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World Tour Soccer 06 PSP Review |
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Written by Don Lee
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Wednesday, 04 October 2006 |
 The World Cup games may be over but you can continue the high-kicking
action on your Sony PlayStation Portable. Now there may not be any
headbutting in the PSP version, there is still plenty action to fulfill
your soccer fix. World Tour Soccer 06 contains 69 national teams, more
than 1650 players and 10 different game modes to choose from. There is a lot to learn in World Tour Soccer 06 but the once you have
mastered your kicks and strategy, you will be ready to take on the
world. Here is our look at World Tour Soccer 06 for the Sony
PlayStation Portable.
Get Your Kicks
When you get started with World Tour Soccer 06, you are prompted to create a new profile. Once I did that and launched into the game, I discovered that you can control your main player with either the directional buttons or using the analog stick. That was a tremendous relief because I find that games are easier to play using the analog stick. With a game like soccer, player control is crucial so I was very happy to see the control option available.
The game menu offers you a variety of games to start with. You can choose to jump directly into the action by selecting to Play Now. You can choose World Tour to play against other countries based on continents. You have to start out against Africa but you can move on to play against Asia and Oceania, North and South America and Europe. Back to game menu, choose Medal Mode to win trophies as you succeed in various mini games. Choose Exhibition Match to play a quick game but you are given game play options that you can custom configure such as difficulty, time, penalty kicks as well as choose the stadium. If you’re ready for live competition, you can select Multiplayer mode from the main menu. World Tour Soccer 06 supports Ad Hoc, Infrastructure as well as Game Sharing. You can even show off your accomplishments in your own Trophy Room.
Moving on to the basics of attacking and shooting the ball. By moving your player in the direction that you want the ball to go, you can press one of the four action buttons to perform certain passes such as ground, flighted, crossing balls, through balls and one touch passes. You can do two types of shots on goal (standard shot and one timers). A standard shot is holding down one of the action buttons as you attack the goal. The longer you hold down the button for the shot, the higher the angle will be when you release the button. If you hold it down too long, the shot will go sailing on you. Just a couple to three seconds will be sufficient for making a good high shot on goal.
The game presents many of the same features that you would find in a real game such as performing headers, volleyed flight passes as well attacking moves like dribbles, chip shots, one-twos, give and go and deliberate dives. This game isn’t all about offense though as you can have your player perform so very cool defensive moves such as
Now that you are aware of the game’s moves, now let’s take a look at some of the other features of the game. There are 10 different game challenges where you can improve your skills. The Classic Challenge, All Rounder, Shot Clock, The Zone, Totally Outnumbered, Time Attack, Challenge Plus, Pass Clock, Checkpoint and the Player Tag. The Classic Challenge is where you pick up points as depending on your offensive and defensive play. Zone is where your play and strategy puts you “In The Zone.” Challenge Plus is to play by special rules and utilizing them to increase your score. Outnumbered is where you start a match with fewer players than your opponent and where your skills are truly tested (this is the ultimate challenge). Time Attack is a race that you need to reach your target before time runs out on you. Time is added as your accomplish each target. Pass Clock is where you need to keep the ball moving via passing and holding onto the ball too long results in a free kick for your opponent. Player Tag is a pretty fun challenge where you need to make all of your assigned passes to make a score. If you don’t make passes as assigned, scores don’t count. The All Rounder is kind of an extension of the Player Tag in that you need to make a pass to all eleven teammates before you can attempt a score or it won’t count.
Making strategic changes during a game is crucial since different situations may call for different styles of play. You can change your team’s play such as team formation, lineup, who takes kicks as well as overall play strategy during breaks in the game. You can also change strategic matchups during game play by cycling through the various types with your PSP’s Select button.
The Final Word
If you are suffering from World Cup withdrawal, then World Tour Soccer 06 would provide a good fix. I really enjoyed the level of detail used on the number of players and the game play. I found the player moves and strategies to be consistent with real world soccer play.
There are eleven game modes in World Tour Soccer but my favorite one was the time attack. Time Attack is where you have to reach a target before time runs out. As you accomplish each target, time is added to play. I would suggest that you practice your skills in these eleven game modes first because once you master some of the techniques you need to succeed in these modes, you will be better equipped to take on the computer or even live competition.
Shooting penalty kicks was very easy to do with the Accuracy Gauge but I found it was even more fun to be protecting your goal instead. You can try and trick your opponent by positioning your goalie near center and moving a little to one side to try and influence the kicker’s strategy. You need to make your goalie dive towards whichever side the ball is coming. If the opponent shoots the ball low, you have a good chance of deflecting the shot. Upper corner shots appeared to be your best chance at scoring though.
If you’re looking to extend the World Cup action a little longer, then pick up World Tour Soccer 06. There is a tremendous amount of content in the game and it should keep you occupied for a long time. The World Tour alone should be enough to satisfy even the most diehard soccer fan. World Tour Soccer 06 for the Sony PlayStation Portable earns 4.5 stars out of 5. Highly recommended.
About World Tour Soccer 06
World Tour Soccer '06 is your chance to dominate the world's most popular sport! It's collection of quick (4 minutes) points-based game modes, each offering unique soccer challenges requiring players to utilize different soccer fundamentals. Atttempt to dominate the globe in the World Tour Mode as you take on the World's best from Africa, Asia, North America, South America and Europe. Slide into Medal Mode and experience numerous challenging new mini games where points and medals are awarded for solid soccer play. The competition is calling -- are you ready to answer?
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