Originally released in Japan on May 18th, 1990, the game arrived to America seven months later on that same year. This is one of my most favorite sports games of the old days, and constantly played it in my childhood with my cousins. We would play co-op or in tournaments if we wanted to. Soccer is one of my favorite sports games, and so I decided to make a review of this game.
For lovers of soccer, get ready for an awesome review, because this game will have you playing for hours. If you still have your old Nintendo and four controllers, then you'll enjoy playing with family and friends.
Gameplay. At the core, the game follows the rules of soccer, but with noticeable differences. Each team, has six players (a goalkeeper, a midfielder, two defenders, and two forwards). Offsides are non-existent, and fouls are not punished, making players effective to steal the ball from the opponent; furthermore, if players are fouled enough times, then they will stay knocked out until the next throw-in or corner kick close to where the player was fouled, goal, or the end of the half of the round.
Players can also make super shots from respective players. Each player has a unique super shot like each team as well, which is extremely cool and can be used up to five per-half; these powerful, odd-looking shots are used whenever a player does an overhead kick or a diving header, or when he shoots after walking a certain number of steps.
Design. Technos Japan was behind the game's development, and the game's graphics look very similar to those of the Kunio-kun series. The sprites of the characters resemble those from the River City Ransom game, and the character of Kunio is the team captain in each team that's chosen. Developers did a great job at using these sprites making them from street brawlers to soccer players in the game, which was awesome.
Teams. There are thirteen national football teams in the game:
1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Cameroon
4. U.S.A.
5. Japan
6. France
7. Italy
8. Mexico
9. Spain
10. England
11. West Germany
12. Russia (U.S.S.R)
The selection of competing nations in the game was supposed to be based on the real-life 1990 FIFA World Cup, held the same year as the game was released. However, both Mexico, France and Japan are playable teams, though none of them actually managed to qualify for the finals that year.
Memories. I played this game when I was 5 years old, during a vacation in the Dominican Republic. Me and my cousins would spend many hours playing this game. My two cousins played in co-op, while sometimes I played against them in tournaments. I still remember the multiplayer gameplay experience of this awesome title for the Nintendo. I really liked the selection of fields, especially the ice and rocky fields. The rocky fields, you had a high chance of tripping over, which was hilarious.
Rantings. Now, the team I had trouble against with when I was a kid, was against Argentina. Argentina was like the first toughest team, with West Germany being the second toughest, and the third toughest team was Italy. Argentina was incredibly fast and physically strong that they could take the ball from you with one slide, and knock you out silly. I usually used Italy to beat the team, and to think, Italy is one of my favorite teams in the world cup.
Good Aspects. This game has a million great qualities, but unfortunately it is not on the Wii Virtual Console in the States, and it's only in Japan, which is a disappointment to fans of this game, especially my cousin, who happens to be a hardcore lover of this game up until this day. The game is awesome, and it's replay value is memorably high. My favorite teams in this game, like in real life are: Brazil, Italy, Spain, and Argentina.
Overall. This game is one of the best old sports games in the days of the NES. This game gets an 8 out of 10.