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GC

North America

Sega Soccer Slam

by Mike Sklens - March 23, 2002, 5:44 pm EST

Read some more impressions of Sega's over the top soccer title!

I was originally going to rent Sega Soccer Slam to try it out. But after none of the local video stores having it for rental yet and reading Billy’s glowing impressions I decided to run down to the store and pick it up. Thankfully, Billy was right. Soccer Slam is an excellent game.

To start, the menus are slick and easy to navigate, though sometimes it seems that when using the analog stick to select menu options, you can easily skip over some on accident. The game is very easy to pick up and play, which is one of Sega’s main advertising points for the title. The 6 teams available are all very well balanced. All of them start out excelling in one way or another (some are faster, and some hit stronger, etc) except for the El Feugo team which is the balanced out team. Personally I’ve been using team Volta (the fastest team).

The controls are pretty spot-on most of the time. The game plays at a good pace. After reading Billy’s impressions I thought it would play faster than it actually does. After about 15 minutes of play I was used to the controls and we doing pretty damn well. After my few runs in Exhibition mode I went into the Quest mode, which is the meat of the game. The Quest mode consists of 13 games. First are 5 home games. After that comes the mid-season all star game. Next are 5 away games. Finally, the last 2 games are the semi-final and the final game. By winning game you earn money which you can spend in the Soccer Shop to upgrade your characters and buy concept art (which also buys codes). It will take at least 2 runs through the Quest Mode with each team to buy every piece of Soccer Shop gear and art.

Soccer Slam’s visuals are pretty damn nice. The characters are all very clean looking with very few jaggies. When you go for a Killer Kick or Spotlight Shot the game goes into slow motion with a Bullet-Time (Matrix camera) effect. Also, you can use the power meter to turn on your team’s power. The power boosts all of the player’s stats but each team’s effect looks different, and matches their team’s theme. These shots look especially pretty. I think one of the best things about Soccer Slam is the personality of the characters. All of the characters are fantastic. They’re over the top and in your face at every chance they get. In most sports games after a goal is scored I usually keep pressing the buttons to get back to the game. But with Soccer Slam, I find myself waiting to hear what these outrageous characters will say next. Two of my favorites are Angus the Scotsman and the big Russian guy who plays for the Sub Zero team (I can’t remember his name). Plus, they all sound great, as does the announcer. Well, the announcer’s speech is a little limited, but it’s still good.

Sadly, I haven’t gotten a chance to play Soccer Slam in multiplayer yet. But, I will soon when I get some friends over here. If Billy’s right, this game should be awesome in multiplayer, because it’s fantastic in the single player mode.

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Genre Sports
Developer Visual Concepts
Players1 - 4

Worldwide Releases

na: Sega Soccer Slam
Release Mar 18, 2002
PublisherSega
RatingEveryone
jpn: Sega Soccer Slam
Release Sep 26, 2002
PublisherSega
eu: Sega Soccer Slam
Release Oct 18, 2002
PublisherSega
aus: Sega Soccer Slam
Release TBA
PublisherAtari
RatingGeneral

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