Kunio Sports #6 - Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen (PS4 Kunio World)
2Flailing cleats in "Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen" from "Kunio-kun: The World Classics Collection" on PS4; this is the "QualityUp" version of the Famicom game by Technos Japan.
The Kunio games are super-cute, with great music and hard-hitting action, but they also tend to be somehow both sluggish and frenetic, not to mention confusing for new players like me--and Soccer Hen is definitely all of those things!
One thing that really took me a while to get used to is that you don't switch characters to whichever of your team is close to the ball--you always play as the captain, Kunio, so if you get decked and the opposing team takes off down the field en-masse, well, you just have to pick yourself up and dash after them as quickly as possible.
I'm pretty much always bad at soccer video games, and definitely feel bad at this one--but it also feels more baffling to control than most. I'm sure if I went and watched a video of someone who knew what they were doing, it would be them firing super-kick after super-kick right through the opposing team's net; but I have no idea how to make the super-kicks that sometimes come out come out, and lacking that, it's really hard to get the ball past the opposing goalie. ... I guess I should look it up or something. : P But I don't understand why you can't control your shot in the air, like you can in Super Dodge Ball (there would actually be much more of a point to it here than there is in SPD); as it is, generally either it's a shot straight into the goalie's arms, a power shot straight through the goalie, or just a big bobbling mess that somehow dribbles in amid a scrum.
When you don't have the ball, you can call for a pass, which doesn't work too badly. My team mates were usually at least as bad in front of goal as I was, which wasn't really encouraging, but I guess it does encourage you to be a ball-hog.
When your team is on defense, you can slide-tackle or shoulder-barge; doing this also tells your team-mates to take a similarly aggressive defensive stance; otherwise they may just toddle around ineffectively.
But once I learned to be a ball hog, and how to control my defenders, sort of, the game actually started working okay as a game; it was challenging (maybe a bit frustrating) to score, and similarly to defend. So, playable, anyway.
Then you do reach the cave-man field with rocks that trip you up everywhere, and that's just no fun. :P
Recording: PS4 to Elgato HD60