Super Soccer/Game modes

There are 3 types of game to play:

• Single Game - A single match between any two teams.
• Shootout - A penalty shootout between two teams.
• Tournament - A World Championship were you must beat every other team.

Single Game

In a single game, first you choose between the following options:

• 1P VS COM - A single-player game against computer controlled opponents.
• 1P VS 2P - A 2-player game. Player 1 against Player 2.
• 1P 2P VS COM - Player 1 and Player 2 team up against a computer opponent.

This just kind of a practice mode where you can play against any team, or you can have a multiplayer game against a friend. In this mode you can choose how long you want each half to last, between 1 minute and 99 minutes! I would recommend never choosing 99 minute halves, as that would mean a 198-minute match (that's over 3 hours!!) and if you don't die of boredom first, your thumbs will fall off if you play for this long - you have been warned.

Shootout

If you are not familiar with penalty shoot-outs, this is how they work:

• Each team gets 5 penalty-kicks, taken alternately.
• Whoever scores the most penalties is the winner.
• If the score is tied after both teams have taken 5 penalties, both teams take a sixth penalty. If the scores are still tied, both teams take another penalty, and so on. This continues until there is a winner.

So here's how you play a shootout on Super Soccer.

Taking Penalties

First of all, decide where you're going to aim for. There are 9 places in the goal that you can aim for: the left side, the right side, the four corners, above the goalie, between the goalie's legs, and straight down the middle. When playing against the computer I would recommend always aiming for one of the corners, otherwise the goalie stands a good chance of saving.

Next you need to take the penalty kick. You can either hit it hard or soft. Soft shots do work (especially against human opponents) but I always prefer to use hard shots as it makes it harder to save. To take the penalty using a soft shot, just aim and press B. To use a hard shot you need to aim, press B and then just as your player kicks the ball, press B again.

Saving Penalties

This is a pretty tricky thing to pull of and if you save more than 2 penalties in one shootout, you're doing well. Basically to make a save, push a direction on the D-pad and press B to dive. The best way to save a penalty is to have good reactions: wait until you see which direction the ball is going, then make your save. But this can be very hard when the opponent uses a mixture of hard and soft shots. The other way to save a penalty is just to guess. Pick a direction in your mind and as soon as the player hits the ball, dive and hope for the best.

BEATING A HUMAN OPPONENT: There are a few tips you can use in shootouts, when playing against a friend.

• Sneaky Peek: Try to get a sneaky look at where your opponent is aiming, on his controller. Then dive that way to save his shot.
• Hide your pad: Don't let your opponent get a sneaky peek of your control pad.
• Mix it up: Use a mixture of hard and soft shots, this way your opponent might mis-time his saves. Better still, use mostly hard-shots but occasionally hit a soft one and it's almost guaranteed to score.
• Straight down the middle: Occasionally aim your shot straight at the goalie. If your opponent uses the "guessing" method of saving, they will always dive out of the way.

Tournament

There are 2 options when you select a tournament:

• New Game - Start a new tournament.
• Continue - Enter a code, to continue a previous tournament game.

Tournament mode is what Super Soccer is really all about. You play a game against every team (apart from the one that you control) - 15 games in total - to try and become the World Champion. You start off by playing the worst team (Belgium) and work your way up to the best team (Germany). Games in tournament mode always last 10 minutes (2 five-minute halves).

After each game in a tournament you will see a continue code (on the screen where your final score appears). This code is made up of 8 arrows, which represent directions on the control pad. When you select CONTINUE from the main menu you will be taken to a screen which looks like the shootout screen but with 8 circles at the bottom. Enter the code by holding the correct direction and pressing B. If you got it right a player will take a penalty and score it - if you entered it wrong, he will miss.

If you manage to complete the Tournament (ie you beat Germany) you will then be challenged by the NINTENDO team, who play all in black and have by far the best players in the whole game.

If you beat the Nintendo team, then you really have completed the game (well, the Easy mode of the game anyway). After the ending sequence you'll be given a code so that you can unlock EXPERT MODE. Beating the game in expert mode is a lot tougher but when you finally beat the Nintendo team in Expert mode, that's it, you have beaten the game.