Foosball 2012
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| Foosball 2012

Some physical games just aren't meant to be converted into video games. Foosball is one of them, as is evidenced by Foosball 2012 on the PS Vita.

It's a nice enough conversion, but it just really isn't that exciting, and nor will it hold your attention for more than ten minutes.

What's all the Foos about?

For those people (all three of you) who have never played Foosball, it's essentially football on a tiny table, with small 'footballers' attached to metal poles. Turn the poles and the players kick a ball around and hopefully into your opponent's net.

Foosball 2012 shrinks the experience down onto your PS Vita screen, and it does so with style. For such a simple concept, there's great attention to detail in this release, from the environments to the various board types and styles.

The controls feel very life-like. The left stick allows you to shift the ball around when it's in your possession, while the right stick or touchscreen lets you slam the ball.

It all feels intuitive and authentic. The hectic back-and-forth and spinning actions that characterise the physical game are present in this virtual one. There are also special moves that you can earn to give you an advantage.

Foo fighter

The main issue is that Foosball is the kind of game that you play for ten minutes, and that's very much the case here too.

Foosball 2012 features a Tournament mode, whereby you play 20 matches against increasingly difficult opponents. We were already bored after the third opponent.

The only other notable mode is Online Multiplayer, but after searching for games for over an hour we couldn't find a single one.

Lack of content isn't the only issue. The gameplay itself has its problems, and - again - this is largely down to the authenticity of the experience. The fact is, you'll end up randomly knocking the ball around by pawing unmethodically at the screen.

We tried to be tactical for a while, but eventually realised that if you just keep swiping to the right you can beat every AI opponent far more quickly and easily than you can by playing in a deliberate and careful fashion.

Foosball 2012 suffers from the same limitations as the real-life game - repetition, foul play, and overwhelming dullness. The noise and laughter and chaos of the physical version is usually enough make the ten minutes you spend playing it relatively enjoyable. Foosball 2012, for all its authenticity, doesn't have that going for it.

Foosball 2012

Dull, repetitive, and lacking content, Foosball 2012 might get the feel of the physical game right, but it doesn't do much else
Score
Mike Rose
Mike Rose
An expert in the indie games scene, Mike comes to Pocket Gamer as our handheld gaming correspondent. He is the author of 250 Indie Games You Must Play.