Captain Tsubasa 4

"The Sequel Is Back For More Intense Action!!!"

Introduction

The sequel to the highly successful Captain Tsubasa III is finally back. Huh? Don't know what Captain Tsubasa is??? Read my Captain Tsubasa III review [Super Nintendo] to have a brief idea of what Captain Tsubasa is all about. Captain Tsubasa IV was made in 1993, a year after Captain Tsubasa III was released. Basically, the gameplay is essentially the same as Captain Tsubasa III. Because of that, I won't go too much into details about the gameplay again as you can find out more by reading my Captain Tsubasa III review. Do I really need to repeat the whole introduction again? I guess no need, right? Back to the main topic.

What's New About This Sequel???

The sequel has improved quite a lot, in terms of visual, music, sound and presentation and so on, while retaining the same traditional formula. Of course, the improvements aren't that major, but they are easily noticeable. Overall, Captain Tsubasa IV plays and looks much better than Captain Tsubasa III.

Graphics

The first improvement is the graphic. Players are far better animated, thanks to the use of richer colour palette, thus making full use of the Super Nes's graphics capabilities. As can be seen in the game, the players are larger, sporting a much greater detail as the players are more proportionate than before. Though several scenes are pretty much identical, it is much better than before in terms of visual and the overall, animation feel has greatly been enhanced. The announcer, on the other hand, looks pretty much the same but there are few more animations on him such as seeing him falling asleep. And, sometimes, rains do occur and this enhances the overall atmosphere. The backgrounds, on the other hand, look much more colourful and richer than before.

Music And Sound

The second improvement is perhaps the music and sound. As usual, like its predecessor, there are two different background musics, one for each team. Although entirely new themes this time, the themes still remain as inspired as before, and perhaps sounded much better. The sound effects have improved tremendously as it can easily help differentiate between a punch and a kick and how powerful the punch or kick is. For example, a more powerful kick will tend to cause the ball to stay in that position before the ball eventually flies off the player's leg. Some of the sound effects sound rather deafening. The sound that is produced by the whistle, blown by the referee, is pretty good too. Furthermore, the voices are much better than before. Just before a match begins, the captain will say some encouraging words, in Japanese of course.

Gameplay

The unbelievable eagle and tiger shot, jumping up two storeys high before performing a bicycle kick, ball gets deflated after colliding into the goal post, ball sends a player flying away etc are still there. The basic strategies like marking a player down, selecting team formation etc are still there. The gameplay is essentially the same with the usual commands like passing, tackling, shooting there and the way of choosing the comands is still the same. However, several new features have been added to enhance the overall gameplay.

Presentation

The first is the way the game is presented. Whenever you want to pass a ball, you will be able to see the players in the field, as shown in the top screen. Furthurmore, when doing a corner kick, you can adjust your team members' positions now, if you wish. Overall, the menu interface is better presented, making it easier to use. The game also plays in a slightly more fast-pace manner than Captain Tsubasa III, with load times being reduced to the minimum. Of course, the usual ''slow motion'' is still there.

Features

The modes are essentially the same and can be divided into kick Off and All Star. Kick Off is much like the story mode and the story continues on after Captain Tsubasa III. As usual, the special animation scenes are there to guide you along as the plot goes on. Players do have attributes too, just like before and if you play the Kick Off mode, player(s) may increase their level(s) at the end of each match. In the All Star Mode, you can play 1 player VS CPU or two players.

Conclusion

Overall, if you like Captain Tsubasa III, you will definitely welcome Captain Tsubasa IV, which is in many ways much more superior than Captain Tsubasa III, in terms of ultising the same gameplay engine. I believe I have covered almost every new aspects of Captain Tsubasa IV quite detailedly. Is there anything that I have missed out? Anyway, it's hard to find the game nowasdays, and you might want to consider to download the rom from the internet to play it.

Story : 6.0/10.0
Graphics : 8.5/10.0
Concept : 6.0/10.0
Control : 8.0/10.0
Music : 8.0/10.0
Sound : 8.5/10.0
Gameplay : 8.5/10.0
Replay : 8.5/10.0
Challenge : 6.5/10.0
Overall : 8.0/10.0

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/00, Updated 12/16/02