Introduction:Hot off the big win for team Italy in this years FIFA World Cup we are conveniently having to indulge into more soccer madness with our review of the Sony's Playstation Portables second edition of World Tour Soccer.

The Game:Developed exclusively for the PSP, World Tour Soccer 06' or World Tour Soccer 2 is a fast paced soccer game aimed at providing a fun experience for every level of gamer. The London studio has punched out a solid performance which is more satisfying then last years game. World Soccer Tour has competition with Konami's excellent Winning Eleven series and EA's launch into the portable market, but unlike last year this year Sony can be more proud. World Tour Soccer stands out from the pack with its more casual approach.

House Paint, Flags, and Soccer Fever
World Tour Soccer's timing is flawless this year, although the FIFA world cup is over, it was running strong when WTS 06 (World Tour Soccer) was released. Euro Football has defiantly made an impact this year with the mainstream. Trust me on this one, given all the flag waving and honking horns way into the night, and my Aunts kid painting an Italian flag on her car with house paint, its big. Yes. house paint! The punch line is that they aren't even Italian, or soccer fans. What does all this mean for Sony's World Tour Soccer? Well, hopefully it translates into sales. Given the easy approach, fun gameplay and the current case of soccer fever, Sony's portable Soccer game has a good chance.

Playability
The main appeal to any game should be its playability, and on that note, World Tour Soccer 06 has lots of appeal. The main reason is because the developers spent a good deal of time making the game easy to learn and control. The simple pick up and play factor really helps gamers get into a game quickly, especially new gamers. If you're not used to sports games, or soccer games it can be a little overwhelming at times and the flow of WTS 06 really helps. The controls are nicely mapped on the PSP and I never experienced any problems.

The Modes
The single player mode has the obligatory Quick Play, World Tour mode and Medal Mode to browse over. Quick Play is what you expect; the nice touch is they added a random variant to selecting teams and conditions. So for the quick one two game this works, and it also works if you want a blind chance in conditions you might not be used to. Spontaneity is the key to life, is it not?

The World Tour part of WTS 06 has you running completing over six continents while trying to earn medal points depending on special conditions. It sounds like a lot, but it works out well while you play the game. The points are based achieving simple tasks like number of shots, or passes etc. The flip side to this unique point system is that you can also loose points and if required you will to achieve enough points to win the game. It's probably not the best system to make gamers randomly have to face challenges, but it does get you focusing more on teamwork then the solo approach. If you are really bothered by the random challenges the solution is easy, jump into a quick play match and set up your own game, or just jump into the medal mode and specifically set out to take on challenges.

The third mode in World Tour Soccer 06 is the Medal Mode which also has conditions that you have to match. These conditions build up in difficulty as you play through the eight different matches and can be a bugger to complete. Each match will has ten challenges that have to be met and loosing your composure near the end isn't going to help. The medal mode is interesting because of the arcade style attached to the gameplay and it can be quite fun.

Multiplayer Action
Before I forget on top of the other modes you can engage in multiplayer action over the Ad Hoc wireless connection or the Infrastructure on the PSP. The multiplayer is nicely supported in World Tour Soccer and it even supports gaming sharing which is beautiful. too bad its only one on one against the CPU and not versus. Like all games that aren't super popular you're going to be walking in an empty stadium because not many gamers are hitting up World Tour Soccer 06, just yet. This could all change of course, but when we tried it out, it was a ghost town.

Gameplay Impressions
The gameplay in World Tour Soccer is fresh while still being traditional. Keeping focused, working the corners, grabbing a few interceptions and keep the ball moving will always help you connect more goals. The artificial Intel in WTS isn't overly crazy, so new gamers along with the welcomed control scheme will be able to rock the score board a bit. World Tour Soccer really connects with the causal gamer, and for those die hard fanatics they can simple turn to another franchise like Winning Eleven from Konami.

Graphics
For visuals World Tour Soccer 06' comes up a little weak, although the presentation has a polished look, the in game action looks a little dull. The frame rate is solid so it's understandable that they streamlined the action to run fluid, but the graphics did take a hit. The loading times seemed to be alright, or at least tolerable. It's pretty obvious that the London team spent more time on the gameplay then optimizing graphics which is totally acceptable. Although in the next edition of World Tour Soccer I hope they get back to adding a little more spice with the foundation work being covered.

Lowdown:World Tour Soccer 06 is a good introduction to soccer for new gamers who own a PSP. Other brands might dig a little deeper and become a little to complex for the average consumer, and the fun, quick style of World Tour Soccer is welcomed change. Sony has the basics covered with a good structure laid down with some interesting gaming ideas, and great online support. This second edition of World Tour Soccer is more polished then previously and might just be enough to put Sony's portable soccer game into more homes where it belongs.