Striker Pro 2000

"Another Soccer Game For The Dreamcast"

Before purchasing Striker Pro 2000, I had mixed feelings on it. I played Striker Pro 2000 for Playstation and thought it was a decent soccer game. Looking for improvements for the Dreamcast version of it, I was furious when I saw it was the same thing except with crisper graphics.

The graphics in Striker Pro 2000 are good. Although they don't set a standard for Dreamcast sports games the graphics make the game have a nice feel to it. The thing that plagues Striker Pro 2000 are the load times. When I got the Playstation version of this game I expected long load times but I didn't have any clue that the load times would be just as long on the Dreamcast version. Also, there is some slight slowdown but not too much that would hurt Striker Pro 2000.

For sports games, gameplay is the most important factor. Surprisingly, Striker Pro 2000 has a bunch of goodies that you can fool around with. One goodie that I enjoyed a lot was setting the weather conditions. For some reason I loved playing Striker Pro 2000 in the snow. May be it's because I never saw a soccer game being played when it was snowing or may be it's another reason that I can't think of at the moment. Any ways, the AI in Striker Pro 2000 is good. Sometimes the computer can be a bit stupid but usually they do the right stuff. One thing I hated about Striker Pro 2000 was the menus. I could play at least one game of Striker Pro 2000 in the time I could get one game started. Other than that, Striker Pro 2000 is pretty good in the gameplay area.

Being a huge Dreamcast fanatic for sports games, I expected the control in Striker Pro 2000 to be better than Dreamcast's other soccer game which is known as the infamous Virtua Striker 2. Although the control in Striker Pro 2000 is better than Virtua Striker's 2, it still needs a lot of work. Occasionally the control is a bit unresponsive but it doesn't become a huge factor. One thing I don't get about Striker Pro 2000 is how the computer controls your other players. Usually, when you pass off the screen, it will go to the other team because your player is not in correct position. This totally plagues the game making it a non-enjoyable experience control-wise.

If I am correct, I live in the United States. Saying that, shouldn't this game have announcers who are from the USA. The two announcers in Striker Pro 2000 are horrible for many reasons. One reason is their thick British (or whatever it is) accent that makes them nearly impossible to understand. Another reason is their commentating. First off, soccer is soccer and is not football. I don't care what they call it in the European states but in the USA soccer is called soccer. I'm wondering why the announcers call it football. For example, when you trip someone one announcer says ''You just can't do that in football''. Then, I think to myself, this isn't freaking football. I highly suggest that Striker Pro 2000 should be played with background music on and it's music off.

So now you're probably wondering if you should buy Striker Pro 2000. Well, it's a tough decision for sure. If you are a Dreamcast owner (and only a Dreamcast owner) then you should pick this game up because it's better than Virtua Striker 2. If you have other consoles (which most of you probably do) then I would look somewhere else because this game isn't the best soccer game on the market. I highly suggest that you rent this game before buying it though because you may be disappointed. Trust me, I was.

Overall Rating- 6.1
Graphics- 7.0
Sound- 3.5
Control- 5.0
Fresh Factor- 7.6
Game Life- 7.3

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/01, Updated 07/09/01