Virtually unplayable
Sega Dreamcast
Released in 2000 by Sega
Grade: D-
This “fun-focused” take on soccer isn’t much fun at all.
Where it falls in the series
Virtua Striker is primarily an arcade series, started in 1994. This is the first console edition, followed by Virtua Striker 3 on GameCube in 2002. A port of the original was made available as a download game for PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013.
Gripes
You know it’s a bad sign when you can’t even use the analog stick. That’s right, this game uses the D-pad only.
Other controls are also dumbed down. On offense, you can short pass, long pass, and shoot. On defense, you can slide tackle. That’s it. There’s no “change player” button. The game does it for you automatically, which constantly screws you up.
The view is way too zoomed in. You can’t see who you’re passing to or who is chasing you down until it’s too late. I often found myself passing to the area where I thought one of my teammates might be.
This is particularly troublesome because this game moves extremely fast. You need to be quick on the trigger, yet you can’t see your teammates, so you don’t know what to do. Whenever I was able to move the ball up the field, it felt like luck. Passes seem to sneak through or get stopped at random.
You know those people who say they don’t use any drugs because they feel like they’re on drugs already? That’s what this game is like. It’s on drugs without needing to use drugs.