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Oct 05 2005
Winning Eleven 9 Review
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| Summary: A Soccer Game based on skills, not on luck.
89
I don't have a superb experience with soccer games, mainly because RPG's have taken over my life. But I do remember the countless times I've played International Superstar Soccer over at my neighbor's house. Basically that's where my Soccer experiences end, not even going to mention me smashing the soccer ball during P.E. Into other people's bodies.
Anyways, Winning Eleven series aka Pro Evolution is a big favorite among soccer fans. Of course I wouldn't know seeing as I've been out of the soccer scene for quite some while. This Soccer game brings back the feeling that I have never experienced since I first played I.S.S.
Alas, onto the 'Nitty Gritty' of the game. The game is an almost complete replica of the console version except for a few things -- no online-play and no commentary. Also missing is the Master League mode. Super Cancel combo and side-stepping is much easier with only the use of the D-Pad. The only thing in the game that is in English is the top menu, and the American player names.
The computer in the game is challenging, this is the type of game where once you get good, the rewards are there for you. Even if you aren't superb at the game you can still have plenty of fun. The game demands skills. When passing you have to actually face your opponent and can't do any of that blind-passing stuff.
There are minor slow-downs when there are many players on the screen. At first I didn't even notice this but its a gradual slow-down and doesn't become apparent that much throughout the whole game. Please keep in mind the game has a slight learning curve, for me it took around 2 hours to master it.
So far the game is very realistic, doesn't feel like a fake depiction of soccer but a soccer simulation. Guess that's what Winning Eleven is all about. Just remember that passing the ball seems to be a necesity in this game as the AI in here is smart, you have to outsmart it.
As you play through the game, you are rewarded with "WEN" and can use this currency to buy additional unlockables, ranging from BGM to Stadiums to play in.
Controls feel very tight, and are very responsive. I've tried playing the game with both the analog nub and the D-Pad and both are responsive and work well. Analog nub probably would be preferred, seeing as the D-Pad doesn't do a great job of diagonal movements. So far nothing wrong with the controls, everything does exactly what it was meant to.
Very good graphics for a PSP game. You can see full jointal movements. The amazing thing is the character models, they depict each of their real-life counterparts. You can actually change the player's name and it would show up in the game on their shirt. You won't be dissapointed if you were expecting PS2-quality graphics, because that is exactly what you will get. Well, a slightly lowered version but very suitable for the eyes.
A very fun game, and one you don't need much experience in soccer to play. It's just plain fun scoring goals against the opponent. Even more fun is tripping the opponent and getting collectable cards (just kidding, these are penalty cards). What extends the game even further is the inclusion of the multiplayer feature via Ad-Hoc. Sadly no online play which this game could really have benefited from.
In conclusion, Pro Evolution Soccer 5 has great value. Not only is it a must-buy if you've enjoyed the other Winning Eleven games in the series but if you are a soccer fan period. The game offers many different countries represented by their teams, and may be a sense of national pride as well. I always choose Brazil, not that I'm Brazilian but because their soccer team is always good. Without even a vast knowledge of Japanese, I could very easily make my way through the menus to the main game. The only problems are understanding the fine details, such as small options. May have to wait for a GameFaqs faq or the European release of Pro Evolution 5 for PSP.
Some other faults to mention are the long load times for the game. I've estimated approximately 40 seconds for the complete loading to finish. But after that you can enjoy a lot of playtime with no loading. Another feature that the game had was when you put your PSP in sleep mode, and wake it up. The game will state in the upper right-hand it'll start resuming and will quickly reload everything. Actually the game was made to be quickly awakened from sleep and played instantaneously. Great feature.
The developer of Winning Eleven has already stated that he was looking forward to bringing other expansions of the Winning Eleven series to the PSP. Could a future update bring Infrstructure? Oh and you can easily have updates player stats and names through a simple Save Data download onto the PSP. The game itself comes with a Korean -> English booklet that translates all the player names.
Pros
• Ultimate Soccer Simulation for a handheld.
• Realistic player movements. Clean graphics.
• Rewarded in game with further unlockables.
Cons
• Removal of Master League
• Long Load-Times
• Minor slow-downs that aren't completely noticeable.
• No Infrastructure
REVIEW IT
PRODUCT INFO
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Comments
10/05/05
10 
blktauna
| New York USA
I was thinking on this one, but...
Just National Teams or League as well? And I know zero Korean... if it were in Chinese I might be able to slide by, but not Korean...
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10/05/05
10
jackoo85
| UK
great reveiw skooboi shame about there being no master league still looks sweet tho but i think i will wait for the english version to come anybody know when ?
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10/05/05
15
crazyhoss
| Kazakhstan
Is the game called Pro-Evolution 5 or is it called Winning Eleven? I'm just wondering because I want to know whether I should wait for this to come out in Europe (is it known here as Pro-Evolution?) or get it now from Japan (is it known as Winning Eleven?)
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10/05/05
17
SkooBoi
| Washington USA | SOCOM: SkooBoi
Pro Evolution in Europe. Winning Eleven in Japan. Also does anyone know if International SUperstar Soccer is related to these games?
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10/05/05
15
crazyhoss
| Kazakhstan
Cool, I just purchased it online from Japan based on your review. Great review by the way. :D I played FiFA earlier this year when it came out on PSP but the jerky stop start action when the ball goes out of play really annoyed me - hopefully this will be much smoother. Not sure about IIS but I think it was a completely different game to Pro-Evo and Winning Eleven - hope it comes out too on PSP.
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10/06/05
16
whitestar
| 
| United Arab Emirates | XBC: whitestar181 | KAI: whitestar | SOCOM: Sgt.Mack
dis is a gr8 game!i've got it n i totally recomend it!
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10/06/05
13
hellmnkey
| UK
Despite the marks given to this game by the reviewer, i think this game is awesome and wht do u expect master league on a umd? u ask for too much! the game is made to be played on the go, not to sink into, for that you have the ps2 version! and yea i do own a copy of this game and its 10/10!!!
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10/06/05
1
KnightRider
| UK
10/06/05
kon1g
| Ontario Canada
I'll wait for FIFA2006 imo
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10/06/05
17
SkooBoi
| Washington USA | SOCOM: SkooBoi
Did i make much bad remarks? I just pointed the faults. I really do enjoy this game, much more anything else on the PSP at the moment.
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10/07/05
1
KnightRider
| UK
No, I just personally prefer the Fifa Games to Pro Evo, Winning Eleven.
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10/07/05
10
jackoo85
| UK
fifa sucks arse compared to pro evo and skooboi international superstar soccer was what it was called in the begining
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10/07/05
1
KnightRider
| UK
each to their own. In my opinion Pro Evo sucks ass
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10/08/05
24
xpresside
| Malaysia
just because it's easier to score with fifa
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10/08/05
23
pinkpanther
| UK
FIFA is just hanging on to it's legacy of making the first multi-series football sim to spread across a decade or so, which in the beginning was great!! but then come along ISS-Winning eleven-Pro evo where ever you live it has a different name BUT still the same game. This was the turning point on how the game is played, more than just sticking the ball in the back of the net 11 times (which really happens "wish Arsenal beat Chelsea 11 nil next match"
The only good thing going for FIFA is that it's got the licencing for all the teams and players names and that's it period, BUT for the pro evo-Winning eleven crew who have moded PS2 then we have patches with kits players and stadium names all changed along with the amazing gameplay that no other football game is reaching.
FIFA SUCKS AND WILL ALWAYS sunday league football
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