While the series has lied dormant for many years, Aksys Games and
developers Million Co have unleashed a new wave of River City Soccer
Hooligans on the DS. The new title brings the classic comic-sports series
back to life in an engaging and entertaining game that effectively mixes
old and new elements. For those unfamiliar with the series, it's basically
a mixture of traditional sports action with humorous anime characters and
stars the confident Kunio as the team captain. There's a silly backstory
behind each match that unfolds as you progress through the matches. You
basically take on the 'role' of Kunio in the game and don't have to worry
about switching players, realism or any of the sometimes esoteric rules in
real soccer. There's no off-sides or penalties in Soccer Hooligans, so
there's no barriers that get in the way of the fun. Unlike traditional
sports games, River City emphasizes role-playing and team elements.
Instead of controlling each player individually, the game places you in
the role of team captain Kunio as you command and control their moves and
actions. For example, when your team has the ball, you can command that
player to shoot, or on defense make them attack or tackle opposing
players.
From a control standpoint, Its fairly
easy to get the hang of things, though it takes awhile to learn all the
special moves. The game's layout is fairly simple with the action screen
occupying the upper half of the DS while the command section, which
includes a complete view of the entire field on the lower section. River
City doesn't use the DS touch screen, instead commands are input manually
using the face buttons. It's a fairly simple game to get the hang of and
most players should be able to run through a quick practice match and
learn the basics without much effort. The basic objective is basically to
win the matches, though in the longer story and quest modes, you are given
other tasks that you can complete, such as winning a match without giving
up a goal, that will increase your team's overall ranking. There are
several modes of play. In River City League you take your team through the
standard versus matches, against several opponents and try and work your
way to the world championship. The game also includes a Continuous play
mode where you have only a goalie and a defender, and play an extended
tutorial match that helps you learn some of the more advanced techniques.
As you play through River City, you'll probably earn trophies and prizes
and you can view these items in the game's Collection mode as well. It's
fairly simple and adds to the game's replay value.
The game's command and play system is
unique and makes River City Soccer Hooligans more challenging and
interesting than you'd expect. The gameplay offers a fairly traditional
soccer game, with a five a side match that keeps things simple. However,
there are numerous humorous power-ups and special attacks you can use that
give the gameplay a more comical feel. There are some standard moves can
be triggered at various points using the standard buttons. You can perform
numerous special moves depending on the character you're selecting and
whether they're in control of the ball. These include an Aerial ace move
where you can kick the ball into the net with a flying kick, a Tornado
kick where you can make a lot of wind in the air and a triple axel move
where you'll spin continuously and which you can use to knock nearby
players off-balance.
These special moves can be used several
times, but they deplete your energy and can be countered by opposing
teams. During each match, you can choose which players will perform these
special moves or do them yourself when you're in control of the captain.
Other techniques you can use in River City Soccer Hooligans include dash
attacks and super sprint moves, which can be quite effective when you need
go to get past an opponent. The matches themselves move at a fairly fast
pace and you can choose how short or long they're going to be. The game
also has different types of weather such as rain and snow that will also
affect the outcome of each match. These elements change the strategy on
the pitch and affect your movement and the effectiveness of shots, adding
to the fun. The gameplay is quite fast and each half of the match only
lasts a minute or two, which makes things go by quickly. You won't have to
play too long in order to see that the AI is stronger than you'd expect,
which makes it hard to score but your defenders and goalie is usually very
effective, so the matches usually end up as low-scoring, yet entertaining
games.
From a visual standpoint, the developers
have done an excellent job in recreating the look and general feel of the
classic River City games. The characters are rendered in polygons, not
sprites this time around and look fairly good, though a little chunky in
the animation department. Its definitely in the spirit of the original
games and doesn't stray too far from its source material, but River City's
increased resolution gives it more fluidity than the classic games. The
game's music and soundtrack are good enough and add to the atmosphere
without getting in the way of the action. Overall, the game's presentation
and visuals are decent by DS standards. While the visuals echo the
original, its gameplay is actually quite a bit faster than the 8-bit
games, and this increased pacing makes for a more entertaining title. The
various tournament modes and collecting challenges add some replay value,
but the lack of multiplayer support is disappointing. River City Soccer
Hooligans is the kind of title that should appeal to lots of players. Its
winning mixture of classic and current elements makes River City Soccer
Hooligans a charming and challenging game that makes a solid addition to
your DS library.
-
Michael Palisano
