A Retro Kickabout or a Missed Goal?
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the football games market was already huge but continued to grow, full of different brands and licenses. Actua Soccer and Sensible World of Soccer ruled the ’90s. Then there was the war between FIFA and PES, at least until EA took the whole market by storm, establishing an online dominance that effectively killed the competition.
So, it is unusual that in recent weeks we have had two football games coming out that try to offer something different from the usual annual FC cycle. One of them is Rematch, a game that has gone down brilliantly with many, and the other is the cheap and cheerful Football Mini Stars. Let’s kick off.
Old School Charm, New Unlocks
Football Mini Stars feels like a very old-school football title where you could change the names of every player to include your mates, family, and even your dog. The game begins with a short tutorial that involves a mini-game to teach you the controls. You can then get involved with different game modes, with the main one being playing a season with your team to collect coins.
Coins you say? Well yes and the more coins you collect, the more items you can unlock, such as new kits. At first, I thought this might be a game reliant on microtransactions, but that isn’t the case; Football Mini Stars simply uses a coin format for its unlocks.
Getting on the Pitch
My disclaimer before writing this review is that I play a lot of EA Sports FC (previously FIFA), and it can be hard to adapt to the controls of a different football game. However, the controls for Football Mini Stars are quite simple: you walk, sprint, tackle, pass, and shoot. You can also perform trick shots with the press of a button. The tutorial mini-games are a nice touch, offering great little practice modes to hone your skills.
When you are ready for the big leagues, you have several options. You can play a quick match, choosing the teams and strips, or dive into a career mode where you play across multiple seasons with a team you have chosen and designed. There are cups to compete in as well, and if you want to earn more coins, daily quests offer another way to do so.
In these quests, you will have a task, like scoring a hat-trick or editing three players’ names on a certain team. Completing these tasks rewards you with even more coins to spend on unlocking further strips and other items.
Basic Ball Control
Now, the football itself in Football Mini Stars is… basic. The pace is slow, even when sprinting, and you soon learn the tricks needed in order to easily tackle another player. I found myself spending most of my time in the opposing half just trying to score a goal. It’s not as free-flowing as you would now expect a football game to be, which begs the question: apart from the price, what does this game offer that others don’t? I played quite a few matches for this review, but I think I would have stopped a lot earlier if I had purchased it myself.
What is nice is that Football Mini Stars has a cartoonish visual tone, much like titles from the mid-’90s. It has lovely bright colours and a wide variety of kit designs. The main problem I had was the actual design of the players during an 11 vs 11 match. They are designed with big heads that are larger than their bodies, and when you have 22 players on the pitch, it’s hard at times to distinguish who is who.
The sound design is simple but includes all the necessary noises, whistles, and cheers you would expect from a game focused on the beautiful game.
A Budget-Friendly Kickabout for Casual Fans
It’s hard to bring a new football game into the marketplace. Lately, a few have come and failed badly, with even the now free-to-play eFootball (formerly PES) struggling. The advantage that Football Mini Stars has over its rivals is its very cheap price, which ensures that it feels good value for the amount of content included. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a very basic take on football.
Football Mini Stars should be seen as a decent enough game for younger players who want to play, customise their teams, and collect everything. For me, however, it’s not going to drag me away from EA FC 25 quite yet.
Important Links
Forget VAR, Football Mini Stars is PURE Arcade Fun – https://www.thexboxhub.com/forget-var-football-mini-stars-is-pure-arcade-fun/
Buy Football Mini Stars on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/football-mini-stars/9NDB3C75XMVW/0010
