Soccer Slam for GameCube

The central mode is Quest, a 10-match journey to something called the Continental Cup. Earn cash by winning and doing well in the mini-challenges along the way, then visit the Soccer Shop for merchandise like Dukes Supestar Shin Pads: Enhances Stealing. Betcha can not get those on eBay. Soccer Slam also offers an enjoyable Practice Mode and a round-robin Tourney. Exhibition Mode gives you a choice of opponents, stadiums and weather conditions. There are also nine stadiums -- six must be unlocked -- and three difficulty levels. To ensure theres never a dull moment, Sega halved the size of the field and reduced the squads to three players, plus a CPU-controlled goalie. One glance at a players cartoony physique tells you what their strengths and weaknesses are -- for example, each teams finessing female is invariably a deft passer but a feeble striker. Other developers blab about pick-up-and-play, but here Sega delivers the goods, big-time. Minimize