World Tour Soccer

It's realistic but not overly, as having fun is emphasized over all, something you don't see much of anymore in sports games.

It is a decent soccer game, but with its unbalanced gameplay, the field may be a bit greener somewhere else.

Two things I really dig about World Tour Soccer are that the matches feature generally realistic scoring (on a couple goals per match), and the game buffers your button presses a bit, which means jamming on the pass or shoot button will normally result in multiple, wild passes or shots fired off into the middle of nowhere. You have to remain calm and play the game correctly in order to be successful.

It's not really simulating football; it's emulating football spectacle, and with the addition of Challenge mode and a clever reward structure on top of an accessible and plainly enjoyable arcade experience it does that effectively enough to be a worthy purchase for footy lovers who want to, as the yanks would have it, punch a hole in the score bag.

A credible, even attractive option for any fan not demanding too mcuh in the realism stakes. [June 2005, p.85]

If you’re looking for something to play in short bursts then World Tour Soccer: Challenge Edition can prove to be entertaining, but if you prefer your game to have an inkling of skill it’s probably better to wait for the debut of Konami’s mighty Pro Evolution series.

Bland and non-involving.

Another problem is the AI. More than other games, it seems that players on my team do things other than I would expect.

Animation is generally poor, facial modeling is bland, and the AI manages to feel artificial but without the intelligence. [May 2005, p.136]

Disappointingly, the game sorely lacks a career or league mode, but tries to make up for it with an innovative challenge mode that tests your ability to play flawless football (you know, real football) during a match.

Comparable to the PS2 version, except with much longer loading times.

Lacks a career mode, offers laggy multiplayer, and is fairly unpolished.

WTS has its shortcomings, but in the long run it ends up trumping its big PS2 brother. [June 2005, p.98]

It's madly entertaining, and seems well proportioned to the demands of the portable gaming lifestyle.

World Tour Soccer is a good all-around handheld soccer game with nice wireless multiplayer features. It’s most prominent fault is in the speed of the gameplay. Players zoom around the field like on fast forward, making playing a bit surreal. Even the camera doesn’t always keep up with the fast moving action. The only way to play the game is to keep the camera angle as far from the field as possible. [Sept 2005, p.64]

A more than decent game.