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Tactics versions of traditional genres have long been a welcome addition to the roster, from Final Fantasy Tactics to R-Type Tactics, giving a new spin on the usual gaming fare. Here comes Ganbare (Japanese for perseverance) Super Strikers to give a slightly more tactical approach to soccer, but not in the usual Football Manager yelling-from-the-touchline way.
Instead, your team, Toshima, plays a series of games, needing to win each one to go through the story mode and win the National Cup. Over the games, players develop skills, can get better kit and boost their stats to compete with the players of the better teams.
As boss, you can change the formation, sub players in and out, and during the game decide each players' moves. They can move twice per go, with tackling, passing, dribbling and shooting options in the mix, depending on who has the ball and where your team mates are scattered across the grid on the pitch.
There are three objectives per game to spice things up, scoring x goals, keeping a clean sheet and so on, with better items as a reward. But, mostly you just need to pummel the opposition with well-timed tackles and the keen senses of a fox in the box.
You can move the ball around in the space will open passes, but anytime it goes near an opponent, they can intercept, based on their stats or skills. The same goes for trying to push forward through a square adjacent to a rival player, so you need to master the stats take advantage of your strengths/their weaknesses.
And, then it is their turn where they will try and do the same to you. A poor tackle, and your player is left in a heap for the rest of that turn. While some skills can send players to sleep for a couple of turns, leaving flanks wide open, or worst of all, a glaring gap down the middle for a striker to belt one past the goalie. (who is automated, you have no control over them).
During half time, it is a wise move to check your team members' stamina, as if they run out of steam toward the end of the match, they could grind to a halt during a key passage of play. And, as the clock runs down, each turn, you'll only get a few goes on goal to make sure of victory.
Playing a few games to learn the ropes is also useful, that way you can note the additional benefits, like even if you miss a tackle, if you do it in the right direction, you can put a body between the ball and the goal to have an extra chance to block a shot.
Win through the National Cup and your open up an international series, with quick matches that offer turn-based multiplayer, tournaments and leagues if you want to stretch things out. But would you? The mechanics of the RPG system feel a bit clunky, more random than tactical, and after a few games I was getting bored with the repetition, with the added tricks and kit doing little to up the excitement.
It is easy enough to figure out how to win (tip: ignore defending) to hoover up lose balls and volley your opponents into submission, then kick the ball into an empty corner to wind down the clock. Still, Ganbare is definitely something different for Vita owners being fed a diet of platform puzzlers, so do give it a go, but I think there's a better game struggling to get out of the substitute's dugout.
Developer Rese/Ratalaika
Price: £8.99 (PSN)
Score: 7/10
Progress: Won some, lost interest,
Tactics versions of traditional genres have long been a welcome addition to the roster, from Final Fantasy Tactics to R-Type Tactics, giving a new spin on the usual gaming fare. Here comes Ganbare (Japanese for perseverance) Super Strikers to give a slightly more tactical approach to soccer, but not in the usual Football Manager yelling-from-the-touchline way.
Instead, your team, Toshima, plays a series of games, needing to win each one to go through the story mode and win the National Cup. Over the games, players develop skills, can get better kit and boost their stats to compete with the players of the better teams.
As boss, you can change the formation, sub players in and out, and during the game decide each players' moves. They can move twice per go, with tackling, passing, dribbling and shooting options in the mix, depending on who has the ball and where your team mates are scattered across the grid on the pitch.
There are three objectives per game to spice things up, scoring x goals, keeping a clean sheet and so on, with better items as a reward. But, mostly you just need to pummel the opposition with well-timed tackles and the keen senses of a fox in the box.
You can move the ball around in the space will open passes, but anytime it goes near an opponent, they can intercept, based on their stats or skills. The same goes for trying to push forward through a square adjacent to a rival player, so you need to master the stats take advantage of your strengths/their weaknesses.
And, then it is their turn where they will try and do the same to you. A poor tackle, and your player is left in a heap for the rest of that turn. While some skills can send players to sleep for a couple of turns, leaving flanks wide open, or worst of all, a glaring gap down the middle for a striker to belt one past the goalie. (who is automated, you have no control over them).
During half time, it is a wise move to check your team members' stamina, as if they run out of steam toward the end of the match, they could grind to a halt during a key passage of play. And, as the clock runs down, each turn, you'll only get a few goes on goal to make sure of victory.
Playing a few games to learn the ropes is also useful, that way you can note the additional benefits, like even if you miss a tackle, if you do it in the right direction, you can put a body between the ball and the goal to have an extra chance to block a shot.
Win through the National Cup and your open up an international series, with quick matches that offer turn-based multiplayer, tournaments and leagues if you want to stretch things out. But would you? The mechanics of the RPG system feel a bit clunky, more random than tactical, and after a few games I was getting bored with the repetition, with the added tricks and kit doing little to up the excitement.
It is easy enough to figure out how to win (tip: ignore defending) to hoover up lose balls and volley your opponents into submission, then kick the ball into an empty corner to wind down the clock. Still, Ganbare is definitely something different for Vita owners being fed a diet of platform puzzlers, so do give it a go, but I think there's a better game struggling to get out of the substitute's dugout.
Developer Rese/Ratalaika
Price: £8.99 (PSN)
Score: 7/10
Progress: Won some, lost interest,
Currently playing on my Vita/PS4/PS5
