FIFA Soccer 09 All-Play

A truly spectacular soccer title with exceptional player animations, ball handling and gameplay to boot. The AI will provide a significant challenge, but the implementation of one of the most advanced and complete online modes will mean that this game will truly last you a long time.

It would be easy to dismiss it with the cutesy Miis and two games in one approach, but in spite of this, FIFA has been given what it needed to draw in the first timers and the old hands, snatching the title of best football game on the Wii with a last minute flick of the remote.

Hating football and playing football games isn’t the best thing to do. After being forced to play this genre of games for ten years, FIFA 09 All-Play is easily the best sports game I’ve ever played. With a strong single player mode for serious gamers and a light-hearted and purely fun multiplayer casual side, it makes it an all rounder and a great game to play.

EA’s strategy of attack trumps Konami’s, though the latter did reinvent how football should be played on Wii.

Fifa09 All-Play for Wii is a great game with fascinating sensations and interesting gameplay. It solved all the problems of the last version 2008. Moreover it features special Wii controls so to offer an immense experience. A perfect game for soccer lovers, with or without experience in this genre, it will be among the best games for this year. Fifa09, no doubt, is the best soccer simulation as for Nintendo Wii and is one of the best Fifa soccer games that we have ever seen.

EA has definitely shown improvement in their second soccer effort on the Wii since there’s plenty of variety in the gameplay and game modes. Also, the graphics are about as good as can be for a Wii game.

The title suggests that all can play, and that's certainly true - what it fails to tell you is that this is a game that no-one will truly master either.

FIFA 09 All Play is incredibly fun to play. Even though the Footii Play mode only added one more game-type, thankfully 8v8 is the best addition and should be a focus for future editions. This is a solid sports title for the Wii and should be played by all soccer fans.

EA has taken many efforts to come up with a good FIFA 09-Version for the Wii. The Wii-optimized handling is okay, but there is also space for improvements.

Overall FIFA 09 All-Play is a very solid FIFA game that doesn’t stretch its boundaries too far to go out of the ordinary, but makes a pretty fun game.

New controls, improved online play, and eight-player support make FIFA 09 All-Play a fine upgrade to last year’s Wii debut.

A lightweight, schizophrenic football title that fails to draw you in like a "FIFA" game should. [Dec 2008, p.50]

Though the overall product doesn't quite measure up to this year's Madden or Tiger, FIFA 09 may be EA's best effort at catering to both casual and hardcore fans of a particular sport. [Dec 2008, p.94]

It's all a bit spotty and unsatisfying - whatever your skill level. [Dec 2008, p.74]

The focus on playability clashes with the visual limitations, but for those who didn't get the previous edition, this one comes out recommended.

Overall, this year's FIFA offering isn't much of a step, but it's still moving in the right direction. The big change for 09 is All-Play, and the addition of an eight-on-eight mode along with it, and while that's a great move for casual gamers, it comes at the expense of still taking the #2 spot behind Pro Evolution Soccer.