Kiddy FIFA 09 better than PS3/360?

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We played all three and - guess what - the Wii version impressed us most

The control is so intuitive and liberating, going back to a 360 pad afterwards felt plain wrong. It's just not as intuitive as pointing the Wii-mote and pressing a button that's effectively marked 'make ball go there'.

The gameplay itself is simplified slightly, but at least that means some long shots will go in – something we've not seen in Euro 2008 despite plenty of play. While it isn't a realistic interpretation of football, it is extremely competitive and it behaves how you want it to.


Above: Whose idea was it to have conjoined twinssign foropposing teams?

Another welcome feature is the extra control offered by the Wii-mote for free kicks. First you tap B with the crosshair over the part of the goal you want to aim for. This results in a rumble in your Wii-mote, so only you know where you've set it – nothing changes on the screen. Then you swing the Wii-mote to kick, adding swerve with a twist in either direction. It works beautifully and curling it into the top corner looks fantastic, with a 'behind the ball' camera view.

The team has tried to make the game appealing to everyone, even adding an easy play control method called All-Play, which takes away the pointing and nunchuck and reverts to a very basic pass/shoot system. But as line producer Kaz Makita told us, this allows him to have real, competitive matches with his 8-year-old son, as the control method levels the playing field. Like it or not, that's exactly what new Nintendo's about. The team's even added Gamecube and Classic controllersupport, so everyone should feel comfortable. That's the aim.

Justin Towell
Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.