Captain Tsubasa 5

"Tecmo's Last Attempt To Revive This Great Series...!!!"

Introduction

Tecmo's last attempt to revive this great series was a success. There is simply no doubt that Captain Tsubasa V is easily the best out of the whole series. Captain Tsubasa was made by Tecmo in 1994, just a year after the release of Captain Tsubasa and already, the game had shown major vast improvements over its predecessors. Oh, what is Captain Tsubasa? Please read my Captain Tsubasa III review [Super Nintendo] to have a brief idea of what it is. I don't think I need to repeat, right?

What's New About This Sequel???

The first noticeable change is the fact that the ''first person animation view'' is now no longer there. Yes, this time, you are playing on a real soccer field. Quite similar to the normal soccer game you have played, except that a few features separate it apart.

Gameplay

Much like any other normal game, you control the d-pad to run or dribble the ball in the soccer field. [Yeah, this time, real soccer field. No kidding!] However, the usual menu still have, and that includes also the animation as well. [Yeah, the animation is what makes Captain Tsubasa a success and makes it one of the most unique soccer game.] A small map, showing all the positions of the players on the soccer field, can also be found at the centre-bottom of the screen.

As usual, you press the B button to open up the menu and then choose a command such as passing, tackling, dribbling, shooting and so on. The basic principle behind the gameplay engine still remains unchanged. Whenever you are near your opponent and you are dribbling the ball or when your opponent who is dribbling the ball, is coming towards you, the menu will pop up and you are required to choose a command, either to dribble past your opponent or tackle your opponent to grab the ball.

However, there are a few new features that you need to know. Whenever you try to pass a ball, there will be a cursor on the field and all you need is to shift that cursor, using the d-pad to point to the specific player that you need to know. Also, while using normal shooting, not specials, you are then given the choice to choose a direction which side of the net you want to shoot. To the left, right or centre. Simple enough?

Whenever you choose a special command, regardless whether it is Tsubasa's Eagle shot, Kojiro's Tiger shot, or any other special moves such as dribbling, tackling, passing etc, the screen will change and an animation will appear.

The Good And Bad Points About This Format???

So, what's good about it? This is the basic formula of what puts Captain Tsubasa V on the map of success by introducing a ''real soccer field.'' Because of an actual drawn to scale soccer field, this allows players to interact more with the environment, allowing a much more faster pace, thus giving a more variation of challenge and towards better realism.

The soccer field is pretty well designed, with good use of shading and colouring- bright and colourful colours. The referee looks almost like the same in the predecessors but the announcer has been given an entirely new look, perhaps, more mature now than before, with the gone of his childish look in the previous incarnations.

The players are pretty quite well animated in sprite-based, though in my opinion, there are rooms for improvements. The players, in my opinion, look almost identical in shapes and sizes, and the similar facial expressions make the different characters unable to be differentiated easily or hard to be visible. The only differences that you can tell, are only the colour of their uniforms and colour of the hair [Not the hairstyle, sorry!] They aren't really deformed actually and are quite proportionate.

On the other hand, the way the players dribble in the field, passing or shooting the ball etc are pretty realistic. [I mean, how the poses are liked, when the players kick the ball. Not that much of ''slow motion!'' Of course, during animation, ''slow motion'' is inevitable. Huh, what's slow motion??? What do you think?]

Finally, move on to the animation. The animations weren't that as good as I would have thought. The animations are definitely better than Captain Tsubasa III but I personally think that Captain Tsubasa IV has the best animations. Of course, Captain Tsubasa V has enough animations to create that strong animation feel.

Music And Sound

The music and sound effects have been enhanced quite a lot. The tunes, just like its predecessor, though not many, are rather inspiring. Some of the tunes are taken from the past Captain Tsubasa but are sounded much better than before. Just like its predecessor, each team has different background music. [I think that's Tecmo's tradition, huh?] Voices still remain as well. For example, just before a match begins, the captain from each team will say some encouraging words in Japanese to motivate his team members. [And also, don't forget about the sound produced by the whistle.]

Presentation

The presentation has been touched up as well. It is easier to use the menu as well. And, the background before the match has also been changed. Certain players also have their own photos [Hmm... Rather small to me, but can be found at the top of the screen] when you are viewing your players' attributes. [Mostly, only the significant players like Tsubasa, Kojiro etc have their own photos. Yeah, small fries don't usually have!]

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 IV. As usual, the special animation scenes are there to guide you along as the plot goes on. Players do have attributes too. In the kick Off mode, the players can gain experience and as their experiences increase, they will gain a level. The All Star mode is basically quite similar to before, however, there is one more additional mode. [I call it the tournament mode. Hmm..i don't know the japanese names.] You can choose up to a maximum of eight teams and these teams can either be controlled by the players or the CPU. Of course, only two teams can fight together at the same time and to be the winner, you need to defeat other seven teams. [Did anyone mention Dragon Ball's Tournament mode or whatever it is?]

Conclusion

Ultimately, I think Captain Tsubasa V is the best out of the entire game series. Any Captain Tsubasa fan should not miss it. Also, the gameplay is less confusing and easier to learn because of the introducing of a ''real soccer field.'' Indeed, there are quite a lot of major improvements. I believe I have covered every new aspects of Captain Tsubasa V 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 : 8.5/10.0
Control : 9.5/10.0
Music : 9.0/10.0
Sound : 9.0/10.0
Gameplay : 9.5/10.0
Replay : 9.5/10.0
Challenge : 8.5/10.0
Overall : 9.0/10.0

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/00, Updated 12/16/02