Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions

Excitingly fresh, Captain Tsubasa: Rise of Champions captures a fun arcade and anime-style, and prioritises a zany, wacky experience. There are a couple of performance issues that could have been improved before release, but nonetheless, these can be overlooked since the core-gameplay mechanics are fun and rewarding to master. If there was ever a time to try out a new football game, then this is it.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is an excellent anime adaptation. It has vibrant matches and a story mode that will make us revive some of the most fantastics moments of the series. Furthermore, it allows the player to drive its favorite characters. Its simple gameplay and its reduced difficulty may lead us to win almost every match without mayor effort and after a few hours it may be boring.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is a good game with strong arcade soccer gameplay and a good deal of content to sink your teeth into. While the story modes didn’t click with me too much (which is no small problem), the core game could keep me picking up Captain Tsubasa for some time to come.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is a carefully crafted port. On the other hand, the inevitable graphic compromises show themselves in situations that do not affect the enjoyment and spectacle of the matches, which obviously represent the real beating heart of the play experience.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is an excellent arcade adaptation of the series for the world of video games, but its football mechanics its not too good and give the feeling that something is missing, while betting excessively on special skills to grab attention.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions takes arcade football and puts a new spin on it, resulting in fun, frantic and frustrating gameplay. When the final whistle blows though, that marvellous manga magic makes it easier to forgive its shortcomings.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions creates a fun and unique twist on a well-grounded genre. While it can often suffer from an identity crisis on exactly what gameplay style it’s trying to achieve, there’s still a whole lot to love once the dust finally settles. Those who fancy some over-the-top otaku action with their half time oranges will revel in the combustion of far-fetched fantasy football. As for the soccer purist? You’re maybe best off just sticking with FIFA.

As a traditional football game, Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions falls flat in many ways. As its own unique interpretation of the sport, though, there's something oddly compelling about the way it gives each goalie an energy bar as if it were some sort of ball-based fighting game (Street Striker II, if you will). Play it with an open mind and as long as you're not against a game that tries something different – as well as plenty of cutscenes – you'll have fun with this one. If you're a fan of the wider Captain Tsubasa franchise, then you're going to love it even more.

Generous in terms of fan service, equipped with complementary scripted modes and gameplay ideas that blend well with the style of the original work, Rise of New Champions is a good Captain Tsubasa game, but in some ways it forgets to be a good soccer game.

It's not every day that a cult series of nearly 40 years has a brand new entry in a contemporary gaming system. It does a fine job at portraying elements of the series, and with two history modes it allows for players to either follow the main character or create their own, which is the most rewarding choice. Nonetheless, Rise of New Champions has some aspects that need additional work. Most of the football experience is fun and addictive, but the game's camera often feels off, the loading times are long and the game's overall technical performance on the Nintendo Switch falls short of what is expected. Fans of the series will love this entry, while others might feel put off by its flaws.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions has plenty of great ideas and neat mechanics, but the lacklustre underlying soccer gameplay combined with annoying pacing in the story mode makes for an experience that is often more frustrating than fun when played solo. With that said, it remains a surprisingly good time when played with friends that can partake in the chaotic shenanigans. Just do not go in expecting a FIFA-quality soccer game with an anime coat of paint.