Adidas Power Soccer FAQ version 2: The 'Is he dead?' edition
New:
Proper club names for English and German leagues (anyone care to do
France?)
Tips on free kick shots
The goalie bounce
Bugs & quirks section
CONTROLS.
mode A
With the ball:
Cross ( X ) = short (ground level) pass
Square ( [] ) = long (lobbed) pass
Triangle ( /\ ) = Jump over tackles
Circle ( () ) = Shoot.
Without the ball
Cross ( X ) = Tackle
Circle ( () ) = Two footed tackle
Mode B
With the ball:
Cross ( X ) = Shoot.
Square ( [] ) = Jump over
Triangle ( /\ ) = Long (high) pass
Circle ( () ) = short (low) pass
Without the ball
Cross ( X ) = Tackle
Circle ( () ) = Two footed tackle
L1 = move camera angle
R1 = go to player nearest ball
L2 = Aftertouch left
R2 = Aftertouch right
The after touch is not as pronounced in either mode as it is in some
games. If you take a free kick just outside the penalty area, the
aftertouch will bend the ball about half way across the goal.
There are certain aspects to the use of these controls which must be
noticed. Firstly, APS includes a one touch 'buffering' feature. For
example, do a ground level pass and before it arrives press the same
again. When the player receives the ball he will immediately pass it
on. Likewise, pressing shoot before the pass arrives will do a
standard volley. Furthermore, standard techniques can be applied to
high passes as headers. If no action is taken on receiving a high
pass, the player will chest the ball down. However, if pass and a
direction are pressed the player will head the ball down in that
direction. Again, pressing shoot in this situation (and pressing
towards the goal) will do a more powerful header as an attempt to
score. The key to this aspect is timing. Too late and the attempt will
not be registered, too early and your player will do what I have
christened the 'plank' move - i.e. they stand where they are and are
knocked down by the ball.
Special Moves
NOTE: All of these moves with the exception of Hand ball, Push, Nudge
and Karate Kick are available both in Arcade and Simulation modes.
However, in simulation mode the effects are much less pronounced. For
example a predator shot CAN be done in simulation mode, and while
being a more powerful shot than the standard shot, will not knock the
goalkeeper over to score like the arcade predator will, nor does it
have the fiery trail.
These are APS's super moves, all of which are activated by pressing
two buttons together. Each action takes some amount off the red bar
attatched to each player, and when the red bar is completely empty, NO
special moves can be performed. Before the '/ is with control A,
after it with control B if they are different (mostly they aren't).
Most of the special moves are demonstrated in the intro (athough you
have to do well to spot some of them), so it's worth watching for that
at least.
There are four 'states' a controlled player can be in, and the
state defines the exact nature of the move involved. There is one
excption to this..
All states
[]+() / X+() : Super run - the player runs much quicker than
normal pace, leaving a trail of blue sparks in Arcade mode. This burns
the red bar VERY quickly, and is best saved for short bursts to run
onto passes played into space, or to catch an opposing striker for a
last ditch tackle. This is the only super move that requires the
buttons to be held down. Also, the move WON'T activate if your
controlled player is off the screen. They will run at normal speed
until they become visible, then the super run will activate.
State 1: In possession
X+[] / : Back Heel - The player stops dead and hits the ball
with the heel of his foot, knocking it back in the direction he has
come. This is useful if you find yourself in a gaggle of defenders, or
want another player to attempt a volley. As an act of ultimate
contempt, you can run into your opponents penalty area, turn round and
backheel the ball into the net. Sometimes it works...
X+/\ / []+/\ : Predator Shot - The most talked about feature of
APS, this is a super hard shot that, in Arcade mode, sets the ball on
fire and leaves a trail of orange sparks (cf. The new Nike ad). If
this is used anywhere the opponents part of the pitch, three
possibilities may occur -
a) The goalie will block it, but will be on the ground and
remain there for a couple of seconds. Possibly another player
may be able to follow up.
b) The goalie will tip the ball over the bar , and you will have
a corner.
c) The goalie will take the ball in his chest, stagger backwards
and fall over. The ball will roll over him into the goal. Watch
the intro for a good example of this.
/\+() / : Overhead Flick - The player uses his heel to flick
the ball up over his head from behind to land in front, followed by
blue sparkles in Arcade mode. This is the ideal move for avoiding
tackles, as it seems no matter how well the tackle is timed it will
not get the ball if this move is in progress. However, this move has
one serious drawback - you don't retain possession of the ball
afterwards. If you change direction while the move is in progress, you
will leave the ball behind. This also means that if the ball lands on
the foot of an opponent they will take it off you without having to
tackle you, which can make you look a bit daft.
State 2: Not in possession (i.e. chasing the ball)
X+[] / : Karate Kick - The player leaps forward with a leg
outstretched in front, with a trail of yellow sparks in Arcade mode.
If this connects with an opponent it will knock them flying (ball or
not) and most but not all of the time it will get the opposition a
free kick. It's a risky move, but it's great fun in a multiplayer
game.
X+/\ / []+/\ : Push - the player shoves an opponent with both
hands, knocking them over. Again, will mostly be called as a foul, but
not always (depends largely on the referee setting).
/\+() / : Nudge - a more subtle version of the push. if you run
up behind a player with the ball and use it, it will stop them in
their tracks and you can carry on with the ball. This is one of the
hardest moves in the game, as it requires pretty good timing or you
get nothing. It seems much less likely to be called as a foul than the
push.
State 3: Receiving High (lobbed) pass
X+/\ / []+X : Bicycle kick - how to explain this? the player turns
to face away from the direction to kick, jumps up in the air in a
somersault and kicks the ball when upside down. In arcade mode this
has the force of a predator shot. It does ground the player who does
it for a few seconds. The most sure fire way of scoring involves this
move.
/\+() / : Handball - The player leaps into the air and, covered
by an attempt to head the ball, handles the ball into the goal
(hopefully). This is the move that seems to get called up as a foul
more than any other, but when it does come off it's a real killer in a
multiplayer game.
State 4 : Receiving low (ground) pass
X+/\ / []+X : Diving Header. The player backs off to give himself
room, then dives at the ball powering it towards the goal. This has
power comparable to a predator shot, but is best used inside the
penalty area. A low cross into the goal followed by this move is one
of the more elegant ways of scoring in APS.
[]+X / : Juggle. The player receives the ball and plays 'keep up'
with it, using feet and head to keep the ball off the ground for a
good 10 seconds. Finally, the player unleashes a predator shot towards
the goal. While this move looks excellent (watch the end of the intro
for a version) it's next to useless in any competitive game. Why?
Simply because there is no way to force the player to shoot before the
sequnce is complete, and the player is not invulnerable to tackles in
the meantime. Thus, you will always get tackled LONG before the shot
comes off. A pity, as the ability to shoot when you wish would have
made this a valuable move.
/\+() / : Predator Volley. - Simliar to a predator shot (it looks
identical once kicked) but a lot more difficult to pull off, and
therefore has a much better 'stick one on your mates' value in
multiplayer games. The move itself is simple to pull off, but
threading a low pass through the opposition so your striker can plant
one of these into the net is a difficult task. This gives the move
(IMHO) much more value than the predator shot. Note it will NOT work
if you pass the ball from behind the player attempting the shot.
Therefore the best way to do it is probably to cross from near the
corner flag with a low pass, and crack one in with this.
HIDDEN CODES:
The only genuine hidden code found so far is to enable female
commentators.
To do this, perform the following steps..
1) During a match, press SELECT to call up the options menu.
2) Go to AUDIO
3) Go to COMMENTARY
4) Hold down () + [].
If you press left/right, you should now have options for female
commentators in each language. I can only understand the English
commentary, but in summary it might be said that does not display a
hugely detailed knowledge of the beautiful game, but it IS amusing. My
favourite so far is the comment when a player is left rolling in agony
on the floor - 'Is he dead??'.
The other minor code is one which has no use in the game at all as far
as I can tell other than to waste time. When the goalie has the ball
press the 'jump over' key to make him bounce the ball.
CHEESY GOALS:
The first easy (and most likely to get small snack food items thrown
at you in a multiplayer game) way to score is as follows..
1) Get a free kick just inside the opponents half - say, just his
side of the centre circle. 2) Do a long pass to one of your front
players 3) Before the ball arrives, hold do a bicycle kick. I
estimate 70-80% of the time this move will score. Of couse, it only
works a few times before your forwards get low on red bar energy and
stop it working.
The second way is somewhat of a classic in football video games - the
'speculative lob'. Basically, anywhere inside the centre circle, press
high pass towards the opponents goal. This will either do a standard
pass, or, if no player is in front of you, will lob the ball towards
the goal. If the ball bounces in or around the 'D' of the penalty
area, the goalie will make a complete mess of it and it will go over
his head into the net. I suppose, since a famous European cup-winners
cup extra time win, this could be called 'The David Seaman'.
PENALTIES
Saving
Saving penalties is relatively straightforward - press left or right
or don't press. As far as I can tell, anything else you do makes no
difference.
Taking
Taking penalties is also relatively straightforward, but you must pay
attention to the power bar. In this case it's a bit misnamed, because
it seems nothing to do with shot power. What it seems to define is the
height of the kick. If you put about 25% 'power' in, you will shoot
low. If you put between 50-75% power in, you will shoot high. Anything
over that will put the ball over the bar. Left and right go to the
corners, no direction is in the middle.
FREE KICKS
The standard attempt to curl a free kick over the defensive wall when
you get one just outside the penalty area is actually quite difficult
in APS. It relies on an undocumented feature, that pulling down on the
controller will lift the ball. So the process of taking the free kick
goes something like this.
1) Point the player so the shot will pass to the side of the wall.
2)Before you press shoot hold 'down' and one of the aftertouch buttons.
You seem to have to hold these down for at least a couple of seconds
3) Press 'shoot'
4) As soon as the ball crosses over the wall, let go of 'down'. The ball
should start to dip.
If your timing is just right it should go in the top corner. If you
hold 'down' for too long, it will either go over or hit the bar. If
you let go too early the goalie will save it or it will hit the wall.
You can of course point at the corner and not bother with the curl,
but they seem to get saved more. The distance the wall is from you is
also a factor, the further the better.
PROPER CLUB NAMES
Why Psygnosis didn't just give you the option to edit & save the team
and player names I don't know (actually, I have a few theories, but
anyway). Nevertheless, given strip colours and joke player names, you
can identify which teams are which, so you can support your local team
if you wish. Teams not mentioned have accurate names.
English League
Manchester = Manchester United
Newcastle = Newcastle United
London Highbury = Arsenal
Blackburn = Blackburn Rovers
Villa = Aston Villa
Middlesbrough = Middlesborough
Leeds = Leeds United
Tottenham = Tottenham Hotspur
Nottingham = Nottingham Forest
Sheffield Sunday = Sheffield Wednesday
Manchester Maine = Manchester City
Bolton = Bolton Wanderers
Coventry = Coventry City
Queens Park = Queens Park Rangers
Sheffield = Sheffield United
Leicester = Leicester City
Ipswich = Ipswich Town
Wolverhampton = Wolverhampton Wanderers
German League
Dortmund = Borussia Dortmund
Munchen = FC Bayern Muenchen
MRhoGaldbach = Borussia Moenchengladbach
Leverkusen = Bayer Leverkusen
Hamburg = Hamburger SV
Hansa Rostock = FC Hansa Rostock
Stuttgart = VfB Stuttgart
Schalke = FC Schalke 04
Munmchen 1860 = TSV Muenchen 1860
KRhoLautern = 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Uerdingen = KFC Uerdingen 05
Karlsruhe = Karlsruher FC
Dusseldorf = Fortuna Duesseldorf
Koln = 1.FC Koeln
Freiburg = SC Freiburg
Frankfurt = Eintracht Frankfurt
St Pauli = FC St. Pauli
Bochum = VfL Bochum
Duisburg = MSV Duisburg
Berlin = Hertha BSC Berlin
Wattenscheid = SG Wattenscheid 09
SOMEONE CALL PSYGNOSIS (or, bugs & other wierdnesses)
1) The English club Blackburn Rovers play in a split blue & white
shirt. When you use up & down to zoom in and out in the replay, the
colours swap over on the shirt at a certain level of 'zoom'.
(c) Jonathan White (jw4@bolton.ac.uk) 1996 with help from Ulrich
Steppberger (ulrich.steppberger@public.uni-augsburg.de)
----------------------------------------------
'And I love what we are but I hate what I am
And I wanna be like you but I hate when you're like them'
Maria McKee 'What Else you Wanna Know'
BWFC Unofficial Home Page http://www.sar.bolton.ac.uk/bwfc
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