

Much like the other options you’re given throughout each game, neither choice seems to make much of a difference.

Once the opposing team reaches your goal and kicks the ball, your goalie has two options: punch (punch the ball away) or catch (the ol’ catch and toss). Success in any of these options potentially puts the ball back in your team’s hands, unless the other side intercepts. If Tecmo Cup does allow you to block the opposing team, you have three options: cut (prevents a pass), tack (tackle the opposing player), or mark (blocks the player from progressing, leaving him open for a cut or tack). No amount of button-mashing can make them stop running. If a player of the opposing team is racing towards your goalie, hope that the game itself allows you to block them. Offense is great, but once you play defense, Tecmo Cup ‘s lack of player control begins to grate. Then the cycle continues anew, until (hopefully) you score a goal. The other team may try to cut the ball or mark the passing player, but if it lands at the feet of your teammate, he will take the ball and run with it until he is blocked. Once you pick one, the ball will travel across the other field, like it’s the most exciting sports-tastic moment you’ve ever witnessed. Will you… a) pass the ball to a different player? Or b) shoot the ball and let God sort it out? If you’re close to the goal, of course you will “b,” but more often than not, you will “a.” If you decide to pass, another menu pops up showing the entire field and the locations of the players you can pass to. Brook’s movement is blocked by the opposing team (this will happen all the time). Rather than controlling your entire team from a 3/4 overhead view, you’re only given one character at a time to run with, and your actions are all decided via a series of in-game menus. Tecmo Cup Soccer Game isn’t so much a soccer game as it is a series of cinematic soccer-related vignettes.
