Gameplay is quick and the controls are simple, with flashy moves that aren’t possible or allowed in a real soccer game. The basics are tied to two buttons: one for passing the ball and one for shooting. The longer you hold a button, the stronger the kick. When you're on defense, you have a sliding tackle, a normal tackle, and a dash into an opponent.
There are no fouls and no yellow or red cards, so you can go crazy with tackles. Bodies will fly all over the place, and apart from a brief limp after being tackled, there are no injuries, as players recover after a few seconds. Although there’s a spin and hop move that lets you dodge a tackle, it’s completely pointless because you have no way of knowing when a tackle is about to happen.
A clear sign of the arcade-like feel is the trail that appears behind players when performing these moves, especially during super-running. Added to this is a super-dribble move that makes you look like a cartoon hero, allowing you to dash straight through an opponent, and a super shot, where the ball turns into a fireball and you need to press a button at the right moment to send it flying into the goal.
The opponent can perform flashy moves as well, and when it uses a super shot, you need to press the correct button at the right time to make the goalkeeper save it. Each player can only perform one type of super move, so you might expect to unleash a super shot but instead trigger a speed boost that sends you running off the pitch.
To prevent this, you need to keep an eye on the icon displayed when a player has possession of the ball. Of course, super moves can’t be performed constantly because there’s a cooldown period between uses. On the other hand, each player has an individual cooldown, so you can perform a move, pass the ball, and immediately perform another move with a different player.
The bad news is that super moves are distributed randomly, meaning you might end up with a defender who has a super shot instead of an attacker. This creates some silly situations where you launch a fireball from your own half and send it flying across the entire pitch.
The super shot is particularly problematic because it heavily favors attackers over defenders, and the computer opponent abuses it constantly while seemingly cheating. If you miss the button prompt as an attacker, the ball will still fly like a fireball, whereas defenders don’t get the same leniency. To make matters worse, the required button changes every time, and the window for pressing it is extremely short.
The computer opponent never seems to have trouble pressing the correct button at the right moment, which becomes especially frustrating when you’re taking a super shot because success feels largely random. This also applies when defending, as you can press the button correctly and still fail to save the goal.
Any sense of strategy goes out the window because the game neither rewards nor properly supports it. The moment you get close to the penalty area, you'll be tackled from every direction while the referee simply stands there. As a result, you're forced to rely on passing the ball around until you find the player with the super shot and then hope for the best, since scoring a normal goal is almost impossible.
Because the opponent abuses super shots and far too often seems to know exactly when to dodge your tackles, the game doesn't stay enjoyable for long. However, there is a way to exploit the AI as well, and it works often enough to make winning a walk in the park. Unless, of course, you're playing on the easiest difficulty, where scoring is already quite easy.
The first step is to get close to a sideline and run along it all the way into the opponent’s half. Near the corner, stop moving and allow the opponent to tackle you, which results in a throw-in. Next, move a player into the opponent’s penalty area and throw the ball to him. There are no offside rules. This usually leads to an immediate tackle, which is exactly what you want because the penalty area is the only place where fouls are called, and they always result in a penalty kick. If you score, all you need to do is waste time by running up and down the sidelines or repeatedly passing the ball back to your goalkeeper.
As for the game modes, the main attraction is the World Cup, but there are also tournaments and leagues. Both come in four variations based on region: American, European, Asian, and International, which includes all teams. Despite the different names, they are essentially the same. In league mode, you play against every team and win by finishing with the most points, while tournaments use a traditional bracket format.
Sadly, none of the modes are particularly exciting, including the World Cup. You simply play standard matches through the group stage before advancing to the knockout rounds and the final. There are no special presentations or additional features that make the tournament feel memorable.
Overall, the game is fun during the current World Cup craze, but it doesn’t offer much lasting appeal, especially for the high price. There’s also a heavy focus on Argentina, the only national team with real player names and face images. The remaining teams feature slightly altered names that still make it obvious who the players are supposed to represent, along with generic character models. Argentina even includes several historical squads, ranging from Maradona’s era onward.
