World Tour Soccer '06 for PSP Reviews & Ratings by IGN

World Tour Soccer 06 plays like a cross between sports simulation and arcade game. This means different things to different people. Certain gamers, like fans of the Winning Eleven series, may see the simplicity of World Tour a negative. Others, however, will find Sony's latest offering refreshing and fun. In this respect it resembles Virtua Tennis. It's a game anyone can enjoy, sports fanatic or otherwise.





The fact still remains that hardcore fans of the sport may want to pass. Though, as mentioned above, it's not because of unintentional design flaws or a lack of polish. World Tour simply takes a different route. And when it comes down to it, the change of pace is surprisingly rewarding. Now, before anyone starts thinking there's no real depth here, just know World Tour has plenty. By simple, you shouldn't understand the game feels shallow.





Like any "serious" soccer title, this one has specific Defend and Attack systems that include everything you'd expect from a soccer title. You can perform everything from ground and flight passes, to slide and bloke tackles, and everything in between. Plus, they're all easy to execute and since the game controls well, you always feel in control of the action. You also get the standard free kick and penalty scenarios. Even the analog stick, which has fouled other entries in the genre, doesn't seem to bother much in this case.





World Tour has a collection of different modes. The closest thing to the World Cup comes by way of the titular World Tour mode. Here, you travel from country to country and partake in different challenges. If this sounds different than your average World Cup mode, it is. Instead of just going head-to-head with other teams and scoring goals, you instead need to meet specific requirements. Usually this involves playing with style, which actually earns you points.





Scoring goals is always a part of victory, but if you don't watch out for other factors, such as teamwork, it will cost you style points. This can sometimes cost you a match, and therefore hinder your progress through the mode, so it's best to adjust your play style to jive with specific match requirements. You start in Africa and then work your way through the Americas, Europe and Asia. It's a fun mode, and it's definitely different than your standard string of soccer bouts. The further you progress, the more you unlock different games in Medal Mode.





And what is this Medal Mode? It's a collection of different match types, like the kind you encounter while playing through World Tour. Only here you can play whichever type you want, in any order. You'll find a good number of them, too, and they all play radically different. Take Shot Clock, for instance, where each team gets a maximum of 15 seconds to shoot once they get possession of the ball. Or Totally Outnumbered, where your team starts off with fewer players than the opposing side.





You'll find they all help make World Tour feel unlike most other soccer offerings, handheld or not. And yes, Classic Challenge makes a comeback for those that a want a traditional take on the sport. Here, you simply need to play well to win. This means clean passes and interceptions, and of course, great goals. The more you foul up through sloppy footwork (missed interceptions, fouls) the more points get taken off your score.





You also get Exhibition Mode, where all you do is score goals. No points for stylish play and teamwork here, just plain old soccer. You can choose difficulty level, stadium, match length and teams. Then there's Multiplayer, which lets you play one-on-one against another live opponent. You choose from local Ad-Hoc and Online play, so there's something for everyone. About the only thing to complain here, which is also true for the single-player modes above, are the load times. They're a tad long. Nothing excruciating, but still noticeable.





You can play with three friends, in addition to the main player. When hosting a game, World Tour list some of modes described above and lets you pick match length, stadiums and all that good stuff. Whoever hosts the game becomes team captain, and he/ she is only one who can manage the team. What's more, the game also supports Game Sharing, which lets you beam a World Tour demo to another PSP.









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