Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Nintendo DS)

I am actually surprised by the negative reviews for Pro Evo 6 on the DS as fundamentally it does a lot right that FIFA 06 and 07 didn't. For starters the game play and the depth is more enjoyable and realistic- you have to build up attacks as opposed to running through from your own goal line and scoring wonder goals every other game. Tackling & passing feels more realistic and the refereeing is actually spot on. The best addition of all is the Wi-Fi, which despite its many flaws and frustrations is something that FIFA could have and should have included to make for a more addictive experience.

Graphically the game is nothing special- probably on par with FIFA 06 and much better than (in my opinion) the graphically inferior FIFA 07. The players don't have that annoying shiny helium-balloon look that players in the DS FIFA games did (see my other reviews.) As far as I've noticed the stadiums don't differ too much and there aren't actually that many licensed teams to pick, but unless you're one of these junkies who wants a game with real names and realistic stadia then you won't mind at all. The sound quality is pretty poor in the games too- this is where FIFA is much better. It is just a case of basic crowd roars that don't seem to alter much even during penalty box skirmishes and the `commentator' only pipes up to inform you that you've scored.

The game offers the obligatory league and cup options as well as the ability to create and edit your team. The edit team option, seemingly in keeping with the rest of the game, is basic but does the job. You can pick your team colours, customise your formations in depth (you could place all 10 outfielders in a hexagon up front if you wanted.) alter names and draw your own logo.

The Wi-fi is the main reason that I bought this game, and I would like to say that it doesn't disappoint, but it does a little. To begin with it is a little too basic for my liking. I would have liked to have seen small league and knockout competitions available as well as the `friendy's' that you're presented with. The game tracks stats like won, lost and drew but other than your opponent's name, and maybe their customised flag, you know nothing about your opponent. I would have liked to have seen their nationality and a bit more information about them, and it would be great to know how well you have done against them before, or against other nationalities or regions. A regional, world and continental ranking would have been a great addition too.

Gameplay wise getting hold of an opponent is a fairly simple case of waiting and playing. You cannot alter the length of the game or matchday options in wi-fi (it is limited to a rather short 5 minutes) but you can do all the formation and substitution tinkering with no problems. The game smartly allows you three `pauses' to substitute or answer the door but these pauses are timed and when the time runs out it returns to the game. At the end of the match you can choose to play again or go and find someone else- and there is the option to play against someone with a similar ability to you. There can be a bit of lag, especially against continental opposition (I know this because I played a `Juan' once and he had a personalised Spanish Flag.) that makes the odd game unplayable but for every one poor game you get 5 or 6 good quality, flowing matches.

I would buy this game instead of FIFA if I had the option to, simply because it a more realistic representation of football and because of the Wi-fi. No other game could keep me up until 12am playing Wi-fi against a Brazil team that kept thrashing me in anticipation of getting at least a draw. This is worth the money alone.

This game is okay - the graphics are a bit smudgy, but that can be expected on a DS. Gameplay is reasonable with lots of options and a Career Mode where you have to beat all the other teams. This keeps you busy for a while. There are lots of passes and shots to master, although some of the controls can become quite fiddly with the layout of the DS's buttons. My main gripe with this game is how unresponsive it is at times - you can be through on goal, press shoot ... only for nothing to happen and then the opposition 'keeper comes and takes it off you. Dribbling is also sluggish - it is very hard to change direction quickly. This makes stringing some fast slick passing moves together almost impossible. It just doesn't feel like it flows at times during the game.

Still, footy games are always fun and the fun increases loads more when you play on WiFi link up - it is always a much better experience playing against real opposition and you can't get away with the same 'guaranteed goal' tricks.

Just worth it if you like football games, but not worth rushing out for.

I'm another person surprised by the negative reviews. First of all I will go through all the good things.

1.It plays brillianty- fantastic ball physics and realistic movements surpass even the XBOX version of FIFA 07.

2.Great online play.

3.The World Tour mode(replacing the master league) is pretty darn good- unique ane ejoyable.

Now the bad points...

1. Being a DS game, the graphics are always bound to be lacking; however this is extreme, there is enough detail to see what's going on, but when free kicks etc. come into play- you need to clearly see where the goal starts and ends.

2.Download play takes a ridiculous amount of time to start(10-15mins)

3.Not enough tournements- there is the World Tour and the 'Konami Cup'; nothing else.

OVERALL- This is an enjoyable game providing bad graphics doesn't drive you into suicide. Online play and gameplay have saved this game.

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