2006 Fifa World Cup ( GBA )

Metachronos overall score = 3.9 / 10

Positive
- Great presentation
- Take nonqualifying nations to the World Cup finals
- Plenty of game modes, including global challenges

Negative
- Poor animation that leads to imprecise controls
- Rewards bland, unimaginative play styles
- Desperately easy
- Standard tackles are ineffective, while sliding tackles result in fouls

As an officially licensed FIFA product, all team and player data is correct and up to date, which goes a long way in re-creating the atmosphere of the tournament. The limitations of the GBA mean that some concessions have been made, though, such as a lack of the official World Cup venues seen on the other platforms. However, EA's famously polished presentation goes some way to alleviate this--hearing a Black Eyed Peas song blaring out of your GBA makes a strong impression, and compares favourably to other games on the console.



But the main thrust of the game is the World Cup mode, and you can either play out the main tournament or take a team through the qualifying stages to the World Cup itself. This mode is a nice option for fans of teams that didn't make it through to the finals, who can instead play out the tournament as if their team had actually qualified. If you don't like your group you can swap with another team, or you can ask the game to draw seeded groups so that the best teams are all separated. Your progress will be saved during the World Cup stages, so you can return to a tournament at any time; and if you don't fancy playing a particular match, you can ask the game to simulate it. However, simulating a game rarely brings accurate results (we're not convinced that an Australia 4, Brazil 0 score line is all that likely in the real tournament), and your team seems to have a much higher chance of losing a game than if you were playing it yourself. It would have been more helpful be able to watch a game being played from the manager's perspective, and then dip in and take control if things aren't going well.

Although 2006 FIFA World Cup is a game full of options, control is lacking just where it's needed the most--on the pitch. Scoring is simply a case of running up the pitch, shimmying past the goalkeeper, and scoring goal after goal without much effort. Although World Cup junkies might be able to look past the basic flaws that this game has, most people will find their memories of the tournament tarnished by this below-par cash-in.