World Tour Soccer
We take to the pitch in gloriously portable 3D.
Published: March 7, 2005
Soccer doesn't seem like all that difficult a sport to replicate, which probably explains why there are so many efforts released each year, with varying degrees of simulation depth. Given that Sony's sports division fell on hard times with the release of the PlayStation 2, it was a welcome surprise to see the Studio London-developed soccer offering receive so many good reviews (well, compared to fellow 989 Sports offerings), and an even better one to find that it had made the transition to the PSP.
Like all of 989's PSP efforts, World Tour Soccer carries with it no year in the moniker, demonstrating either a fresh start to the series as it goes portable or a wait-and-see approach by Sony as to whether portable sales of their franchises will take off. Suffice it to say that the verdict's still out on most of the other efforts in the sports lineup, but WTS does a bang-up job of making the leap.
Not surprisingly, things look and play more or less like they would on any home console. All of 989's games sport an interface optimized for the PSP's 16:9 screen (well, all except MLB which admittedly wasn't even fully ported yet), but WTS seems to have accepted the changes best. The game runs at a fast, smooth clip at all times, and boasts the same set of single and multiplayer tournament modes you'd expect.
In addition to the usual quick start, exhibition and cup modes the Challenge Mode mini-game was evilly addictive, doling out points for successful passes and rerouted defenders on the way to a goal, but subtracting them for interceptions and missed keeper blocks. At the end of a match, the points are totaled and a bronze, silver or gold metal is awarded. It's a simple concept, but the constant see-saw means the score constantly fluctuates on the way to a medal goal.
That said, the game still plays like the PS2 version, which most consider to be rather dumbed down when compared to EA or Konami's soccer efforts, and the PSP version is no different. The presentation has been bumped up with better lighting and added animations, easing some gripes that the game looks ugly when compared to its big name competition, but by and large this is the same game that you'll get on the PS2. It also isn't the only initial offering for soccer during the PSP launch window, with EA happily porting their FIFA franchise over for the launch, so competition is obviously rather heavy.
We'll have to spend more time with the final version of the game to see if the proposed team-based AI actually holds true across multiple countries and clubs, but the wireless multiplayer, like all of the 989 launch titles, works like a charm in ad-hoc mode. We'll see how smoothly everything else goes in a few weeks.
Like all of 989's PSP efforts, World Tour Soccer carries with it no year in the moniker, demonstrating either a fresh start to the series as it goes portable or a wait-and-see approach by Sony as to whether portable sales of their franchises will take off. Suffice it to say that the verdict's still out on most of the other efforts in the sports lineup, but WTS does a bang-up job of making the leap.
Not surprisingly, things look and play more or less like they would on any home console. All of 989's games sport an interface optimized for the PSP's 16:9 screen (well, all except MLB which admittedly wasn't even fully ported yet), but WTS seems to have accepted the changes best. The game runs at a fast, smooth clip at all times, and boasts the same set of single and multiplayer tournament modes you'd expect.
In addition to the usual quick start, exhibition and cup modes the Challenge Mode mini-game was evilly addictive, doling out points for successful passes and rerouted defenders on the way to a goal, but subtracting them for interceptions and missed keeper blocks. At the end of a match, the points are totaled and a bronze, silver or gold metal is awarded. It's a simple concept, but the constant see-saw means the score constantly fluctuates on the way to a medal goal.
That said, the game still plays like the PS2 version, which most consider to be rather dumbed down when compared to EA or Konami's soccer efforts, and the PSP version is no different. The presentation has been bumped up with better lighting and added animations, easing some gripes that the game looks ugly when compared to its big name competition, but by and large this is the same game that you'll get on the PS2. It also isn't the only initial offering for soccer during the PSP launch window, with EA happily porting their FIFA franchise over for the launch, so competition is obviously rather heavy.
We'll have to spend more time with the final version of the game to see if the proposed team-based AI actually holds true across multiple countries and clubs, but the wireless multiplayer, like all of the 989 launch titles, works like a charm in ad-hoc mode. We'll see how smoothly everything else goes in a few weeks.
