Captain Tsubasa Vs.

"Captain Tsubasa on a portable console? good!"

Introduction
Huh, Tsubasa in a portable console? Can we perform all those cool moves that appeared in the japanese anime/manga named Captain Tsubasa? Fine, so this game must be amazing!

Gameplay
This is a soccer game, but it isn't played as most of the ones we are used up to see (like FIFA or ISS series). You just see on the screen the player who has the ball, if it is an opponent player you need to control a certain player on your team to try to get the ball and if you have the ball of course you can just advance in the field and try to score a goal... In this game you get to pick what you want to do (pass the ball, dribble, shoot or whatever else...), but most of the soccer rules still apply, except for the offsides and fouls, since there would be MANY fouls, with Kojiro Hyuga being shown a red card in almost every match. And why is this? Because many characters in this game have special abilities, some of them can use dribbles that can send an opponent player flying away, others can use use shots can would be able to score to even the best goalkeepers, while some can even use techniques so strange that could never be real, and this moves are what made Captain Tsubasa so famous worldwide. Although this game is only avaliable in japanese, it doesn't matter much since you can understand how to play this game easily, the only problem is if you also want to understand the story...

Story
Ozora Tsubasa was a boy that loved soccer more than anything in his life, so he wanted to offer his country the world cup. Of course this wasn't going to be easy, so he had to win many cups in his country before attempting to be a professional player. But he was ''gifted'', since he could play really good, so he becomes the captain of Japan's team even in the tournament you also get to enter in this game.

Graphics/Sound
The graphics are nice for a console, since you can recognize all of those characters you may know from the series, and their special moves as well. Imagine that you can even see the cool Triangle Combination from the Tachibana Twins'! As for the sound, it isn't very good, but you can always turn it off!

Play Time/Replayability
This game doesn't have much replay value since you just finish it once and that's all... There is also a Vs Mode for you to play against other people, but I don't think you will find many people to play with. If you do, it sure would be amazing to play with them!

Final Recommendation
This game is good for everyone who likes the series, are interested in anime-based games or want to try this different concept of soccer game, I think you won't regret it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/22/03, Updated 04/22/03