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Ipod Touch/Iphone Applications Review: Real Football 2009!

by machofantastico

REAL FOOTBALL 2009 WHO KNEW FOOTBALL COULD BE DONE SO WELL ON A TOUCH SCREEN DEVICE? I know this might not be your usual videogame review, but I see no difference between reviewing a Ipod Touch/Iphone application to reviewing a Nintendo DS title, especially when it's as good a title as Real Football 2009. Developed by Gameloft for both the Iphone and Ipod Touch, it offers an experience similar...

REAL FOOTBALL 2009











WHO KNEW FOOTBALL COULD BE DONE SO WELL ON A TOUCH SCREEN DEVICE?

I know this might not be your usual videogame review, but I see no difference between reviewing a Ipod Touch/Iphone application to reviewing a Nintendo DS title, especially when it's as good a title as Real Football 2009. Developed by Gameloft for both the Iphone and Ipod Touch, it offers an experience similar to what could be found in the classic International Superstar Soccer series of old. Of course those who know their football titles will know that the ISS series would eventually go on to become the much loved Pro Evolution Soccer franchise of games, so comparing the two is in itself great tribute to what Gameloft have created here.

CONTROLS, CONTROLS, CONTROLS

Of course, what's most important to a football title is a good control scheme and at first sight you might even think it would be almost impossible to make a fun football title using touch screen technology. I felt very much the same when I considered buying Real Football 2009 from the Application store on my Ipod Touch. At this moment in time I sense current Applications carry the old Mobile Phone game tag, usually meaning a overpriced poor attempt at a quick videogame. But Real Football 2009 continues to show what promise the Ipod Touch/Iphone as for being a solid portable gaming system. Real Football 2009's control system can take a good while to get use to, not to mention fully understanding all it's smaller details such as precise skills or passes. Even though I have had the game for a good three weeks now, I still occasionally find myself slipping up or simply finding the controls a little to tricky for a quick handheld game. But that's also where much of RF2009's depth lies, and heres where the comparisons to the original ISS games begin. For those that remember that revolutionary title, you'll know that it was far from perfect control wise. Yet there was a satisfactory feeling to be found when you did start to master the control setup, it wasn't to punishing on those new to the game and the same can be said for RF2009 which though challenging, offers enough kindness at the lower difficulty levels to continue to be fun to play while you get use to the controls.

Real Football 2009 Logo.The control scheme uses the classic D-Pad style we have all come to love from most video games, also present are the A and B buttons so it's almost like a touch gamepad on the screen. It sounds odd and it can feel very weird at first, but it does the job well and clearly shows that a football title can actually be done well on a Touch Screen device. I seriously expect to see this system in future applications, it's not perfect but it currently seems like the best option avaliable to developers. There are a number of areas that could see improvments though, for instance it would be nice if player acceleration (done by double tapping a direction on the d-pad) was a little more responsive then it currently is and if player A.I Movement offered more options in play (such as player runs or more intelligent A.I) it would open an whole new level of challenge to those who do love their football games, but to be totally fair some of these complaints seem a little pathetic when you consider that even most actual full videogame titles such as FIFA and PES still haven't fixed some of these problems (even if there having a good go at doing so). So it's unfair to be to critical on RF2009 for having such issues. 

What is nice is how certain moves or tricks are handled, a one-two pass is easy to execute by simply tapping the B button twice and through passes are executed by holding on the B button then dragging your finger in a direction. There's a surprising about of depth to the control scheme, with tricks and varied passes/shots easy to perform once mastered. If your patient enough to learn everything RF2009 as to offer, then you'll find a very rewarding experience on offer here. Especially if your fond of the Pro Evo series of football games, as in areas it's clear the developers borrowed ideas from past ISS or PES games. As I have already mentione, the d-pad does a fine job even if it's far from perfect. Much like player acceleration, it's responsiveness can occasionally let the game down and I could see problems for those who have fatter fingers then myself. It will take a good while to get use to, but the control scheme is for the most part great, with some surprising hidden depth on offer. Anyone who as loved past FIFA or PES titles will be at home with RF2009.

GRAPHICS, GRAPHICS, GRAPHICS

The Ipod Touch/Iphone as some graphical power, but it's just sad that so many games have been scared to even try to test apple's prind and joy to it's upmost. Thankfully Gameloft clearly wanted to make a football title that would challenge anything currently found on Nintendo's DS Portable system. Graphically Real Football 2009 is indeed a great looking game, helped by the fact that it runs well which is important for any sports title. It's 3D Graphics look great on the screen and animation is fluid which came as a surprise. It performs well with very few issues worthy of bringing forward in this review, I did have one little moan though, some of the team kits such as my beloved Aston Villa did look a little odd and roughly designed. I'm not looking for a perfect hi-resolution representation of football kits here but the Aston Villa kit looks wrong and nothing like the actual real life kit design wise. Again, that is a pretty poor critisism to bring forward but something that did get on my nerves a little. It would have been nice if a simple edit mode was avaliable where I could edit the kit a little to look moe like the actual football kits. But to be fair that might be expecting a little to much from this fantastic title and I can happily live with some of the issues found graphically. 
Argentina vs Brazil.Though I wouldn't compare the graphics to those found on the Playstation Portable, it defiantly looks solid when comparing it to the Nintendo DS. Of course things can look pixelized but when you think of what can realistically done on these types of systems. Gameloft deserve great credit for pushing it to a limit, because it does look fantastic and again reminds me of the first time playing International Superstar Soccer many years ago. It defiantly learns from some of the past football games on consoles, it doesn't try anything risky with the graphics as the user interface performs well and is easy to navigate. But I'm not totally sure if the games graphics actually make Real Football 2009 the great title that is truly is. A lot of that comes down to the unique control system that actually works well on a touch screen device. The biggest credit of all goes to Gameloft for implementing this new control scheme.

CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT

You may expect a limited amount of content when you first see Real Football 2009, but you'd be very wrong indeed for it offers a surprisingly large amount of playtime and content to fans of the beautiful game. Gameloft actually was able to pick up the FIFPRO license so theres no Wane Roaney to be found here. All the teams have the actual correct player names even if some of the domestic teams still suffer from the PES issue of fake football team names such as London F.C, but you'll still find a lot of correct football team names within RF2009. The license aspect to this game doesn't have such an affect as it does for the Pro Evolution Soccer titles, but it's still nice to know that the developers wanted some authenticitiy to their own creation and if I'm totally honest, it's nice to play as England when everything is as it should be. 

Speaking more of content, the game allows you to play in a number of different modes. You have your common exhibition mode which allows you to go one on one with a CPU with any team, you also have training modes which give you some slightly frustrating tutorials through text information but you can also play free training which allows you to play on your own and provides a great chance to get use to the controls. Theres also a number of leagues including English, French, Italian, Spanish and even a national league. There are numourous cup competitions to take part in including the common International and European cups, Asian Cup and African cups. It's great that there is this amount of content and you could easily see yourself spending as much time with RF2009 as you would with any current PES or FIFA title. There are some odd tournament bugs to be found, but nothing that can't be fixed with future versions of the game. A trophies room is also present where you can view all those shiny cups you've won in your time playing the game. As you can probably guess, these are things we have been seeing in PES games for years now but it's still great to see it in a portable styled game such as this.

GOALLLLLLLLLlAll team nations are present from France to Egypt and theres a very good chance your own nation is to be found (yes, the United States of America are here to). Theres also some legend teams such as England, France, Argentina and Brazil to be found not to mention the many domestic teams on offer. As you can tell, theres a great amount to be found in this football package to please the vast majority of those who love the biggest sport in the world. I loved that so much time as been taken to make sure that there is at  least one team in here to please any football fan, this is something that's not so common in most mobile styled gaming footy titles nowadays. I believe there is actually a mobile version of this game that reminds me a lot of the classic FIFA 96 game but I haven't played that so can't make total judgement on it. 

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SMALL DETAILS

Again I'll refer back to the classic International Superstar Soccer games of old, one of the reasons I personally loved those football titles was down to the small details. Details like the way the ball would react to the surface of the pitch or how player movement felt fast and varied. The same can be said for RF2009, it's all those small details that I really love and am glad the developers took the time to implement into the experience. Things such as the trick system, which isn't really needed for a game like this but it's fantastic that they were able to get it in here and most importantly get it to work well. Other small details such as using the Ipod Touch's accelerometer for throw ins requiring you to flick your Iphone in a throwing movement (please don't actually throw your Ipod Touch/Iphone). There are many more, and they all come together to make a fantastic football title that is in my opinion. The first MUST HAVE game for your Ipod Touch or Iphone. Especially when you see how much it costs to purchase on the Apps store, at just £5.99 it's a steal and offers more content and better gameplay then most current full priced titles would. It's excitng to see what's to come when it comes to games on the Apple Ipod Touch/Iphone and also thrilling to see the Real Football games future installments.

OVERALL

In my personal opinion, the best game to be found on the Ipod Touch/Iphone at this moment in time, it's simply a blast to experience and play. Huge amounts of content will keep any football fan busy for many weeks and the game both looks and runs surprisingly well. Controls aren't perfect, but if you take the time to fully understand them or even master them, you'll find a very deep experience with varied shots, passes and tricks. Great ball physics and general football feel makes Real Football 2009 currently one of the best football title on any portable system. Controls might be to fiddly for those with larger fingers and sometimes responsivness can let the overall game down. But there small moans for a game that does so much for so little cost. 

PROS:
- A great control scheme for a touch screen device.
- Great graphics, that challenges any DS Football title.
- Huge amount of content.
- Cheap.

CONS:
- Control scheme might not suit those with larger fingers.
- Some game sounds can start to get on your nerves.
- Not exactly pick up and play for newbiews.

SCORE: 9.2 out of 10.


Reviewed By Joseph Bayliss (TrueEnglishGent).
GOALLLLLL