Sega Soccer Slam

''Sega Soccer Slam'', also known as simply ''Soccer Slam'', is a sports game released for GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 in 2002.

Gameplay

''Sega Soccer Slam'' is different from traditional sports games in its exaggerated interpretation of soccer. It allows characters to punch one another and eliminates several other rules, such as throw-ins, corner kicks, free kicks, and penalties. ''Sega Soccer Slam'' includes an exhibition mode, a challenge mode, a practice mode, a tourney mode, and a quest mode. It also includes two minigames: Hot Potato and Brawl.

Practice mode is a step-by-step instruction of how to play the game, teaching the player maneuvers including steals, passes, shots, dekes, volleys, as well as more complicated moves such as spotlight shot and the killer kick (an incredibly powerful shot that can be accessed when the charge bottom at the bottom of the screen reaches its maximum through doing basic moves). The practice mode is essential for both masters and newcomers to prepare for the exhibition, tourney, challenge and quest parts of the game.

The exhibition mode is similar to that of most other sport games. In it, players are allowed to choose their opponent and team as well as a stadium to play in. They can also play two mini-games with up to four players: Brawl, which is where four of the characters fight against each other, and Hot Potato, a game where passing scores points, but when the ball explodes, anyone in the blast will lose points. Tourney mode is where the player can play in a tournament that lasts for 5 days of each team playing each other at least once through the competition. Challenge mode is when the player creates a custom team and compete in a series of matches to unlock nine secret characters, but each character can only unlock two secret characters.

Other than the gameplay options said above, ''Sega Soccer Slam'' also has a quest mode. In quest mode the player chooses one of the starting six teams and then competes in a series of ten games. Through winning these games the player can accumulate money which can be used to buy character art and power-up items. The character wears each item in order to enhance his or her attributes.

Reception

The GameCube and Xbox versions received "favorable" reviews, while the PS2 version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. ''AllGame'' gave the GameCube original three stars out of five, stating, "Outlandish costumes, ridiculous accents, and goofy expressions are wrapped around an intuitive control scheme that offers players the flexibility to perform a variety of moves, without making them complicated to perform." In Japan, where said original was ported for release on September 26, 2002, ''Famitsu'' gave it a score of 27 out of 40.

''X-Play'' gave the GameCube original four stars out of five, calling it "the perfect choice for anyone who is looking to have a grand time alone or with friends but doesn't want to play a more serious, realistic sporting game. It's fast, fun, a little bit brutal, and easily one of the best of the latest GameCube titles." Pong Sifu of ''GamePro''s May 2002 issue called the same console version "one of the worthiest additions to your GameCube library that you're going to find for a while." Five issues later, Michael Weigand said, "Even punters of the GameCube version will find a host of new options in this Xbox incarnation—most notably extra players and multiplayer games." Louis Bedigian of ''GameZone'' gave the same console version 7.6 out of 10, saying, "Its only real problem is the fact that it isn't a whole lot different from '' NHL Hitz''." However, Carlos McElfish gave the PlayStation 2 version 7.2 out of 10, saying that it "suffers from a blurry visual presentation and occasional slowdown that is not present in the Xbox or GameCube version."

''GameSpot'' put the GameCube version in third place for the Best Game of March 2002, and also named the Xbox version as the Best Xbox Game of September 2002. The game also won the award for "Best Game No One Played on GameCube" at the website's Best and Worst of 2002 Awards, and it was nominated for the "Best Alternative Sports Game on GameCube", "Best Graphics (Artistic) on Xbox", "Best Game No One Played on Xbox", and "Best Alternative Sports Game on Xbox" awards, all of which went to ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4'', '' Jet Set Radio Future'', and ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', respectively.

Notes

References

External links

* {{moby game, id=/6039/sega-soccer-slam/

2002 video games
Association football video games
EA Black Box games
GameCube games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
PlayStation 2 games
Sega video games
Video games developed in Canada
Xbox games
Xbox Originals games