"Fallacious"

It is not a secret that something shouldn't be changed as long as it's working. This statement, very famous in a grammatically incorrect formulation, can be observed everywhere. While it happens that somebody thinks beyond others' capabilities and puts his new ideas into effect, it is very rare that someone will efficiently change something that's been admired and heartily welcomed by most.

In the Captain Tsubasa series, such changes occurred twice. While the titles had previously put a lot of emphasis on anime scenes and an exhaustive RPG aspect, this was tweaked in the fifth installment. Captain Tsubasa 5 thus introduced the gamer to a game erred more towards real football, with you finally roaming across a real pitch where every football rule applied. With these changes, Tecmo not only made the series infinitely better, but also took care of all the critics that had been emitted on the previous titles.

After Captain Tsubasa 5 had definitely installed itself as the best game in the series, Bandai took over. As cheerful as ever, Bandai thought it fit to change things around when it wasn't really necessary. The result was a sick and twisted game that was unbeatable due to a screwed system. While Captain Tsubasa J, which was released on the Super Nintendo, was visually excellent, everything else failed to be coherent.

Unaffected by how even die hard fans of the series loathed this sixth console installment, Bandai released a GameBoy title somewhere during 1995. This game can be regarded as a port of the sole console game produced by Bandai although it does have different features, and the story mode itself is a joke. Still called Captain Tsubasa J, this game is, like its console counterpart, an insult to the series.

Captain Tsubasa J plays very differently to the other GameBoy release, Captain Tsubasa Vs. Gone are the menu-based actions where one had to make up his mind as to whether shoot or pass the ball to a teammate. Where Vs. played exactly the same as the first console titles, J is entirely different. It gets rid of the entire RPG part and instead asks one to play as in a typical soccer game with the A button being used to shoot or tackle and B to pass or switch character. Obviously, the game is nowhere as strategic as the first portable release as, at the same time, the system of leveling up and most special techniques disappeared.

After finally having the courage to play through the whole of this game numerous times, it still baffles me as to why this was ever released. The whole thing can indeed be considered a joke. Even if one approaches the game without even knowing anything about Captain Tsubasa, the total lack of excitement throughout it makes playing it extremely tedious. The game mechanics themselves are weird. Granted, it plays like real football such that this at least makes the game more appropriate.

Unfortunately, in a desperate attempt to differentiate Captain Tsubasa Vs. from other football games, Bandai resorted to a dubious system of scoring goals. Whenever you shoot, two gauges pop up; one for your own player, and a second similar one for the opposing keeper (or defender, in some cases). Once this happens, it is your duty to stop the ball-shaped cursor as close to the upper limit as possible. Some players, such as Tsubasa, Misaki, and Hyuga have slightly different gauges from the rest in that a small fraction is actually gray. By getting the cursor into this part, you may thus unleash a special technique by holding an appropriate direction.

Here's the catch tough; each time you do stop the cursor in the gray part, the gauge decreases in length such that you will be doomed to use only special actions at the same time. If your gauge drastically reduces, there's obviously no point in using that player anymore, but you cannot make substitutions here. This system resembles the Guts' scheme of previous Captain Tsubasa titles and really shouldn't pose any problem, but unfortunately the rest fails to be reasonable. You see, since the opposing keepers too use the same techniques, they almost always win, whether you use your special techniques or not.

The game engine thus seems cheap, and it really is. Other than the fact that it's almost impossible to score in this game, things can also go totally random. Your players feel the need to shoot when you want to run about, and they don't always respond to your commands. Speaking of which, the controls in this game are peculiar. While you may be busy bashing on a button to perform a given action, nothing happens. At other times, opposing players tackle you even before the ball touches your feet, making me question the referee's neutral position. In the end, it all thins down to enduring two halves without conceding any goals, and winning through penalty kicks.

Of course, even this may not be achieved, as this game is particularly hard in spite of its short length. Granted, the awkward game engine is definitely behind this, but the opposing teams too make your job tough. You are directly thrown into the Shutetsu of Genzo Wakabayashi as soon as the match begins. Needless to say, this keeper is like a brick wall as all your attempts on goal are easily taken care of. Granted, knowing that he will join your team later will urge you on, but even that may not be necessary to enable you to dispose of Shutetsu.

Ensuing matches oscillate between the rather hard, the terribly tough, and the insane encounters. The final opponent, Meiwa, home to the boisterous Kojro Hyuga, will have you cry for days as you desperately seek to clinch that fading victory. You are actually asked to face Meiwa twice (the second match too), and their brusque change over the course of the game remains highly suspicious. The game consists only of six matches. This is a ludicrous count when one considers how Captain Tsubasa titles are particularly long. Even Captain Tsubasa Vs. crushes this game here.

One could indeed wonder what the **** Bandai was thinking. Did the developer suddenly grow tired of the game itself and thus decided to put a rather abrupt end to it? Granted, considering how the game sucks, it's better this way, but it's still puzzling how a game can consist of merely six matches.

It really seems as if all Bandai did was work on the anime scenes between the matches. These are brilliant and it really pains me to acknowledge the true beauty of these when the game itself is so execrable. In addition, the player pictures used during the matches to show who has the ball and who is more liable to claim it next are equally excellent. These are well-drawn and again show what Bandai can do with visuals when it's intent on working.

Unfortunately, the visual prowess is beaten to a pulp as a match kicks off. Indeed, Captain Tsubasa J has a horrendous animation. This is even more puzzling compared to Vs. which boasted both excellent graphics and a superb game engine. It seems Bandai stopped caring for this title altogether after first working on the events. The animation is choppy and the players look like plastered midgets. It is even hard to distinguish their arms from their legs.

In a glorious attempt to play the game for one minute, you then notice the horrible frame rate. For this reason alone, I doubt anybody will play Captain Tsubasa J for more than thirty seconds. Should you be courageous enough to bear with the horrible players on the pitch, don't worry; the difficulty will attack you relentlessly, showing you that resistance is futile.

To make things worse, the music also takes a plunge through the wide hole Bandai brought with it. Since Captain Tsubasa J consists of only six matches, only one track was devised for the first five, and a different one for the final encounter. The first track is irritatingly average and playing it for five matches straight obviously makes it even more repetitive. The second track is surprisingly good at it is subtly orchestrated, but you'll probably be too fed up to notice this by the time you reach the final match.

I'll admit that the different modes may seem quite charming at first as, in addition to the Story Mode, there are now such things as Exhibition Matches and Penalty Kicks, but even these don't conceal the horridness of this game. To reassert the fact that Captain Tsubasa J is a joke, the Penalty Kicks Mode allows you to shoot only once. You thus have to repeat the process of selecting this option over and over again if you want to practice shooting, which you should.

My final analysis is that Bandai's attempt at a second Captain Tsubasa title is as messed up at the first. Only the visuals during the events are remarkable. On the other hand, it is sad to see how the special techniques, which have always been the series' main feature, have been reduced to a minor role. They no longer enjoy awe-inspiring animations and even seem to have disappeared from the game since everything now seems so random.

Out of the two GameBoy Captain Tsubasa titles available, the first one, Captain Tsubasa Vs., remains the best by an unfathomable difference. Of course, it should also be said that Tecmo did produce the first game and sprinkled it with that extraordinary atmosphere. Captain Tsubasa J, despite coming out later, feels like a rushed attempt. Coming from Bandai, this shouldn't be very surprising.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 03/24/06