Known as Holly and Benji, Captain Tsubasa's football adventures have literally marked the lives of entire generations, who grew up with a passion for football and the fantasy of being able to pierce the net with a ball. Everyone (and those who deny simply lie), have tried Mark Lenders 'Tiger Shot or the Derrick Brothers' legendary catapult at least once. Certainly with poor results.
In a country like ours where football goes beyond the mere concept of sport, being a real entertainment phenomenon rooted in our culture, a product like Captain Tsubasa represents one of those works that certainly do not struggle to attract the 'attention. It is therefore not surprising that the'' announcement of a video game like Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions, coming to PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC (inexplicable the absence of the Xbox One version) has aroused the interest of a lot of people who for decades have dreamed of a game dedicated to the young Tsubasa Ozora, better known at home as Oliver Hutton.
This is because from 1988 to 2010, all licensed video games were always confined to Japan, forcing the most avid fans to resort to the import market by playing not-so-trivial titles with incomprehensible text. With the brief interlude of a 2010 DS chapter and a 2017 mobile one, Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions represents the first real and great opportunity for fans to finally enjoy a game based on the work of author Yōichi Takahashi .
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions as you might imagine is not exactly a classic soccer game and anyone who has ever watched even one installment of Holly and Benji knows exactly what to expect in a match. The strong point of this videogame adaptation is precisely to recreate the experience of the games lived in the original series to return them to the screen pad in hand. So get ready for impossible tackles, jumps on goalposts, shots of such power as to send both the ball and the goalkeeper into the goal. Everything that characterizes Captain Tsubasa is faithfully reproduced within the game and we can assure you that what we tried during our test in Milan left us extremely satisfied.
Although There will be a story mode in the game (which will almost certainly cover all the main events, from the first games with Nankatsu to the Olympics with the Japanese national team), the only mode we could test is the local multiplayer, which supports up to 4 players. Enough to understand the mechanics of the game and the pace of the games.
Once you have selected the teams, the first thing to keep in mind is that each player boasts of unique skills and characteristics and therefore you have to play according to who is on the field and exploit their skills. Forget Fifa and forget Pes, Captain Tsubasa's football works with its own rules. Although the keys and actions to be performed are the canonical ones of the previously mentioned games, there are several automatisms in the game inserted on purpose to entertain and emphasize the action that traditional games would not even dream of.
It starts with contrasts to be made with the right timing to start an impossible dribbling with lots of animation, up to the enhanced shots by holding down the appropriate button until the bar is loaded that allows an almost guaranteed goal. Let's say almost because goalkeepers can take advantage of moves such as the super block, or even passive skills that allow them to raise their defense parameters depending on certain conditions. In the case of Ken Wakashimazu Ken (Ed Warner), the more shots at the corners of the goal he receives, the less likely he is to score. In addition, during the game, a bar will be loaded gradually to activate Zone V, which is a team skill that boosts the stats of all players to make them more performing for a short period of time. It is not clear if with this Zone V it has other effects than those already described, but we are confident about it.
Random events can also happen (or perhaps predetermined by specific cases that we have not been able to understand), in which the ball jumps into the air and starts a button smashing challenge between the players to win a contrast in flight at unthinkable heights. These contrasts can also end with mega shots such as overturns which, even if inexplicable, leave you genuinely amused and bewitched. With the arrow keys, you can set the game tactics, from offensive to defensive for example, very useful for the counterattack phases.
The game includes fouls (there is a statistic at the end of the game that reports them, as well as free kicks), but in the games we have played it has not even happened by mistake that the referee whistled, even for the worst slips made from behind cutting off the opponent's legs. The build we tested was probably still immature and didn't consider them. This is also demonstrated by the frame rate that every now and then let himself go to a few moments of uncertainty, even if all in all it never compromised the pace of a game. Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions boasts some truly outstanding Cel Shading graphics when it comes to the cutscenes expected for all the special events of the game (shooting, dribbling, saving etc…), but it doesn't shine during the naked and raw gameplay. The animations are not very convincing, especially during the shots or moments in which a player receives the ball and even the artificial intelligence leaves every now and then dumbfounded, especially during the exchanges of passes in which some teammates perform totally meaningless actions.
All aspects that clearly can be improved, given that the game will most likely be released this summer in conjunction with the European Championships or the Olympics (it would be crazy not to ride that wave): there is time to polish some game elements.
Net of some angularity, the first approach with Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions was incredibly positive. Surely nostalgia has had its weight but it does not change the fact that performing a tiger shot from outside the area to break through the goal net leaves an indescribable sense of satisfaction. We are really curious to understand how they structured the story mode for the single player and what the online multiplayer mode will have in reserve.
We are confident that with the right care in the contents Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions can become the game of Holly and Benji that we have been waiting for so many years.
► Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is a Sport-type game developed and published by Bandai Namco for PC, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 31/12/2020
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is a beautiful game that cannot be missing from your collection: we have decided to evaluate it with a 78%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions Review
