FIFA 18

FIFA 18 for Nintendo Switch is the greatest portable football game ever made.

FIFA 18, is a good start point for the series with a Nintendo Console. There are a few gameplay problems, some modes aren't available, but the game itself, in the portable mode, is very enjoyable.

Quotation forthcoming.

As a first attempt at releasing FIFA on Switch, EA has nailed the look and feel and given us a brilliant console and (more notably) handheld game. For that reason alone, Nintendo fans – especially those who haven’t owned a good football game in a while – should consider this a must-buy. This won’t be enough next year, though: a few little additions aside this is essentially a Legacy Edition port, and while EA Bucharest gets the benefit of the doubt this time as its relatively new to Switch development, if the inevitable FIFA 19 doesn’t have full mode parity with the other main versions of the game then no amount of spin will justify it.

FIFA 18 on Switch is very good, but not as good as it should be. Technical limitations aside, EA should have pushed this version further at least content wise. In any case, if you don't care that much about the new features introduced this year in the main versions or you just want portability over content, it's a great choice.

FIFA 18 on Switch is a competent football game, but gameplay and game modes-wise it's not the same game game seen on PS4 and Xbox One.

No real alternative to the "big" FIFA 18, but a fast arcade kick in handheld mode.

It's FIFA, and is the best handheld soccer game ever, but has outdated modes and it's not possible to play online with friends.

This is the best portable FIFA experience, period. The graphics look surprisingly nice, the option of playing Ultimate Team anywhere is an option that many football fans were craving for and the great frame rate make this game a must buy for Nintendo and football fans. Now, is the game worth a second purchase if you have the PS4 version already? Probably not. Compared to the PS4 and Xbox One, this version is a second division team.

FIFA 18 on Switch is by far the best portable edition in the FIFA series. It works great in the handheld mode: no framerate issues, quick loading and easy to start. Sadly this version still feels like an old one, but we hope EA Romania can improve the game in the next entry.

A high mid-table finish. [Issue#194, p.84]

The Switch version of FIFA 18 is a better portable experience than you've been able to get on Nintendo consoles up to this point, but it's hampered by Nintendo's insufficient online strategy. Unlike some previous EA Sports titles on Nintendo platforms, FIFA 18 isn't an ill-formed castoff, but it's an uneven performance and not a clear-cut victory.

FIFA 18 is a brilliant game for the Switch, it's custom built for the system, it plays to the strength of the console's local multiplayer and it's, for the most part, fully featured. It doesn't matter that the visuals don't look as good because it runs great, feels great, and is fun to play. However this isn't the perfect FIFA 18 experience overall; the online mode is bare-bones and is missing features even Nintendo wouldn't even leave out and for a lot of people, that's going to be a deal breaker. If you can live with what's missing in FIFA 18, you shouldn't look past this terrific first effort by EA. Hopefully next year they can bring the Switch version up to complete feature parity because we can look past how it looks considering it is a good soccer title underneath.

FIFA 18 for the Switch is a game that plays nice;u, but has its flaws. The game runs smoothly on the console, but it does miss some key components compared to other versions. The online support isn't perfect either.

It's hard not to be impressed with FIFA 18 on the Switch, but it's also hard to overlook the omissions and silly little things that hold it back. It's the best FIFA on Nintendo yet and you will have fun. If you are OK with it being cut-back then it's essential, as long as you didn't want to play online with friends.

Probably the best portable football game there’s ever been, but it’s not really FIFA 18 and the limited online options drastically limit its appeal.

It's difficult to reflect on FIFA 18 for Nintendo Switch. On the one hand, this is definitely the most fully-fledged portable version of FIFA ever. When docked, it performs extremely well, delivering crisp 1080p, 60 frames per second visuals, with enough extra polish to keep it in touching distance of the more powerful consoles. However, it's disappointing that old code couldn't be given the same touch-ups that FIFA 18 received within modes on other consoles, particularly when it comes to Ultimate Team. Add this to the cramp issues for handheld and Joy-Con control methods, and the lack of friend invites for online play, and it seems that a lot of wind has been taken out of the sails. Committed FIFA fans could quite rightly argue this shouldn't be a full-priced release, especially if next year's edition turns out to be that much better. However, there's no doubt that many football fans will still see this an essential buy.

FIFA 18 on Nintendo Switch is the most competent handheld offering of the sport to date, though there's no escaping the fact it's a lesser product than its PS4 and Xbox One counterparts.

We can justify certain absences due to hardware limitations, but FIFA 18 for Nintendo Switch has too many unexcused disappearances of game modes and features.

FIFA 18 on the Nintendo Switch is a mixed blessing. It works like a charm on handheld mode and in this regard, it's the best FIFA game ever released on a Nintendo platform...but its technical limitations and lack of content compared to the other versions of the same game make it seem like it could have gone much further. A particularly disappointing element is the lack of online play against friends, whose absence is impossible to understand.

A dated version of FIFA, then, but still a fun one, with plenty to build on for next year.

Don't hope for the same game you can can encounter on PS4 or Xbox One. The Switch version of FIFA 18 is a pleasant but a bit dated one that, despite some embarrassing flaws (keepers, especially), has to be considered as an excellent choice for a handeld experience, single or with a friend.

This is FIFA 17 light. With less visual power, reduced modes and less impressive mechanics compared to its name sharing siblings this is a downgrade with a hefty price tag.

Ultimately, FIFA 18 on Switch is a story of what could have been. Watered-down game modes give the whole experience a feeling of it being a work-in-progress rather than the complete package offered in the PS4 and Xbox One version. If you only want a quick FIFA fix in single-player or local play, the Switch version delivers. But it’s such a diluted, Sunday League experience it’s impossible to recommend if you’re already playing on home consoles.

The dream of having a proper version of FIFA that you can take outside with you is finally here, except it’s essentially a port of a three-year-old game… Does that really matter? Well, it depends on how desperate you are to play FIFA on a handheld. This is by far the best version of a handheld FIFA, so if that’s all you are after then you are sorted. However, the price point (£50/$60) combined with the cut content makes this difficult to recommend to anyone with a current generation console.