especially in the early days of development.”
Yet as time passed, the reward of seeing it all come together made the earlier struggles worth it to everyone involved.
“The most fun part is definitely when all the things finally come together,” Fathur said. “People playing your patch, giving their opinion about it, and having fun with it is definitely the best joy I can get.
“What could be better than that?”
As far as future plans go, Fathur still is working on the official final release of the Here Comes The Pain 2.0 patch. Once that’s completed, he plans on starting two new releases: one that focuses on the Ruthless Aggression era of the WWE and another that is more centered around the superstars of today.
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