Sega Soccer Slam PS2 game

Sega Soccer Slam

2002

Overall rating: 2.5 out of 5

from 20 members

Well, it's soccer alright, but maybe not what you may have been expecting. Occupying a genre somewhere between extreme sports and (ahem) proper Association Football, Sega Soccer Slam takes the beautiful game and turns it inside out. Even Tom Jones wold have to concede that this game is unusual. We strongly advise gamers to spend some quality time in Practice mode, otherwise the special moves and powers available will just escape you, and you'll lose out on the best of the action. Trust us, Soccer Slam is not a game to be taken too lightly. It may look like a lot of fun (and it really is) but you have to get to grips with the basic moves first. There are 16 moves to perfect in Sega Soccer Slam, from the simplest pass to one of your team mates to something like the Spotlight Shot, in which a beam of light shines down from above the stadium. Stand in this spotlight and you can make outrageous plays and moves. After the Practice mode, you'll discover that, whichever competition you take part in, things are a little bit different to your normal game of soccer. Quite the opposite of the minimal contact sport that football is these days, Soccer Slam is a title full of players with the most unusual powers and the smallest of playing areas where the ball never goes out of play. The fact that there are no officials to issue yellow and red cards encourages a few Keane-type challenges. In Quest Mode, players take their selected team through a series of matches, unlocking secret stadium locations and gaining access to hidden items that improve player attributes. Gamers will also be able to save their enhanced player attributes earned in Quest Mode for use in other game modes. Other game options include Arcade Mode, the fastest way to get into the action; Challenge Mode, wherein the player enters into a series of matches where, if successful, they will be able to unlock secret characters; finally, there is a round-robin Tourney Mode with multiplayer action for up to six users. Sega Soccer Slam features a couple of mini-games for further entertainment. 'Brawl' is pretty much self-explanatory: a last-man-standing affair that has as much to do with wrestling as it has to do with football. 'Hot Potato' is a game where you keep control of the ball to accumulate bonus points. Protect your bonus by passing the ball at the right times, but don't hang onto it for too long. As the timer runs down, the closer the ball gets to exploding. If you're outside its blast radius when the ball explodes, you have every chance of winning. Alright Sega maniacs, it may have that magical logo on the pack, but this is no Virtua-type simulation. Soccer Slam is completely 'arcade' in its gameplay and presentation, the flipside of Sega's gaming legacy. Whatever your attitude to football games that don't take themselves too seriously, it's a safe bet that you'll have a lot of fun playing this, especially with friends.