Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions Critic Reviews

Coming to Captain Tsubasa as a fan of football, but knowing nothing of the anime and manga, I had no idea what to expect from this game, but I was more than impressed. Tamsoft, a company better know for little skirts-and-panties games like Senran Kagura, spinoff Hyperdimension Neptunia titles, Onechanbara and School Girl/Zombie Hunter was up against it with this game. After all, how do you compete with the might of EA and Konami without going so far into the realm of arcade experiences that the game is no longer recognisable as the sport? Tamsoft genuinely managed to figure it out. Captain Tsubasa is a back-to-basics football game with excellent pace and considerable verve. It's not just for existing fans of the anime or manga; this game is perfect for anyone who wants to enjoy clean, entertaining football action with their friends without having to first send them off to a college degree to learn how to play.

Rise of New Champions is a great anime adaptation. A fast and spectacular soccer arcade, with every player and special move from Captain Tsubasa, and two single player story modes that deepen the experience.

While the anime story grated on me, Tsubasa‘s gameplay kept me hooked since the animations are smooth and flashy, and it’s easy to pick up and play. Those who want a sim may not get the same joy out of this arcade-style soccer interpretation, but for me, it scratched a very specific itch that I didn’t realize needed to be scratched.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions may seem like a niche title but it's sure to appeal to anyone who enjoys arcade sports games, especially ones with a steep degree of difficulty. Its flashy, challenging, and intense matches truly hit a home run. Oops, wrong sport.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions marks the franchise's return to gaming after a ten-year hiatus. This action-sports title delivers on the charisma and charm that have become synonymous with the series, despite a middling story. While there are some minor gameplay issues, Tamsoft does a great job at integrating the over-the-top and stylized action into core soccer mechanics. Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is a more than solid addition to the long list of adaptations of the classic manga.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is the wild and hyper-stylised sports game I've been craving for over a decade. The gameplay is quick to pick up, but hard to master, and the over-the-top anime transitions and animations that are sprinkled throughout the action make it endlessly entertaining. Offline and online versus is sure to give you hours of entertainment if you're the competitive type, while the hefty amount of single-player story content can keep you just as equally entertained. Anyone who's been waiting for the next great arcade sports game need not look any further – it's here, and its name is Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is an absolute rush to the goal as its soccer systems don’t lean too heavily into the outrageous. Instead, it finds a perfect balance of zany and strategy through control depth and over-the-top systems. The highlight is the two very different, but equally as important story modes, with a few multiplayer options to cap off the fun. You may encounter some AI issues, and some objectives during the story mode may not sit well, but you won’t want to sit on the bench for this game.

Captain Tsubasa is a simple tactics-adjacent sports game with characters you’ll quickly grow to love. Nothing here is particularly groundbreaking, but it is so much fun seeing Japan’s Golden Generation grow into tomorrow’s stars. The game probably doesn’t have much of a competitive future. That said, it did make me go out and pick up the manga. So, it’s a win-win for creator Yoichi Takahashi. If you’re looking for a game that’s easy to get into and hard to put down, Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is as good as any.

The one thing that Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions nails is its balance between not only being a worthy tribute to its source material, but a competent and fun game. As someone who isn’t a fan of sports titles, I never would’ve believed that I could have as much fun as I did with this game or that I’d become so interested in checking out the Captain Tsubasa series. I already feel like I’ve become a fan of the series and now that I’ve played Rise of the New Champions, I would love to see other sports anime titles get similar treatment in the future.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions offers a great mix of competition, action, and story, with beautiful visuals throughout.

Captain Tsubasa is a great title for the fans of the original anime, and remains totally true to it, but it may not be as fun for those who are new to the series.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is not a replacement for annual soccer sims in the market as it’s entirely a different beast. Instead it’s a fun and decent arcade soccer game that successfully scores its goal.

With a little more sensitive controls and adjustments when it comes to scoring goals, Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Heroes would even have hit anime characters.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is exactly the frantic action-football game you can expect.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of the New Champions is a heartful love letter to the masterpiece of Yoichi Takahashi. Despite some flaws, such as a very clumsy progression system and some naive design choices, the game is fun to play, it feels like to be in the anime series, has a great potential online and the chance to create custom team and custom players is fan service at its best.

Sports titles that choose to get away from reality to deliver a fantasy game often sacrifice sophisticated mechanics for more freedom in the game. The case of Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is no exception. It is an attractive game that does not seek to be a faithful portrayal of soccer, but an arcade experience. Although it takes this approach, it offers many customization options while incorporating fantasy mechanics that delivers a game system which is rewarding and sometimes frustrating and unfair due to some gameplay design issues.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is a heartfelt product that, despite a playful system that is not always adequately precise, offers a long-lasting, energetic and spectacular experience.

A good representation of Captain Tsubasa's soccer style. Very spectacular at times, but very tedious at others due to the limitation of its mechanics.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions isn’t a perfect rendition of the beautiful game, but it is a welcome return to an era of football games that don’t take themselves too seriously.

Looking for a football simulation? Carry on. Looking for an over the top, long running, wacky football anime reincarnated as a video game? Well you already know this is the thing you were looking for. So have fun! We sure did.