New: 1238 - FIFA 2004 (E)

[merf]

for me its all about getting a decent game of football. I'm not fussed if I know its Henry scoring or Michael Owen so the FIFA glitz isn't essential to me.

In WE the pitch is much bigger and the game plays out far more realistically , you often get low scoring games but the goals you get mean something.

As always FIFA v Konami is down to taste and whether you want a more sim or arcadey type of game

 

[Piton900]

I just love Fifa!

 

[DjFIL]

Wow... finaly got to play it earlier... best handheld soccer title ever! The gameplay is solid, graphics where you'd expect them to be on the GBA without them trying to push boundaries and overall it just kicks ass. My only issue... no carreer mode, oh well... and also the stats and rankings in this are different then the PC version (and maybe same vs other consoles too). But damn... i found something i'm gonna be playing for quite a while.

 

[Blue_GoD]

/me loved fifa 2003 (gba)
/me is going 2 try fifa 2004

 

[gba2002]

hm this one came out faster than expected, hope it plasy smooth.

 

[TyrianCubed]

I loved the Fifa series from 98(RTWC) till 2000...then I knew Winning Eleven

And this confirms another time that WE is far away the best soccer game on every console (IMO), because even on gba the fifa series has worse gameplay etc than WE. I like very very very much Winning Eleven Advance (and I play it with the translation patch that is not perfect but helps a lot), didn't try J-League 'cause it was focussed on the Jap League and no other team but I heard it is even better, hope that will be another! I tried fifa 2004 also for the home-consoles (ps2&Gc), yes it has some improvement but cannot be as good as WE, for now. For the future we'll wait and see. This gba game is another bad game for me, don't even d/l it *goes playing WE7 on his ps2*

 

[DjFIL]

I too like Winning Eleven, it's a great game. But, the main reason it doesn't hold my attention... i'm a club soccer fan not the international teams. So FIFA or Club Football it is for me.

 

[Deanwick]

Hey! Where did this come from? Fifa2003 was plain crappy,awful and infuriating piece of cartridge, but after a quick test with this...well,I`m somewhat impressed!

Not that this would be the pinnacle of soccer games,the game is pretty easy and the controls can be pretty awkward,but for the first time I played Gba-soccer with pleasure...I`ll be playing this(too bad I`m pretty busy with RotK

)

 

[GbaDoctor]

Merf:

When you get some time, give us all a mini-review of this and the others. Why do we want to
play "JLeague" instead of "World" or the new FIFA? What features are available or lacking in
the others? I know some people like the management more than the game play. Others just
want to score goals.Â

Thanks,

AkiraXXX

good point akira.

this is mi opinion:

i found that soccer game more fun and enjoyable than fifa, this cos i'm not lookin really at the localizations and at the clubs. Winning eleven got is wonderful feeling, perfectly porte into the gba lil screen, plus wonderful playability and great sound system. it's easy to do something spectacular instead of fifa 2004.

 

[AkiraXXX]

As a footie fan, I'd love to be able to get a real game out of the GBA. From all I've read, most hardcore fans love
the Winning Eleven series and mention the "World" version only because of the patch that installs the English language
player names. Along with that player name patch is the text file which translates the menu. I'm not sure if many of
the menus in "JLeague" are the same or similar to "World", but I'm sure they probably have a lot in common. I'm going
to include the list of controls for both W11 World and FIFA 2004 here to illustrate what may be a very telling bit of data
for football players. The W11 controls are taken from the menu translation file and are not my work. I simply took the
FIFA 2004 controls from the "controls" menu of the program. They are the FIFA 2004 controls and not the arcade controls.

The only reason I post these is to illustrate what may be the reason many love W11. It seems like there is much more
control (and, by necessity, complexity) over the game with W11 vs. FIFA. But, anyone with an informed opinion on this
is urged to reply and let those of us with less experience learn from you. And, if there are additional controls for either
game of which I am unaware, please let me know so I can document them.

AkiraXXX

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winning Eleven World Football Controls

Defence:

On The Ball
B: Short Pass or Short Header
A: Long Ball or Long Header
B+A: Through Ball
BB: Long Ball
L+B: One-Two
L+BB: Chipped One-Two

Off The Ball
B: Press / Block Tackle
A: Call Team-Mate / Slide Tackle
B+A: Press and Call

Attack:
B: Short Pass or Long Header
A: Goal Attempt (shot or header)
B+A: Through Ball
BB: Long Ball / High Cross (when on the wing)
BBB: Low Cross (when on the wing)
L+B: One-Two
L+BB: Chipped One-Two

R: Run
R+FF: Faster Run

Other Controls:

When attacking, if you hold down the shoot button (A) and
then cancel it with (B) you will do a feint/fake.

2/3 presses on L button does shimmies.

Holding L and B+A is a weighted through ball.

On corners and freekicks you can hold the pad in the direction
you wish to curve the ball while the power meter is building up.
Also, pulling back lifts the ball, etc.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FIFA 2004 Controls

With The Ball:

L: Lob
R: Sprint
A: Shoot
B: Pass

Without the Ball:

L: Hard Tackle
R: Sprint
A: Conservative Tackle
B: Switch Player

Other Keys:

Select: Instant Replay
Start: Pause/Menu

 

[DjFIL]

akiraXXX... i do see your point. having the features of extra controls is very nice, that's why for PS2 hockey I preffer SEGA's game vs. EA's game (also sega has way better AI and options/features).

One control you missed in FIFA is durring freekicks/corners if you press & hold "R" it will let you choose where the target is going to land instead of just estimating by where the line is pointing (it's one that isn't included in the options menu showing).

The main two reasons I'd rather play FIFA over W11, 1) as mentioned before I love my real clubs and real players, etc (that's why i didn't like that first football manager on GBA, but this new one which is same engine i'm highly looking foward to) and 2) on GBA I expect less realism but just very precise and enjoyable play and control, cause IMO leave the "true" sports simulations to PC and maybe (not for racing, racing IMO is a PC only thing) the big consoles.

my current disapointments with FIFA 2004... no 45 minute halves. not like i'd play it... but it would be nice to be there. but i believe they don't give that option because the excelerated pace of game play. And also when switching players it does't always do it for you (when there's 2 really close players, one to each side... some times it sticks). But I am very happy with the AI, espicaly since they give you option to make only the GK tougher, or everyone.

....Phil

 

[mxmai]

i'd just like to interject, and say that Winning Eleven (World or J-League, take your pick) still own all the FIFAs.

I just played 2004, and EA should be ashamed. new front end, new players, new sound. identical gameplay.

just like the madden series, they think it's alright to release a new one every year that looks slightly different but essentially plays the same. this is a crappy, crappy excuse for a football game.


-mxmai

 

[wolfen]

Well, it now *looks* like football, a thing that FIFA 2003 wasn't able to do. I like the way you can kick the ball out of someones' feet or when it's loose.

The major drawback are the player ratings and the set play system. It's probably the second best footy on the GBA, 'to.

 

[martineden]

I can't get the darn thing to work on my FA 256 .. has anyone?