A good way to finish off the Winning Eleven/ISS games on the PS1, but too much of the same old same old.

User Rating: 8 | World Soccer Winning Eleven 2002 PS
By bats94 | Review Date:
Winning Eleven 2002 is a Japan exclusive game that is basically the same thing as PES 2 on the PS1, albeit with some graphical differences and new music not in PES 2. Having played both ISS Pro Evolution games on the PS1, WE2002's controls have not changed at all, with the one-two pass and chip shots as effective as the previous games, so if you've played the ISS Pro series before, this game will be very easy to learn for you.

The graphics are slightly different from PES 2, with the players looking smaller than previously, since the game's player graphics are the same as those in the then-recent Jikkyou J-League games (also exclusive to Japan), yet the engine the game runs on is the same as the ISS series. The rosters within the game are the same as in PES 2, with new teams such as Senegal and Costa Rica still present, yet there are fewer clubs in the game than in the original PS2 version of PES 2, which is somewhat of a letdown (then again, one has to take the limitations of the PS1 in consideration). The larger amount of teams than in the previous games is definitely a positive point for those who want more teams to play as and against, and this allows for a realistic International Cup (based on the World Cup) in which all teams that qualified for the 2002 World Cup are present in the game-another positive point. Unfortunately, the game still lacks Asian and American teams, which makes Asian Cup and North American cup campaigns too short, in contrast with the European Cup or the International Cup. Speaking of teams, there are some teams licensed in the game, such as Japan (who are always licensed in the Winning Eleven series), Germany and England, then there are teams who aren't, in this case Costa Rica, Brazil and South Korea. The lack of licenses for every team in the game can be annoying for those who want a fully licensed football game, but then again there's always FIFA; alternatively you might consider using the Edit Mode of the game to change unlicensed player names to real ones, or even create your own player for use in any national team with stats and appearances of your own choice (albeit appearance customisation is scaled down when compared with the PS2 version, and virtually unchanged from ISS Pro Evolution 2, but not something to nit pick about.

In conclusion, if you prefer to have PES 2 on the PS1 than to adapt to the PS2 version, or if you just want some nostalgia of what football games used to play like in comparison to what we have today (PES 2012 and FIFA 12), then WE2002 is definitely a game worth playing if you can get your hands on it.
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