Metacritic Games

World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 (Xbox)

Winning Eleven 9 features full team rosters and official kits for all clubs playing in the Italian Serie A, Spanish La Liga and Dutch Eredivisie leagues, and also some of the world's biggest clubs from famous European leagues. New additions include English champions Chelsea and runners-up Arsenal, while the 'Old Firm' Scottish clubs of Rangers and Celtic will also be included. Norwegian Champions Rosenburg will also be joined by Portuguese giants FC Porto, Turkey's Galatasaray SK, Denmark's FC Kopenhagen, Ukraine's Dynamo Kiev, and Djurgarden from Sweden. With the online option, players from around the country can go head-to-head, using Master League teams if they choose. Online players can even qualify and play in tournaments they put together themselves. Winning Eleven's already-deep Master League mode has been tweaked, primarily when it comes to player conditioning. A new training system adds more depth while player development has more variation than ever before, giving virtual managers more ways to build their team for success. A series of all-new features includes additional formations to be employed on the pitch - such as "Wing Back" and "Second Striker." Additionally, those who have mastered the previous versions' harsh weather including rain and scorching heat, will have an all-new obstacle from Mother Nature to overcome: snow. In the freezing cold, players can actually see their breath as they fight conditions down the frozen field. Rounding out the new features in Winning Eleven 9 is the Memorial Match, which allows gamers to save results from non-AI "VS." matches. Cumulative match records and winning points can be logged for up to 20 people. [Konami]

Konami
Sports, Soccer
Players: 8
E (Everyone)
Developer: Konami Tokyo
Released February 7, 2006

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

89 / 100

Critic Reviews

95	WHAM! Gaming It’s so realistic it makes me want to drivearound my block blasting the horn til' midnight.
94	Gamer 2.0 Hardcore fans will enjoy this game immensely, but casual fans will likely find WE9 too difficult. Even though the game is not for everyone, it is still the best soccer game to date.
93	eToychest Winning Eleven is the single most realistic soccer game ever produced.
93	GameZone This is as close to a complete package you can get.
92	Xbox Solution It has that feeling of being more realistic and a wider range of controls.
91	Gaming Age There is no comparison; World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 is the best soccer game to date.
91	Game Revolution Though the tweaks are mostly small, they're just enough to keep this star a header above the rest.
91	GameSpot Winning Eleven 9 plays an incredibly realistic game of soccer and is the first game in the series to support online play.
91	Team Xbox There’s so much to love about Winning Eleven 9 it’s almost a shame that it’s such an aesthetically unattractive package. Once you dig a bit deeper and get past the crummy music and lackluster visuals and presentation you’ll find one of the best sports games of the year.
90	GameSpy With the addition of online gameplay to the best soccer engine in the world, Winning Eleven 9 is worth a purchase, but it still somewhat feels like the American release of last year's "Winning Eleven 8: Live Wire" more than its own standalone game.
90	Cheat Code Central The controls are more responsive and as a result you will actually use less combinations of buttons and the sticks to make your moves.
90	Maxim Online Konami's annual soccer franchise, which has scored in the past for its slick controls, wads of teams, and shin-splintin' graphics, returns to the field to affirm its ball-kicking dominance.
89	Next Level Gaming A game that has no rival in the Soccer world. It's better than FIFA, and it's even better than FIFA Soccer for the Xbox 360.
88	IGN A gem of a soccer title, but it feels like "Winning Eleven 8 Online"...WE9 is still the undisputed champ of videogame soccer. You'll laugh; you'll cry; you'll scream "GOAL" until you go blue in the face. It's that fun.
85	Game Informer Still a very well-honed title that never fails to get my blood going, but I think a jump to next-gen for the series could be just the boost that this franchise needs. [Feb 2006, p.103]
85	Official Xbox Magazine Any game that has seen nine iterations must have either required a phenomenal amount of improvement or honed a hugely successful formula. Chalk up this new Winning Eleven in the later category. [Mar 2006, p.74]
85	Stuff The series' trademark superb gameplay is, as usual, on point. And this year, you can actually take your football team online.
85	Extreme Gamer The main bonus to picking up number nine is to go online, talk smack, and take on people across the continent. Not going online? Well then I'd say you could get by with Winning Eleven 8 until they announce a next-gen version.
80	Electronic Gaming Monthly You know a soccer title is doing it right when a match can end in a scoreless tie and you've had as much fun as when you've lit up the scoreboard. And this is in large part due to WE9's A.I., which plays such a smart brand of footy that it continually keeps you on your toes.