Above all, do not be put off by the mantra of “anime/manga adaptation” despite what’s come before. Don’t be fooled by the flat, cel-shaded presentation or maybe the dismissive nature of its text-heavy, diorama-enveloped narrative. There are issues a plenty to highlight as there are irks and nitpicks that could possibly add up to greater concern, but I’d be lying if I said Rise of New Champions doesn’t deliver on those brilliant, emergent little moments that the best of Pro Evolution Soccer have gifted me with for many a year. Average at best, a hollow cash-in at its worst.Īnd yet fittingly, Captain Tsubasa against all odds manages to come out of it all victorious - bruised, a touch beaten, but having achieved what it’s set out to do. Prioritizing some contractual obligation of appeal with the source material over any intriguing depth of its gameplay. The likely response would be that Rise of New Champions is doomed to go the way a lot of anime-licensed video games have ended up recently.

A peculiar mix of systems-atop-systems themselves embedded somewhere amidst a cel-shaded presentation of circa-80s anime stylings. A game for fans of both the IP it’s associating with as well as soccer games in general. It might seem like a hard sell, all things considered. Characters whom themselves never go too long without blurting some usual nonsense on teamwork, never giving up and/or all the usual cliches you can shake a stick at. Like it or loathe it, Rise of New Champions isn’t shying away from having a large swathe of its cast be present. This despite Captain Tsubasa, in 2020, not exactly being the most mainstream or well-known series in the West - both in manga and anime adaptation form. The series is nearly four decades old at this point and there are countless times throughout the two separate story modes that the game isn’t letting up on introducing a handful of new characters all at once. Sure there’s a legacy of exaggeration, dramatics, internal monologuing and all-round ridiculousness to uphold. Even without the relevant licenses or real-life icons, it’s clear from as early as the first couple of chapters to the story modes that Tsubasa isn’t afraid of letting loose and making the player think about how success is secured. Something that doesn’t take the sport it’s representing seriously, or as might be a more fitting word with a game like Captain Tsubasa: Rise of Champions, doesn’t sacrifice the need for tactics and strategy in favor of some wider-appeasing premise. The “arcade” moniker to some can be misconstrued as something lesser. Despite the dominant fascination with realism in both physics and visual fidelity, sports games thrive more so when there’s a well of mechanics and inter-locking systems to work out and engage with.

Captain tsubasa games