Captain Tsubasa 4

"Wonder if that's really "Tecmo Shoot". . ."

Introduction
As you may already know if you are reading this review, this game is based on a famous japanese anime/manga called Captain Tsubasa, which is a soccer series whose main character is, of course, Ozora Tsubasa, a japanese boy who loves soccer more than anything in his life, so he tries the hard task of trying to have his country the victory in the world cup.

Gameplay
In this game you will be playing in a field and you can just see a the player who has the ball, all the others will be seen in a small field and you can only control a defending player (which you may switch, pressing a certain button), pass the ball, dribble or make combinations, selecting those options in a menu that you can make appear by pressing anoter button. At first sight it may seem hard for you to understand the controls (mainly if you don't understand a single japanese ''letter'') but after some practice you will notice that they aren't hard to understand at all. You also have 2 gameplay modes in this game, a usual Story Mode and a 2P Mode. This game also has 4 ''different'' endings (well, they aren't MUCH different, but ok...), and every time you finish it getting a different ending, a player you can use in the 2P mode (his name is Kazu, which stands for the mythic japanese player Kazuyoshi Miura) will learn a new special move. Special Moves? Yeah, one of the most interesting things on Captain Tsubasa games are the ability of some characters to use special techniques, for example, Hyuga Kojiro, Japan's ace striker, has a dribble that can send hurt the opponent and some special shots that can blow up the opponent goalkeeper. There is also a goalkeeper that uses the bar to help him stops the hard shots and all other things.

Story
Once again the young and amazing Tsubasa wants to offer his team the winning trophy... But this time he will have a large ammount of ''Pro Rivals'' waiting for him, that makes us understand the subtitle of this game... You'll face the elite of the players from all over the world, and they will surely put you into trouble more than once.

Graphics/Sound
The graphics aren't very good, some of the sequences aren't drawn very good (just see the Tachibana Twins'). As for the sound, it sometimes gets boring because it is always the same, during every match...

Play Time/Replayability
Since this game has 4 different endings it will be hard for you to finish it quickly.

Final Recommendation
Recommended not only for Captain Tsubasa fans but also to people than wanna try this interesting concept of game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/15/03, Updated 04/15/03