Summary
Pixel City, if you don't find an excellent soccer game!
The Good
In a comparison here to the FIFA Soccer World Championship on the Japanese PS2, this game is fun. Fouling is easier than the ever, and the commentary, "Oh, no! TRADEGY!" is just hilarious. Oh, sure the game is an improvement over that travesty called FIFA 2000, but there's not much else going here, especially since the game actually came out in 2000, and a World Cup was two years away. In the end, I just had fun doing own goals and tackling the other team instead of doing a serious soccer game, as I've done with all FIFAs up to this point.
The Bad
The graphics are stiff, and the pixels are noticed really bad. The intro was forgettable (there was an intro?), and it lacks the flare of FIFA 98, World Cup 98 and FIFA 99. Due to a lack of a goal (not in the game, in the overall presentation), I just couldn't get into this game. True, the foul animations are funny, but it became too easy to get fouled, and that's a no-no for a realistic soccer game. Also, the graphics of the characters are too cartoony. I know that EA Sports was dealing with more than 10 polygons for the first time on a console, but when I look at this game on Windows over to the PS1 version, it really shows how weak this is. It's pretty much the PS1 version!
The Bottom Line
Alright, you want a FIFA game, but only wants to spend $0.25 on the title? Get this game. It's enough to look current, sound current, but be cheap. Need a real soccer game? Get the Windows version, please! If you really want something, get the FIFA 2001 limited release for N64 by THQ for a better version of this game. It's rare. Good luck.
