Not to be confused with a Soccer game!
So the game starts, PAY ATTENTION! Which side your char is on in the loading screen is VERY IMPORTANT because it can be a royal pain when you forget which goal is yours! Your pic is on the opposate side of the goal you need to get the ball into. Remember that!
Gameplay is as simple as it comes, dunno how to play soccer? Neather does Nintendo! So they encased a field in an electrical fence, threw a ball in, and saw what happened! Simple. So simple in fact, that there are no rules! Laying on the Y button will tackle your opponants into a squishy pulp and reward you with a spotted ball. It doesn't completely replace just stealing the ball however, as stealing is still more helpful when used correctly, but it's far more satifying to slam into them instead. (Tip: slam princess Peach into the fence, PRICELESS!!!)
The problem with the game though is that it's TOO simple, there's no power meter, no limits, so just get the ball to your team captain and use a powershot. Works every time. My signature Revenge Shot is when they make a goal against me, I start out with the ball! And if you run up into the corner real fast without passing you can get an easy Power Shot in before any computer player notices me. Line up both the green marks, and I gain 2 points whenever they make 1. Sadly, power shots give 2 points, making all other tactic inferrior. Kind of a gamebreaker if you wanna play soccer normally, but you can just turn them off if that's what you prefer.
You unlock secrets by doing certain things a number of times, and getting a gold award for it. The easiest to get would be the Gold Paramedic award! Gained when you send 1000 people to the hospital. Others arn't as amusing, and some are quite difficult to get. (like the Perfect Pass, turn powershots off if you wanna try for this one)
Multiplayer is the same as Single player, when the teams are chosen it shows all the controlers that are currently plugged in at the middle of the screen, and a team to eather side. Obviously durring the tourny's, you can only move to the side of your own team, but in other matches you can split all the characters up however you want. 2v2 is best, because 3 or 4 people on one team can make cooperation impossable. Normally what we do is my friend gets the team captain and I just get the ball to him, then while he lines up for a powershot I get to work killing anyone that comes within half a soccer field of him. It's great fun as you can emagin. Bwahahaha
Replay value will eather be medium-high if you like the sort of thing, or rather low if you're more of an RPG fan. It's played similerly to Smash Bros, story mode is just a tournament scoreboard with matches against everyone. Still, not a bad title to consider, just try not to play it for long stretches to keep it from getting boring on you.