Sega is well known for publishing wonderfully developed sports games that rival EA's own sports franchise. The latest sports game they have shipped is Virtua Striker 2002 developed by Amusement Vision. There was one question on everyone's mind when this game was being developed: Will this game have what it takes to make the jump from the arcade cabinet to the Nintendo GameCube and still remain fun?

When the game is first loaded, the player is presented with four main modes of play: Road to International Cup, Variation, Training, and Match Play. Road to International Cup is the franchise mode of the game, it is called this since there are no official team licensees, the game only carries equipment license such as Adidas. This mode is a soccer management simulation where players have the ability to create their own dream team from the ground up, and then use them in the other game modes. When starting a new team, the gamer is given a set amount of points (Virtua Strikers equivalent to cash) to budge, you than use these points to take the team to training camps, practice games, and overseas games. Gamers obtain additional points by winning matches and collecting the annual first of the year paycheck. The sad part is that you can only manage the team for a total of four years!

Variation mode contains a few modes as well such as the: International Cup, League, Tournament, and Ranking. This mode lets you actually play several different seasons like games, getting your team ranked, and going to the championship. Training mode lets players sharpen their offensive and defensive skills, with four different AI levels, which truly tests the gamer's abilities. Match Play is where you and one friend can duke it out head to head. Unlike most soccer games, this mode doesn't even offer a cooperative mode!

Since the Virtua Striker was translated from an arcade, only three main buttons are used. The problem with the entire game is contained within this simple control scheme, as it is not as smooth as other soccer games out on the market. The game uses the analog joystick with eight-way directional, but it is very stiff and unresponsive at times. The A button is used for long passes, the B button is used for short passes/slide tackle, and the X button is the shoot button. That is the entire list of moves that can be performed! Where are the other moves such as: duking, sprinting, and specials? They are totally non existent in this game, which is perplexing since this is an arcade soccer game. Additionally there is no button to manually change players; the AI automatically changes the games to the person closest to the ball, which is very agitating. The way that the controls are done, the stealing rate is phenomenal, and this makes the gameplay mundane quickly. The ball mostly goes back and forth on one end of the field with all the steals, since the players have only one option to pass the ball to other players instead of having a special move to get it out on their own. This entire control scheme hampers any fun that this game would have been, and is very disappointing!

Amusement Vision is capable of so much more, hopefully next years incarnation will fix all the problems and give EA's FIFA series a run for its money.

Virtua Striker 2002 is rated E for everyone, and requires 2 blocks of memory.

Gameplay: 5.5
Even though the controls are simplistic and easy to learn, the gameplay is rigid and not user friendly. The auto switching between different players is annoying and at times causes confusion, and makes for a very bad soccer experience.

Graphics: 8.4 
Amusement Vision put a lot of time and effort into the entire graphics department and it really shows. Player models are brilliantly modeled, have great animation, and are well textured. While in the game, making a slide to knock the ball out, the characters react as the real life counter parts do. Each stadium is also well textured and helps bring a feeling of realism while playing the game.

Sound: 5.0
Since Virtua Striker was originally made for the arcades, sounds effects are usually not very loud and sharp because of the surroundings. Console gamers, on the other hand expect much more out of their games. The music is very mundane, there is no commentary in the entire game, and the parse kick-off and goals effects used are nothing more than irritating. This is one area where Amusement Vision could put more effort into next year's version, if there is one.

Difficulty: Easy
Virtua Striker 2002 is relatively easy to play, aside from the horrid controls. Amusement Vision made an excellent training mode, which helps players sharpen their soccer skills for the championship.

Concept: 7.2 
There have been numerous soccer games released on the GameCube this year. What makes Virtua Striker 2002 unique is the deep franchise mode, you coach a team through training exercises and matches, this team can also be used in other modes. The other options included are standard of any other soccer game, which isn't a bad thing.

Multiplayer: 6.8
No computer AI can give you the same satisfaction as beating a friend in a match. Virtua Striker doesn't falter in this area. The only problem is that there is no cooperative mode!

Overall: 6.0
Virtua Striker 2002 has a ways to go before it can play with the big boys. There are many things that needs improvement such as the controls need refinement, better sound and music; commentary is a must, and numerous other things. If you have a craving for a soccer game pick up FIFA 2002 or Sega's own Soccer Slam.