World Soccer Winning Eleven PS1 Review

World Soccer Winning Eleven would be one of the first type of soccer games to be released in Japan by Konami for the PlayStation as early back as 1996 and this would be one of the first games in the iconic series that would later go on to become the ISS Pro Series and other regions and later the Pro Evolution series. 

And this game would go on to spawn many different entries and iterations both from the winning eleven franchise also to the J League franchise where essentially they would rebrand the game but instead focus on Club teams very similar to what was done with the first actual soccer game where they've done a spin-off game that focused on club teams with actua soccer club edition. 

The winning eleven series would also do the same and have loads of different entries with the J League series that focused all on club teams and essentially there is that many entries of the game in Japan and they all use the same kind of idea where visually from looking at the screen and the visual graphics and even the play style, there's quite a number of games on both the winning eleven especially during the early games in the series and with the J League series that they all play identical to this original game. 

This would also have been the equivalent of goal storm in the US region on the PlayStation that was also considered to be quite a popular game in other regions. 

There's little to no difference in terms of the controls, aesthetics, how to move just pretty much everything is identical. 

The only real difference is that in most cases with the J League like I said you're focusing on club teams from the Japanese soccer leagues at that time compared to the international side of things and with goal storm it was pretty much the same game as this only it was rebranded and given a different name for different regions but again it was the same game there's no real difference. 

So what does it feel like to play overall, well if you played any of those previous games like I mentioned you'll pretty much know that this is the same type of game and with it being a very early 3D soccer game it isn't without its flaws but at the same time there's a unique charm and quirkiness to the game. 

It is difficult to string passes together and to really maintain possession but you can gain the grips of the game fairly decently and if you do play on lower difficulty although it can be challenging once you get used to the game you will be able to figure out how to score goals because sometimes the AI can be quite clunky and the best kind of poor in some respect especially with the likes of the keepers because you can get into a point where you can get into a certain position and chances are nine times out of ten you'll be able to score a goal quite easily once you know what you're doing. 

But it is a fun type of game and it is very very different compared to a lot of other games out there. 

If anything because of the fast-paced frantic nature of it because in order to really get the ball you have to slide tackle, it's very very hard to win the ball outright by muscling people off it. 

It will definitely put you in mind of the Adidas Power Soccer Series in terms of how it plays out for that degree with trying to get the ball but it's also more realistic in terms of how you move and how you would score goals compared to likes of Adidas Power Soccer. 

This game would also be the early entry point to what would later become the International Superstar Soccer series which is kind of hard to believe when you look at the visuals and you look at various aesthetics, it's quite crazy to think that this was an early version of ISS Pro in all respects to it but eventually as things would adapt you would see it for yourself. 

But it doesn't take away from these early games as these games were launched very very early during the fifth generation of consoles and they do offer a unique dynamic that at the time was not really seen and they're a lot of fun in their own right. 

They are fast paced and they can be clunky and they can be frustrating but these type of games back in the day would have been a blast to play with your mates because it just would have been all over the place.

So it'd be one of those type of games that if you're playing with your mates no one would have been able to dominate over the other everybody would have been kind of on the same level. So you would have been able to win few games but it would have been a struggle to score goals all the same if you didn't know what you were doing. 

But looking back comparing it to newer games, right the game hasn't aged well in all respects to it but what it does do it does do quite well and the fact is it's an early game it is a lot of fun but it just depends to a different play style and different dynamic. 

If you like more of the modern type of soccer games like your fifas and even the later or ISS Pro, Pro Evolution series this may be a game that you might want to probably avoid, you may not like it at all but then for those that do like soccer games and like to try something different and you like to see earlier types of football games this would be right up your alley is because genuinely these are the way earlier types of soccer games would have played because they never really were realistic. 

This here plays and feels more like an arcade focused game more than anything else but it is a pretty cool feature for what it does do. 

If you've played goal storm or any of the J League games you'll know what I mean because they are technically all the same anyway especially all of these early adaptions and you'll see that for yourself if you did play so they are a fun selection of games to play in the own right. 

So it's interesting just to go back and to see the history of where these games originally all started so it is worthwhile trying out just for that alone. 

And I would love to know your thoughts on World Soccer Winning Eleven for the PlayStation if you have played it yourself or if you have played even other versions of the game whether it be the J League versions or even goal storm that was also seen on the PlayStation. 

I'd love to know whatever thoughts you have of the game so be sure to share it in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other games similar to World Soccer Winning Eleven, you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...