The soccer action itself is substandard. The controls and camera angles are less than ideal and make it difficult to pass and place shots accurately. The artificial intelligence of players on the field is fairly rudimentary, both on the opposing team and on your team. The soccer game itself is a simplified version of real soccer, with fewer players per team, a smaller field, and fairly short time limits. The field is surrounded by a plasma wall that lets players pass through but not balls--in other words, there are no out-of-bounds, no throw-ins, and no corner kicks. In addition, while there is a referee character on the field in every match, there are no penalties.
Players each have different attributes such as speed, dribbling, passing, and shooting, and as you progress through the story mode or unlock new players in the skill zones, you can upgrade your team. In addition to standard dribbling, passing, and shooting, players also have access to two special skill moves, one that lets them sneak by a defender and another that lets them perform an acrobatic overhead kick. The power-ups featured in the game add more options, like superspeed and exploding balls, which can be used when you collect them from the field.
After your team scores a goal, the team really lets loose.
Unfortunately the game is plagued with technical problems as well. On a test system that exceeded the recommended requirements, the game repeatedly slowed down during soccer matches and featured unreasonably long loading times in between matches. While the game does include 3D player models and arenas, instant replays from several angles, and some scripted 3D scenes, most of the scenes in story mode are static illustrations with voice-overs, which makes the long load times seem puzzling. To its credit, the game is colorful and bright and includes a diverse array of recognizable Lego characters and environments. The sound is decent, with appropriate sound effects and music that improve the arcade feel of the game. The voice-overs in between matches also add a European flair to the game, with brief announcer-style comments with a thick British accent.
Soccer Mania is geared toward children, but that doesn't excuse the problems with its controls, loading times, and slowdown. While the game may seem reasonably fun at first and offers an extensive number of options on three difficulty settings, it's unlikely that players of any age will want to play the game for very long.
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