Visceral Video Game - Video games you haven’t played—yet

By Cory Anotado
Collegian Staff
November 8, 2006

EA Sports currently has the lock on soccer games with its FIFA series, while Konami tries to take the reigns with its Winning Eleven series. As long as people have been able to play video games, they have tried to simulate the world’s most popular sport. No incarnation of soccer, however, makes me scratch my head as much as Mega Man Soccer.

In 1994, games such as NBA Jam, Madden NFL ’94 and the popular NHL ’94 started gaining popularity with gamers in the country. With video game consoles displaying enough power to recreate a sport almost perfectly with its rules and strategy, sports games reached a new milestone of popularity in America. Realistic graphics for the time, full player rosters and even spastic bouts of color commentary punctuated this high time in sports video games.

Then, Capcom added Mega Man to the equation.

Yes, Mega Man Soccer is exactly what it sounds like: a soccer game featuring Mega Man and several adversaries from five different Mega Man games. Don’t be mistaken; this is not some dinky mascot sports game like Mario Tennis. This is hard-hitting, low-scoring, defensive eight-on-eight soccer. The game starts with four modes: Exhibition, Tournament, League and Capcom Championship. The Exhibition mode is simply a one-game affair. The League Mode is a round-robin tournament, where you play each team once in a marathon affair. Tournament Mode is a win-or-go-home scenario, where you can pick your team and try to make it all the way to defeat Team Dr. Wiley. Lastly, the Capcom Championship is where the meat of this game is. You start off as a team comprised entirely of Mega Man clones, and the more teams you defeat, the bigger variety of players you can use on your team.

On the surface, Mega Man Soccer would seem to be a hackneyed attempt to cash in on the rising sports genre. However, the depth of Mega Man Soccer is incredible. Before a match starts, you can set up your defensive and offensive formations. You can also set up different characters to different positions, and each character has his share of strengths and weaknesses.

Controlling the game is easy and yet detailed at the same time. Slide tackles and power shots are controlled by one button each, and controlling your player on the field is intuitive and responsive. The graphics are colorful and detailed, with nine different fields featuring varying types of landscapes, from a grassy field for Mega Man’s home turf to an icy tundra for Ice Man’s. The computer opponent puts up a good fight, but finding a friend to play with is even better.

All in all, Mega Man Soccer is a surprising game with a nifty premise that turns out to be a good amount of fun.

anotadoc1@lasalle.edu