"Great game, but unlockables would have been nice."

This is the best soccer(football) game I've ever played since FIFA 2001. It's an astoundingly fun and easy-to-like game. Anyways, on to review:

Graphics 9/10: I think that these visuals are amazing. They are pretty good for the DS, and it's very easy to tell teams apart and even easier to keep track of which player is being controlled. I would have given this a ten, but I think the crowd isn't done very well. I have seen no motion, flags, or anything indicating a roaring crowd.

Sound 8/10: Excellent sound makes up for the lack of a crowd. The announcer's voice is crisp and clear ( it's actually intelligible!) and the crowds roar loader when a player takes shots and gets close to making a goal. The menus have good music too, but I would have enjoyed track changes without having to go to another screen.

Playability 9/10: Good response from controls, and good button configurations make this game easy to pick up and play. The best part is the touch-screen commands. By touching a single spot on the lower-screen, you can tell your players to advance, fall back, do an off-sides trap and you can do it without lifting your hands from the controls! Also, the shots are easy to aim and passing is simple, so the game is never stupid with ball-control. I wish the slide-tackles weren't horrible. I have received dozens of cards for frontal slides that hit the ball.

Content 7/10: This is the game's only failing. The console versions have un-lockable cleats, balls, stadiums, players, kits, and boat-loads of other things, but this game only has trophies for a trophy room. I did enjoy the creatable team, which allows you to create a team from scratch, draw a logo, and design the kits. I also would have enjoyed more than the five or six stadiums (forgive me if there are more than that), but as long as a game's got decent visuals, good game play, and good music, I can deal with it.

Replay value 10/10: Can sports ever get boring? no. I play this more than any of my other 14 games. that's all there is to it.

Buy/rent: BUY IT!!!! don't bother renting this. 20$ where I live is not much to pay, and If you like soccer, you'll have trouble returning this if you rent. so just buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/06