Just over a decade ago there were numerous choices for videogame soccer – along with the FIFA behemoth you also had the upstart ISS Pro Evolution series, Actua soccer, Adidas Power Soccer, Striker Pro 2000, Libero Grande, and many more. Here in 2008 your choices are FIFA, Pro Evo, and FIFA Street – that’s it. Because of the lack of new football franchises I was quite intrigued when I saw Fab 5 Soccer by Destineer listed on EB Games.

Unfortunately, once the novelty of playing a new franchise wears off all that’s left is a shallow 5 on 5 arcade soccer title with very little long-lasting appeal.

Visuals 60/100

For a game that only has to animate 5 players per side, and with no crowd to speak of, it’s pretty damn disappointing just how grainy the visuals in this game are. The game’s resolution is on-par with FIFA 08 for the DS and far behind the crisp graphics found in other games like Phantom Hourglass and Mario 64 DS.

Player models are sparse (you can’t make out any kit details, player builds are identical) and all feature big heads. I’m guessing the reasoning behind the enlarged heads has to do with the arcade-theme of the game and also to show off the likenesses of the licensed players. Unfortunately, this is a moot point as the likenesses are woeful - apart from the hair colour the player faces all look pretty much alike (except for Veron’s goatee). Even on the player selection screen the players bear little resemblance to their real-life counterparts.

Player animations are likewise disappointing with only a small catalog of animations and jerky transitions between them. Another disappointment is the complete lack of TV-style presentation with NO instant replays, crappy player celebrations and no trophy ceremonies.

Fortunately, the graphics aren’t a complete loss as the game sports a solid frame-rate with no slow-down, a neat isometric camera angle and some nice stadiums/grounds. In fact, the five different grounds/playing areas are my favourite aspect of the graphics and range from a parking lot to an actual indoor soccer arena. I also like the fact that different grounds have different goal sizes.

Menus are unspectacular but functional and, as with most DS sports games, the top screen displays the action while the bottom screen is home to player and score indicators.

Audio 30/100

FIFA 08 is the current standard bearer for commentary in DS soccer games and Fab 5 Soccer falls far short of the mark set by EA Sports. There is no commentary whatsoever, no licensed music (the generic tunes are the gaming equivalent of elevator music) and minimal on-pitch sounds.

Options 40/100

Apart from multiplayer there are only two main modes of play in Fab 5 Soccer; Quick Play (exhibition) and Tournament. Unfortunately, there are only three available tournaments; Coach’s Cup, Goalie’s Cup and the Dream Cup. At the beginning of each you pick your team of five players from the 24 available and play a round-robin style tournament against 4 other random teams which culminates in the top 4 entering a play-off.

Because you can start off a tournament with any 5 of the available 24 players there is no sense of ownership or continuity with your teams. Each win buys you training ‘Minutes’ which can then be used to upgrade player abilities but this can only be done between tournaments. Improving a player’s abilities doesn’t involve any sort of mini-game or practice session and it really doesn’t matter whom you’re controlling as the players all play the same.

The 24 available players are a random selection of licensed pros all of whom seem to have some sort of Serie A or La Liga connection. Featured names include Messi (the cover-boy), Crespo, Recoba, Cordoba and Gattuso. It’s a shame that Destineer spent the money licensing these players only to waste it all by featuring crappy likenesses.

Multiplayer features play via local Wi-Fi and also over the internet. Unfortunately, I found it incredibly difficult to find a match and persuading a friend with a DS to buy this game might prove difficult.

Gameplay 50/100

Being a 5 on 5 arcade-style soccer title the controls in Fab 5 Soccer are fairly simple;

D-Pad – Movement

A – Trick Move/Slide Tackle

B – Pass

Y – Trick Move/Slide Tackle

X – Shoot

R – Speed Burst

The shoot button can be held down to charge up the shot, hold it long enough and a chime sounds indicating you can unleash a super shot (complete with vapor-trail). Likewise, holding down the pass button prompts a lobbed pass. The ‘Trick’ moves consist of spins and turns and leave affected defenders frozen for a second (complete with stars spinning around their heads…I kid you not) but these moves can be countered by a swift kick to the knees-er…I mean slide tackle.

On the higher difficultly levels most CPU defenders don’t fall for the trick moves forcing you to make quick passes or sprint around them. Sprinting is neat in that when your sprint-bar runs down to zero your player actually stops running and gets on his haunches trying to catch his breath! I like this as it stops you from constantly spamming the sprint button to get past defenders.

Ball physics are largely canned but I have seen the odd neat deflection that wrong-foots a keeper.

The ball never goes out of bounds (there are walls surrounding each pitch), there are no fouls and the only breaks in the games are after goals and at half-time. As a result the game plays quick end-to-end football with lots of scoring chances. There is a fair variety of goals that can be scored but on the higher difficulty levels most of them will be one-timers when passing across the 6 yard box.

While the gameplay is fun in short bursts it gets old very quickly and the fact that there is little to no perceivable difference in player abilities robs the game of any sense of tactical nuance. Goal-scoring occurs so frequently that there’s not much satisfaction in sticking the ball in the net. Furthermore, on anything but the highest difficulty levels the game is far too easy.

Longevity 40/100

No career mode and only three tournaments. Are you freakin’ kidding me? Having online multiplayer is good in theory but good luck trying to find a game.

Overall 50/100

Fab 5 Soccer isn’t a horrible game but it’s not a particularly good game either. The gameplay is fun in short burst but having only 3 tournaments and no career mode kills the game’s lasting appeal.

While the game is attractively priced at less than $15 (at the time of writing it's $12.99 from EBGames.com ) I still can't recommend this game to even the most die-hard football fan.

Just over a decade ago there were numerous choices for videogame soccer – along with the FIFA behemoth you also had the upstart ISS Pro Evolution series, Actua soccer, Adidas Power Soccer, Striker Pro 2000, Libero Grande, and many more. Here in 2008 your choices are FIFA, Pro Evo, and FIFA Street – that’s it. Because of the lack of new football franchises I was quite intrigued when I saw Fab 5 Soccer by Destineer listed on EB Games.

Unfortunately, once the novelty of playing a new franchise wears off all that’s left is a shallow 5 on 5 arcade soccer title with very little long-lasting appeal.

Visuals 60/100

For a game that only has to animate 5 players per side, and with no crowd to speak of, it’s pretty damn disappointing just how grainy the visuals in this game are. The game’s resolution is on-par with FIFA 08 for the DS and far behind the crisp graphics found in other games like Phantom Hourglass and Mario 64 DS.

Player models are sparse (you can’t make out any kit details, player builds are identical) and all feature big heads. I’m guessing the reasoning behind the enlarged heads has to do with the arcade-theme of the game and also to show off the likenesses of the licensed players. Unfortunately, this is a moot point as the likenesses are woeful - apart from the hair colour the player faces all look pretty much alike (except for Veron’s goatee). Even on the player selection screen the players bear little resemblance to their real-life counterparts.

Player animations are likewise disappointing with only a small catalog of animations and jerky transitions between them. Another disappointment is the complete lack of TV-style presentation with NO instant replays, crappy player celebrations and no trophy ceremonies.

Fortunately, the graphics aren’t a complete loss as the game sports a solid frame-rate with no slow-down, a neat isometric camera angle and some nice stadiums/grounds. In fact, the five different grounds/playing areas are my favourite aspect of the graphics and range from a parking lot to an actual indoor soccer arena. I also like the fact that different grounds have different goal sizes.

Menus are unspectacular but functional and, as with most DS sports games, the top screen displays the action while the bottom screen is home to player and score indicators.

Audio 30/100

FIFA 08 is the current standard bearer for commentary in DS soccer games and Fab 5 Soccer falls far short of the mark set by EA Sports. There is no commentary whatsoever, no licensed music (the generic tunes are the gaming equivalent of elevator music) and minimal on-pitch sounds.

Options 40/100

Apart from multiplayer there are only two main modes of play in Fab 5 Soccer; Quick Play (exhibition) and Tournament. Unfortunately, there are only three available tournaments; Coach’s Cup, Goalie’s Cup and the Dream Cup. At the beginning of each you pick your team of five players from the 24 available and play a round-robin style tournament against 4 other random teams which culminates in the top 4 entering a play-off.

Because you can start off a tournament with any 5 of the available 24 players there is no sense of ownership or continuity with your teams. Each win buys you training ‘Minutes’ which can then be used to upgrade player abilities but this can only be done between tournaments. Improving a player’s abilities doesn’t involve any sort of mini-game or practice session and it really doesn’t matter whom you’re controlling as the players all play the same.

The 24 available players are a random selection of licensed pros all of whom seem to have some sort of Serie A or La Liga connection. Featured names include Messi (the cover-boy), Crespo, Recoba, Cordoba and Gattuso. It’s a shame that Destineer spent the money licensing these players only to waste it all by featuring crappy likenesses.

Multiplayer features play via local Wi-Fi and also over the internet. Unfortunately, I found it incredibly difficult to find a match and persuading a friend with a DS to buy this game might prove difficult.

Gameplay 50/100

Being a 5 on 5 arcade-style soccer title the controls in Fab 5 Soccer are fairly simple;

D-Pad – Movement

A – Trick Move/Slide Tackle

B – Pass

Y – Trick Move/Slide Tackle

X – Shoot

R – Speed Burst

The shoot button can be held down to charge up the shot, hold it long enough and a chime sounds indicating you can unleash a super shot (complete with vapor-trail). Likewise, holding down the pass button prompts a lobbed pass. The ‘Trick’ moves consist of spins and turns and leave affected defenders frozen for a second (complete with stars spinning around their heads…I kid you not) but these moves can be countered by a swift kick to the knees-er…I mean slide tackle.

On the higher difficultly levels most CPU defenders don’t fall for the trick moves forcing you to make quick passes or sprint around them. Sprinting is neat in that when your sprint-bar runs down to zero your player actually stops running and gets on his haunches trying to catch his breath! I like this as it stops you from constantly spamming the sprint button to get past defenders.

Ball physics are largely canned but I have seen the odd neat deflection that wrong-foots a keeper.

The ball never goes out of bounds (there are walls surrounding each pitch), there are no fouls and the only breaks in the games are after goals and at half-time. As a result the game plays quick end-to-end football with lots of scoring chances. There is a fair variety of goals that can be scored but on the higher difficulty levels most of them will be one-timers when passing across the 6 yard box.

While the gameplay is fun in short bursts it gets old very quickly and the fact that there is little to no perceivable difference in player abilities robs the game of any sense of tactical nuance. Goal-scoring occurs so frequently that there’s not much satisfaction in sticking the ball in the net. Furthermore, on anything but the highest difficulty levels the game is far too easy.

Longevity 40/100

No career mode and only three tournaments. Are you freakin’ kidding me? Having online multiplayer is good in theory but good luck trying to find a game.

Overall 50/100

Fab 5 Soccer isn’t a horrible game but it’s not a particularly good game either. The gameplay is fun in short burst but having only 3 tournaments and no career mode kills the game’s lasting appeal.

While the game is attractively priced at less than $15 (at the time of writing it's $12.99 from EBGames.com ) I still can't recommend this game to even the most die-hard football fan.