Subbuteo is a classic table-top football game, played on a mat with plastic players with weighted bases. Players take turns flicking footballers (known as pawns) at the ball with the aim in putting it past the keeper. It should have been easy to turn the game into a fun DS conversion, but it is sadly lacking. In terms of game modes, there's Quick Match, World Cup, or Multiplayer. Once you have chosen the mode, you choose your team and there are plenty of international teams to choose from. Sadly, individual players don't have names or numbers, so players are nothing more than just plastic pawns and cannot be distinguished from one another. The teams themselves don't have much identity either, because the viewing angle is top-down and zoomed out, so its rare to make out the kit colour. The most distinguishing thing is the base colour which can be customised. Still, you would think if the graphics are simple, then everything will look sharp, but most of the graphics are dull, and appear pixelated with aliased, jagged lines. The sound isn't much better either, but sound isn't even necessary in Subbuteo apart from the 'clack' sound when pawns hit the ball. When playing, you tap on your player to select him, and can either use the buttons or use the on-screen display of the player and a human hand. You can then re-position the hand to determine power, direction, and curve, then tap to carry out the move. The control scheme is surprising because you would have thought swiping the touch screen to determine these factors would be the obvious choice. The control scheme is okay but can feel fiddly, and is hard to do a small tap. Once your team is in possession, you can flick the ball around as much as you like, but no player can take more than 3 touches in a row. Possession will be lost if you fail to hit the ball with your flick, or if the ball touches the opponent. Depending on the Defending Move (determined in the options), your opposition may flick a defender to try and block your movement (they cannot touch the ball though). Fouls are given if you touch another player before the ball, or if you hit the ball when you aren't in possession. When this happens, you can either continue or take the free kick. Both players can then flick a set amount of players into a new position. I tried fiddling with the options to try and find a combination which works the best in terms of game time and attacking plays. When you set the Defensive Move to 'None', it's just a matter of waiting till the other team messes up. 'Timed' and 'Infinite' allow a defensive move every turn which makes the amount of shots very limited because you can constantly block players movement or passes. 'Alternate' allows a defensive move every odd turn which allows more strategy and freedom to attack. In terms of the shooting mechanic, more often than not, the ball seemed to hit the post. Due to the graphics, viewpoint and possibly net size, it is hard to line up a shot and it isn't too clear when the goalkeeper saves it or if it bounces off the post/crossbar. On the other hand, the computer didn't encounter the same problems, and seemed masterful at shooting; getting a great amount of power, accuracy and swerve no matter how far away the player was from the ball. Also, they always managed to chip it, even though the game only seemed to allow you to chip it if you didn't put any curve on the shot. Annoyingly, there is no ability for the keepers to move upwards unlike real Subbuteo, so elevation was a guaranteed goal, so it just felt like the computer was cheating. Overall, I felt Subbuteo was a missed opportunity and could have easily been a brilliant game. The graphics should have been far better and sharper, and a choice of camera angles would have been beneficial. A stylus based swiping control scheme should have been implemented, giving the user to find a control scheme that works for them. Little things like customisable player names, and action replays would be a nice touch. Extra game modes like a training mode wouldn't have gone amiss either, where you could be given dribbling/passing/shooting challenges like dribbling round cones, or playing one-two's to help master the skills.
--