If you want manga pages to explode onto your phone in a burst of action while fondly looking back on the World Cup, you’ll probably want to check out Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team, available on the GameCenter.

Based on the Captain Tsubasa manga of the same name, this game lets you build a team of characters, as you play through the game’s story and even challenge other players to make your football club the strongest around.

The Legend Of Sports Manga

Look, if you’re into sports anime there’s no way you haven’t heard about Captain Tsubasa- it’s one of the premier stories of its genre, following the adventures of Oozora Tsubasa as he strives to be the number one football player. Now, almost 40 years later, it’s still one of the first stories anyone will think of when you mention sports anime.

In Dream Team, you’re able to construct teams of all the best Captain Tsubasa characters. These range from characters like Tsubasa to players from other teams as well, like Ramon Victorino and my personal favourite, Carlos Santana.

I really like that the game so flawlessly recreates the style of the manga. What I thought were static 2d images from the manga actually turned out to be 3d models, emulating Takahashi-sensei’s art style. If you look at it closely enough you can even see the paper texture, looking straight out of the source material.

You’ll need to fill out all the positions for your team, which you can do by doing Transfers- this the game’s gacha mechanic, letting you pull for more characters. Aim for the SSR characters- Tsubasa’s Drive Shot is sure to give your team the edge it needs, on top of just looking incredibly cool!

Another great example for this would be Santana’s New Brazil Football. Unlike the other special skills which only feature the character using the move, Santana’s calls in the rest of the team too, putting together a truly cinematic experience worthy of the manga.

Battling It Out On The Pitch

I especially love making complete shots in the dark- following your dramatic shot, the game will play a short animation for each player trying to intercept it. It fills me with complete glee as players all dive to intercept my next big shot, only to fail horribly and drive it straight into the net for a goal worthy of the FIFA greats themselves.

Once the match starts getting serious, you’ll want to activate Fullpower Football. This greatly enhances the performance of your players, improving things like giving you more Crits when you try to pass the ball or block opponents

Proper use of Fullpower Football has given my Tsubasa just what he needs to score another goal, while the enemy’s own use of it has even watched them almost catch up to my score lead. Be sure to use it wisely!

The game even lets you assign how much of it you want to control, so you can experience the game your way. It’s a great way to cater to the different types of fans who might be playing Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team.

World Cup Fever Never Has To End

Captain Tsubasa Dream Team is a great game to play right now, as everyone basks in the high of the FIFA World Cup. Even if you weren’t a big fan of the manga or anime, it’s simply just a great football game. You can even customise your team’s kit, having all your players look the same instead of having the common gacha game problem of mismatched units.

There’s also the game’s excellent atmosphere too- the developers have really thought about how to make Dream Team feel like football, with every manner of interaction in this game. Rather than just being a binary pass/fail on intercept checks, you can even have outcomes like the ball grazing someone, slowing it down.

Considering how inspired I was watching Mbappe score hat tricks and still lose on penalties, it’s great to see that there are football games on the GameCenter that really feel like football, while still remembering to be fun.

You can even take this desire to be better at football online- the game features pvp modes, such as the League mode where you need to defeat other teams for points. It’s a great way to get additional rewards, and more importantly just flex your team to the other players as your own team climbs to the top of the league.

Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team really is one of the best football experiences you can get on mobile right now, with its amazing visuals and inspired gameplay. It’s available on the GameCenter, so make sure to download it and build your iconic team of football legends-in-the-making.