Eyeshield 21 is a showcase for what the Nintendo DS is capable of. A fantastic hybrid of sports, action and RPG gaming.
After his skills are seen in action, Sena is forcibly recruited onto the school's fledgling American football (Amefuto) team by its demon-like quarterback Hiruma. Afraid that other schools will try and recruit Sena, Hiruma disguises his new running back with a dark visor and the nickname "Eyeshield 21".
Eyeshield 21's story mode is broken down into 9 chapters. Each chapter is, in turn broken down into school days. Each school day usually consists of one or two tasks. The daily tasks start with things like getting from point A to point B, and gradually train you to play the football portion of the game. Along the way Sena will be made to do things like lifting weights, delivering letters and even building a new locker room for his team, The Deimon Devil Bats.
As the story progresses, new characters wil be recruited to the Devil Bats, and the tasks will become more football oriented. After being schooled in running, passing, kicking and blocking you will start to have scrimmage matches, and eventually a few full games. You will even attend two rival schools and play on another team.
Although the game is presented entirely in Japanese, the story mode is surprisingly easy to get through with little to no knowledge of the language. Most of the time, you can progress in the story mode by simply heading to the Devil Bats' clubhouse in one of the 3 areas outside of Deimon Senior High School. On the odd occasion, you will have to head to the field or talk to a specific person in the school instead. You will also spend time in the halls of 2 other high schools during story mode. The schools are not very big and should you get stuck, it won't take more than 5 minutes to talk to everyone to trigger the next story event. It took me about 9 hours to finish the story mode entirely. After finishing the story, you unlock a team for "Single Match Play Mode", and most of the game's tasks can be replayed.
The dialogue sequences are presented on the top screen in very well drawn 2D panels similar to Trauma Center or Phoenix Wright. There is plenty of character and life in these sequences and even if you can't understand what they're saying, they're still entertaining to watch. The bottom screen in story mode is rendered in full 3D and has an isometric style like the Mega Man Battle Network games for Game Boy Advance. It also looks like Pokemon XD for the GameCube. All of the characters animate well and everything is very clean looking. The halls, rooms and outside areas of the schools also have a good amount of detail like bikes in the schoolyards and soda machines in the halls.
The control in both the story and match modes is 100% stylus based. In the story mode you control Sena by simply sliding the stylus in the direction you want to go. You can dash by swiping the stylus at his feet, and perform a simple dodge move. To interact with a person or object, you simply tap on it.
The match mode controls are quite varied and often intense. Catching the ball, rushing and trying to block passes play almost like a shooting gallery. A target will briefly appear for you to tap and the closer ypu are to the bullseye, the better your catch or block will be. For example if you catch a pass with a "good" rating, you will catch the ball, and be tackled immediately. If you catch it with an "excellent" rating, you will be allowed to try and run afterwards.
Kicking is done by simply swiping the stylus through a marked zone. Blocking is done by frantically rubbing an area on the touch screen. This area's size, along with the targets used in rushing and passing are determined by your current character's skill rating and stamina level.
Everyone plays both offence and defence and the character's stamina levels can drain quite rapidly, so you won't be able to overuse your star players on every play. When you complete a pass, rush, block or kick a "Special" meter will fill up to a maximum of level 5. There are many offensive and defensive special plays that can be used during a game, and more are available for purchase in the game's story mode.
The play system is streamlined and non unlike the classic Tecmo Bowl. On offense you can run, pass or kick. On defense you can block the kick, block the run, or try to block or intercept you opponent's passes. You have to fight to gain or block every single yard in this game. A play that has 5 action sequences and lasts 30 seconds can sometimes only yield you a yard or two.
Each play is broken down into a series of match ups. For example, on a running play you have to break through the defensive line, dodge your way around another 2 or 4 defenders and then try to sprint past the safety. Each match up has a quick 2D fighting game style cut to tell you who is facing who. There's also a 2D map on the top screen so you can tell who you will be facing off against next during the play.
Everything else in the match mode is presented in what is arguably the best 3D that the DS has seen to this date. All of the player models are polygonal, but sport a very smooth cel-shaded look. All of the animation is very fluid as well. Each of the 8 teams' numerous special moves also has it's own unique 3D animation. This game looked outstanding when it was released in February 2006, and looks even better on the new DS Lite.
The in match music gets repetitive quickly and never changes depending on the team you play as. The story mode fares better in this regard with a variety of light and jazzy type tunes spread through the game. Both modes are peppered with some speech samples from the anime, and the sound effects suit the game perfectly.
Although the Eyeshield 21 anime is sponsored by NFL Japan, Nintendo has taken a few liberties with the traditional rules. Chief among these besides are the fact that there is no play clock and that there are no penalties. This is not a simulation type game at all. While it may turn off the hardcore Madden set, most people even non-sports fans will be able to appreciate tne intuitive way that the football is played. It's tough to guage how fast the clock actually runs through the 12 minute quarters but each match takes 15-20 minutes to play.
From a technical standpoint I have not seen a better game hit the DS as of yet. Although the story mode is fairly short, Eyeshield has an infinite replay value if you enjoy the football matches. I can easily recommend that you import this game. The anime is not currently licenced in North America, so it will most likely be a couple of years until we see a domestic release of Eyeshield 21. Even then, this title will stand as a technical showcase for what the Nintendo DS is capable of.
- Brian J. Papineau