Review: Retro Goal (Nintendo Switch)
Sometimes the most fun games are the simplest games. They don’t need fancy graphics, super in-depth controls, or fancy IP’s (like Mario, FIFA, etc…) attached to them. The fun is that they are simple to understand and even more simple to play. Retro Goal falls into this category quite well. It may not look like much, because it isn’t, but the core gameplay is simple and solid enough for a good time. Your enjoyment may vary based on your love of soccer (it’s soccer here in the States, sorry rest of the world!), but there’s a solid game here for anyone to enjoy in Retro Goal.
The simplistic nature of Retro Goal means there’s not much to say about the game, besides saying that you pick a soccer team to control and work your way up the different leagues to be the champion. The catch is that you only take control of the onfield action when your team is on offense. The rest of the action (defense) is told to you through text on screen, which means you never get to see what just happened to your team.
The rest of the game is managing your team. This is surprisingly a little more in-depth than you might think, as you’re responsible for the team’s budget. At first, this seems like a pretty easy task. You can upgrade the field and various facilities. However, if you aren’t careful, you run out of money to sign/resign players back to your team for the next season. It makes you think about what is worth upgrading during the season and what you should hold off on. Again, it’s a rather simple gameplay element that adds to the simplistic soccer matches you play.
That said, Retro Goal’s entire point of being a simple game makes it a game lacking a ton of replayability. I’m not at all a soccer fan, so I got my fill of the game after a few hours. There wasn’t that much new to explore, and I’d experience everything the game had to offer. Plus, with the game only letting you “play” when your team was close to scoring, it made it very hard to care about any of the matches. Some people may absolutely love this style and find it an addicting gameplay loop. I suppose it depends on your enjoyment of the game of soccer.
In the end, Retro Goal is a solid game that does simple soccer well. It’s got a simple control scheme (thanks to its simple gameplay) and offers a surprisingly in-depth management element. Its simplicity is the only negative I can bring out, as you experience everything the game offense incredibly quickly. Your long-lasting enjoyment of this game will likely depend on your love of soccer. If you’re like me and aren’t a big soccer fan there are a few hours of fun to be found in Retro Goal.
