Sega Soccer Slam
Sega Soccer Slam, also known as simply Soccer Slam, is a sports game released for GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 in 2002.

Gameplay
Sega Soccer Slam is different from traditional sports games in its exaggerated interpretation of soccer. It allows characters to punch one another and eliminates several other rules, such as throw-ins, corner kicks, free kicks, and penalties. Sega Soccer Slam includes an exhibition mode, a challenge mode, a practice mode, a tourney mode, and a quest mode. It also includes two minigames: Hot Potato and Brawl.

Practice mode is a step-by-step instruction of how to play the game, teaching the player maneuvers including steals, passes, shots, dekes, volleys, as well as more complicated moves such as spotlight shot and the killer kick (an incredibly powerful shot that can be accessed when the charge bottom at the bottom of the screen reaches its maximum through doing basic moves). The practice mode is essential for both masters and newcomers to prepare for the exhibition, tourney, challenge and quest parts of the game.

The exhibition mode is similar to that of most other sport games. In it, players are allowed to choose their opponent and team as well as a stadium to play in. They can also play two mini-games with up to four players: Brawl, which is where four of the characters fight against each other, and Hot Potato, a game where passing scores points, but when the ball explodes, anyone in the blast will lose points. Tourney mode is where the player can play in a tournament that lasts for 5 days of each team playing each other at least once through the competition.  Challenge mode is when the player creates a custom team and compete in a series of matches to unlock nine secret characters, but each character can only unlock two secret characters.

Other than the gameplay options said above, Sega Soccer Slam also has a quest mode. In quest mode the player chooses one of the starting six teams and then competes in a series of ten games. Through winning these games the player can accumulate money which can be used to buy character art and power-up items. The character wears each item in order to enhance his or her attributes.

Teams
Team Toxic: Colored mainly green. The team consists of Raine, a Canadian eco-terrorist; Duke, a burly American football player; and Nova, a young Native American who wants to win the championship so that he can aid in making soccer possible on a space station. The characters come from North America and are the best at passes. The Reactor Core located in Las Vegas is their home field.
Team Volta: Mostly clad in yellow. This European team consists of Angus, a Scottish boxer who also plays the bagpipe; Dante, an Italian playboy; and Arsenault (a parody of Arsène Wenger but known as "the grandfather of Thierry Henry"), a sarcastic Frenchman. The team is the best at speed and their home is the Riviera Ruins in Greece.
Team Subzero: A team from northern Europe, clad in white and ice blue, with members Half-Pint, an English soccer hooligan who wants to cause as much chaos on the pitch; Lola, a German raver; and Kiril, a Russian soldier. The team's home field is Alpen Castle located in London, and the team is the best at hitting their opponents.
Team Spirit: Their jerseys and body paint is purple. The main team members include Zari, a soccer star from Nigeria; Kaimani, a laid-back surfer from South Africa; and Djimon, a mysterious shaman hailing from Kenya. The team is based from Africa and is best at high shot combos. Their home field is the Tribal Oasis located in Cape Town.
Team Tsunami: Ocean blue decorates this team. The team's major members are Kahuna, a daredevil from Hawaii; Rumiko, the Japanese geneticist who made Team Robo; and Boomer, an overweight crocodile-wrestler from the Australian Outback; all three hail from the Pacific Rim. The team is notable for their accuracy in shooting, and their home field is the Pacific Atoll located in Tokyo.
Team El Fuego:  In fiery red, El Fuego (Spanish for "The Fire") is composed of Mexican luchador El Diablo, Argentine soccer star Rico with a hat shaped like a soccer ball, and Brazilian capoeira artist Madeira. This Latin American-based team is well balanced as well as very aggressive. Their home field is the Jungle Canopy located in Rio de Janeiro.

There are 3 teams that can be unlocked in the challenge mode:
Team Love: A group of three girls who are clad in pink, consisting of tomboy Marla, prissy Nadia and show-off Petra. They joined Sega Soccer Slam in attempt to meet their idol, Lola. Dante tried to get them to be with him (but ultimately failed) and gave them candy hearts. Through these hearts, the girls were given the "heartbreaking" power of Cupid's warriors. The team is faster than Volta.
Team Robo: Three robots that were made by Rumiko: heartbroken troublemaker Pi, cowboy Diode and super-intelligent Mecha. They were the results of Rumiko's invention of robots with enhanced human emotions that did not come to fruition. Seeing the failure, she tried to destroy the robots but they had already gained invincibility and wanted to turn back on her. All three of them have the same stats, and are better at shooting than Tsunami.
Team Ohm: Wearing gold jerseys, the team consists of former Burmese rebel leader Dakai, Chinese martial arts master Damo, and dizzy Indian soccer-loving chef Jishen. Dakai was secretly practicing alchemy in a dastardly attempt to create an elixir of immortality, and managed to create superhuman powers for his team, but did not tell Jishen or Damo what he had done. The team is similar to team El Fuego, but is more aggressive and has superior shooting abilities.

Reception

The GameCube and Xbox versions received "favorable" reviews, while the PS2 version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. AllGame gave the GameCube original three stars out of five, stating, "Outlandish costumes, ridiculous accents, and goofy expressions are wrapped around an intuitive control scheme that offers players the flexibility to perform a variety of moves, without making them complicated to perform." In Japan, where said original was ported for release on September 26, 2002, Famitsu gave it a score of 27 out of 40.

GameSpot named Sega Soccer Slams PlayStation 2 version the third-best video game of March 2002, and its Xbox version the best Xbox game of September 2002. It won the publication's annual "Best Game No One Played on GameCube" award, and was nominated in the "Best Alternative Sports Game on GameCube", "Best Alternative Sports Game on Xbox", "Best Graphics (Artistic) on Xbox" and "Best Game No One Played on Xbox" categories.

Sega Soccer Slam was also criticized by various sources for its portrayals of characters, viewed by some as highly stereotypical and racist.

References

External links
 

2002 video games
Association football video games
GameCube games
Mobile games
PlayStation 2 games
Sega video games
Video games developed in Canada
Xbox games
Xbox Originals games