FIFA Soccer 2005

"Cheer for Brazil team :^)"

Without a doubt, Fifa is one of the best game publishing company there is. It is the KING of soccer games in fact. This is a fact! Therefore I wasn't at all surprise when they made yet another soccer game for the GBA. Are you surprised? Not me!

And I'm glad to say you won't be disappointed because they did a good job at importing a soccer game into such tiny portable machine and not lose the fun factor or many of the important features. For example, even with the GBA's limited memory capacity, you can still do Friendly mode, Challenge Mode, Career, Season and even play with your friends! I told you they didn't omit any the crux of the game.

However, there is one thing I don't see in the game. There isn't any Japanese team! Thought I like to mention it.

So how is the game play, you're wondering? It is the same stuff, however this doesn't mean it's boring or anything – it just means that it is the same stuff. Basically you're in teams and you must pass the ball to the partner and kick the ball into the opposing team's goalie net. There is a lot of sprinting in the game in which you can do. Also there is tackle (sliding). If that wasn't enough, there is a new feature in which you can do a ‘hard tackle' so the person who was at the receiving end of the tackle stays on the ground longer.

Some cool stuff in the game includes the ability for instant replay when there is a goal or something. In the replay mode you're able to fast forward, rewind or pause. Let's not mention the camera angle in the game! As you all know, the camera angle is very important because that's now you view the game. There are three camera angles in the game in which you can choose from, all of them doing a good job.

We should mention the teams in the game because there is a plethora of teams; there are so many! The only thing that I regret to say is that there aren't any teams from small countries, so if you're trying to play as the Thailand or Japan team you won't be finding them in this game.

The graphics for this game is kind of bad; the graphics is fuzzy and there aren't much details. I think the game developers sacrificed nice, eye candy graphics for high frame rate. They know that this is a fast action paced game therefore they don't want anything to lag. You couldn't blame them for this. I hope I don't convey in text the graphics for this game is horrible; it isn't bad, just below average. At least you can still make out the ball, team colors and limbs …

If you're a soccer fan then this is THE game for you, because I couldn't think of any other good soccer game for the GBA that comes close to the degree of this game. This game, after all, has been finely polished; hardly any flaws or anything except for the somewhat below average graphics.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/17/05