If for some reason you have been praying for an arcade style soccer game, then Sega has answered your prayers. Sega Soccer Slam is somewhat similar to NFL Blitz & NFL Hitz, only Sega Soccer Slam does not hold licenses to real teams. Instead they have come up with 6 off the wall multinational teams and a really fun multiplayer game.

Graphics
The game features a cartoonish style with distinct looks to each team. The look of each team matches that of stereotypes for their country. For instance, the team El Fuego has a player named El Diablo, who closely resembles that of a Mexican wrestler. There are also some nice special effects that are different for each team when they power up. For example, El Fuego are covered by fire and leave a trail of fire when the players power up. The teams also have their own stadiums with lively sprite filled crowds.

The game also runs at a nice 60fps. It plays very smoothly, and times of slow down are rare. The textures aren’t anything to gloat about. They aren’t bad, but they aren’t anything eye popping. The overall presentation is really nice, as the menus are that of high quality.

Gameplay
The game sports 5 different game modes: Quick Start, Exhibition, Quest, Tournament, and Training. The main game mode for single player action is Quest. It's sort of a season mode, but there is no schedule; you choose who you want to play. You play through the Quest mode with one of the 6 teams: El Fuego, Tsunami, Spirit, Toxic, Subzero, or Volton. Every team has 3 players plus a goalie. Each team has one fast girl, one big guy, and one average sized guy. Each of their styles and abilities differs to balance out. The bigger the player, the stronger he is, but slower. The smaller the player the faster he is, but weaker. Each player also has their own taunts that they use after scoring a goal.

The Quest mode does not only contain regular matches, but also packs some bonus challenges. These challenges require you to perfect on certain moves in the game. This helps you learn the controls, which you should be able to pick up on early on in the game. However, the controls are deep enough with techniques to learn and master that you can easily separate people new to the game from veterans of it. By winning matches and successfully beating challenges, you earn cash, which can be used to buy your team power-ups and concept art. Though concept art may not sound that appealing, they contain codes for the game. The power-ups do add some depth to the single player, but not enough to make you come back to Quest mode after you’ve been through it a few times.

The game is more fast paced shooting than strategic passing. You can pass, and you should, but if you do keep passing the ball, it will be taken away. The game is really just stealing the ball by sliding or hitting, taking the ball down the field and passing it, then powering up and shooting the ball into the corner of the goal. It’s not as easy to win as it sounds; it won’t be surprising to see your 4 goal lead turn into a tie game in a matter of a minute.

Sounds
The game features a variety of techno beats and character taunts. The crowd also has some good stuff in the sound department, but the commentary is just not on par with the rest of the game. It features just one commentator, and he often repeats himself…very often. A lot more comments for him would have done nicely for this game.

Replayability
The single player is nice and will last you a little while. You can unlock new stadiums and concept art. The Quest mode is fun to go through once or twice, but the multiplayer is what makes this game a lot of fun to play. You can go through the game cooperatively with another friend, or duke it out with 3 other friends. It’s right up there with Super Smash Brothers Melee and Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2 as an incredibly fun multiplayer game for the Gamecube.

Overall
Overall Sega Soccer Slam is a fun game. The single player experience will last you awhile, but the multiplayer fun will grab you and make you addicted. It is a fun game, and if you can find it, you should definitely make it a part of your Gamecube library if you have 2 or 3 friends to play with.