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Mega Man Soccer (SNES) artwork

Mega Man Soccer (SNES) review


"In Mega Man Soccer, Dr. Light is now running a soccer team. Why? Because Dr. Wily took over the soccer championship game! Duh! And how else are you going to beat him, besides a soccer game??? Put him in jail? Shoot him down with a rocket? Crazy talk! Soccer is the only way!"

Mega Man Soccer had the potential to be a great game. Mega Man is one of the world's favorite video game characters, and Capcom has a record of creating great (if reptitive) games. However, Mega Man Soccer ultimately fails because the product on the field isn't up to snuff.

In Mega Man Soccer, Dr. Light is now running a soccer team. Why? Because Dr. Wily took over the soccer championship game! Duh! And how else are you going to beat him, besides a soccer game??? Put him in jail? Shoot him down with a rocket? Crazy talk! Soccer is the only way!

There is no truth to the rumor that this game was made in Spain and Mexico, home of the announcers who scream ''GOAAAALLLLLLL'' at the top of their lungs for fifteen minutes, instead of Japan.

Your team is full of copies of Mega Man (he is a robot, after all) and you venture from arena to arena, playing various teams composed of former badies. The cast includes Fire Man, Needle Man, Elec Man, and other favorites. Almost every character from Mega Man 1 through 4 is represented at some point in the game, including the non-playable characters (Proto Man, Roll, ect.).

There's also a wide variety of game playing options, ranging from a past Mega Man game style story mode, where you beat each team one by one, or a tournament style setup, where eight teams face off, and the one left standing wins. There's even a season mode, where you control one team and play the other seven also in the league.

Of these options, the story mode is the best; after you defeat each team, you're allowed to pick up one of their players, and to use him on your team. Very nice, as each different robot character has different abilities.

Mega Man is a solid all-around player. But Wood Man offers more defense and tackling power. If you don't care for that, then maybe Cut Man is more your style - he's pure speed. This adds a few wrinkles to the game, but if you know anything about soccer, it's not hard to figure out were to play each player.

Unfortunately, all of these options and personable characters can not change one basic fact - The soccer in Mega Man Soccer is bad. Very very bad. Mega Man Soccer is essentially Nintendo World Cup, released for the NES and Game Boy, with Mega Man characters plugged in. In all the years between the two games, none of the gameplay has changed, which is a bad thing.

If anything, it's gotten worse. Passing and shooting in Mega Man Soccer are a nightmare. They're both executed with a single button, but the ball seldom goes to the man you wish it to. More often, your character will take a shot on goal, regardless of whether you wanted one or not. You can now clear the ball, but passing does roughly the same thing.

Each character features a super shot, but you're limited to two per game in most play modes. They're easily executed; just hold down the R button then press shoot. However, they tend to make the game a bit too lopsided. If you're smart, it's two automatic goals a game. The computer struggles to get one goal a game.

The gameplay continues to go downhill. Unless you use a super shot, the first shot you take at a goalie NEVER goes in. He can be six feet up the line, and you can shoot at a wide open net, but he'll still dive those six feet and punch the ball away. As a result, it usually requires two or more of your players to rush the goal, and hope for a rebound.

That's easier said than done with Mega Man Soccer's formations. The traditional soccer formations are used; 3-2-2, 3-1-3, and the infamous sweeper. However, since everyone has the common sense of a mule, they tend to stay exactly in their formation unless prompted. Switching is automatic, so you can't manually move characters up either. It's a constant headache.

Need more gameplay issues? Well, okay. The ''defense'' of the game consists entirely of tackling or shoulder ramming a player, then picking up and dribbling away from him before he gets up. Forget about stealing the ball, or if you're on offense, using a ball trick to evade a defender. As a result of this ''defense'' most games degenerate into a game of sliding and tackling after you score a goal or two on super shots. The computer can hardly be counted upon to deliver an exciting game. It's kinda like real soccer.

Graphically, Mega Man Soccer is fairly impressive. If you're seen other Mega Man games, you know what the graphics look like. Bright, colorful, and plenty of spunk. There's a bit more flickering than there should be though, and some of the backgrounds look miserable.

Musically... Well, it's a Mega Man game. Think upbeat techno noise. The effects are pretty good though. The constant ratter of the slide tackle and shoulder rush will soon get on your nerves though.

Overall, Mega Man Soccer is a really bad soccer game that's saved by the fact that it has some nice options, and some interesting characters. It's a hybrid game, and it shouldn't appeal to any specific gamer, since there's better material out there for both sides. If you're a serious soccer fan, you'll get a lot more enjoyment from a FIFA game. If you're a Mega Man fan, stick to the X games or any of the other games from 1 to 18,938,358,329,920.



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Community review by sgreenwell (Date unavailable)

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