Since it was heavily requested I picked up a copy of Eyeshield 21 for the Wii and it arrived earlier today. I haven’t spent too much time playing it, but it is an interesting take on football. The game is actually less interactive than it appears in the videos. You have four offensive options which you cleverly select by pressing one of the four directions on the d-pad. This way when you play against a friend they can’t see if you’re choosing to run or pass. If you run with the ball you pick one of two receivers and you want to pick whoever has the higher green stamina gauge. After that every time you are about to get tackled you have to quickly swipe the remote up, down, left or right. If you move the controller the same direction as your opponent there is a chance they will tackle you and end your run session. If not you keep running until you run out of stamina or get tackled. To make things a little more difficult the time gauge to react decreases and if multiple people are going to block you have less directions to run.
Passing is more interesting. When you choose pass a time gauge appears and you have to point at a receiver before it runs out. After you choose a receiver you need to shake the remote when the marker is in the green gauge to throw the ball. When the ball is in the sky you have to catch it by pointing the remote at the ball as it flies towards you and then press the A button. If you don’t catch the ball the pass will be incomplete. Alternatively if you miss you can fumble the ball. When a fumble happens the camera switches to the ball bouncing around on screen and you have to point and click on it before it stops moving to recover it. Passing has a real advantage over running, you usually get over ten yards with a single pass opposed to six or seven yards when running. Look for more Eyeshield 21 coverage after I dive into the scenario mode and check out some of the mini games. In the meantime enjoy the opening video, which you can see past the break.
