Game Daze: Catching World Cup fever? Here are some hot soccer titles

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Game Daze: Catching World Cup fever? Here are some hot soccer titles

Friday, June 14, 2002

By Chuck Finder, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The goooooooooooooo-aaaaaaaaaaaaaallll of gaming over the next fortnight: To cure that soccer jones from the World Cup. To fill those hours after the early-early-morning wakeup calls with the television beckoning you to tune into matches from South Korea and Japan. To simply keep those minds, eyes and hands busy, whether you're a soccerphile or not.

This reporter isn't, but, unlike Mrs. Game Daze, he knows a Figo from a Yugo, a pitch from a field, a football (to the rest of the world) from a football (in America). So, in between a little U.S.-South Korea and Germany-Cameroon, there was time to test out a few new soccer-themed video games.

"Sega Soccer Slam" (Nintendo; GameCube, Xbox, PS2; $49.95; ): Forget the "mild violence" tag, this game should come with a note for all parents -- "Yes, this is a cute, cartoony game, but beware of the graphic violence toward women."

This unit would otherwise get rated as our World Cup testing champion, were it not for the fact that often in the three-on-three game play that the goalkeeper will witch slap the one female on the opposing team. This isn't a good message for kids at any age.

If you sit with your players, or school them regularly about civilized behavior and good sportsmanship, then this unit could become an entertaining, eye-candy, vibration-filled game with a singing, exulting crowd and awesome replays. If you cannot watch over your young gamers, though, then consider this one a Group A pool-play loser.

"Virtua Striker 2002": From Angola to Uzbekistan, from the official adidas ball of the World Cup, you could play out your own tournament on this baby (Sega; GameCube; $49.95; ). Even to untrained soccer eyes, though, the names weren't right and the choices were too broad.

There are a bunch of decisions to make from menus, then the game screen itself can be confusing -- players with arrows at their heads or sides, names on the screen bottom, a radar rectangle that looked like a virus slide under a microscope. Too much information. This one makes it out of pool play, but loses in the next round.

"MLS Extratime 2002": ESPN graphics abound on a game (Konami; PS2, GameCube, Xbox; $49:95; ) that the four-letter network helped to produce. After all, it airs Major League Soccer games and the World Cup, which is being sponsored by -- you with us by now? -- MLS.

It's a very splashy, colorful game that looks like, and here's another head-slapper, you're watching a game on TV. Imagine that. Replays are excellent, although the announcers are lackluster. Controls are a wee bit sluggish, though the goal kicks are splendid -- a potential testing-Cup contender. But why, in our test match, did the game have Columbus and Colorado play in San Jose?

"2002 FIFA World Cup": Officially licensed title and nicely improved from last year's FIFA title (EA Sports; PS2, PC, Xbox, GameCube; $49.95; PlayStation, $39.95; ).

Encompassing both MLS, professional clubs from around the globe and international teams, you could pit Mauritius against the Columbus Crew and Arsenal of England -- hey, isn't that David Beckham wed to some woman who's sooo 1997? -- against Vasco de Gama of Brazil, if you were so inclined.

This game uses the highlighted-player system of controls, one we never preferred, so we turned it over to the grade-school gamer in the house. He then managed to get the U.S. team to score on England and two players ejected. He judged them the best playing controls of this test lineup, but, again, he's a kid.

Nice announcing. Players look tiny on the screen and advanced gameplay is tough. Probably our champion.

"World Tour Soccer 2002": This game (989 Sports; PS2, $49.95; ) includes some very advanced stuff and should probably be used by someone married to, say, Posh Spice.

Visually stimulating, it offers nice close-up shots of faces, great player reactions and even such mundane stuff as a fella tying up his spikes. It also has a lovely menu that contains an area called "Trophy Cabinet," from which you can compete for just about every major international soccer cup except the big one currently underway (it's instead called "World Tournament," in what definitely must be a FIFA rights thing).

If you want swerved shots and crossing-pass zones and deliberate fouls and a club closer in makeup to the current World Cup teams, then this advanced course is for you. This is the Brazil or Argentina of our test lineup -- difficult to figure out, but often just as hard to beat.