Winning Eleven 6: Final Evolution

Win the Master League!

JP release: 30th January 2003
EU release: N/A
NA release: N/A
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
NGC Magazine: N/A
Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

Konami were pretty absurd when it came to football games on the GameCube, as each region had their own football game. In Europe there was International Superstar Soccer, North America had MLS ExtraTime and Japan had Winning Eleven. And that doesn’t even include Konami’s turn-based football game, Captain Tsubasa.

That said, Winning Eleven wasn’t entirely exclusive to Japan. On the PS2 in Europe, Winning Eleven 6 was known under a rather popular name: Pro Evolution Soccer 2. This “final evolution” version is an enhanced version of that game.

In terms of how Pro Evo 2 and ISS 2 stack up, the general consensus seems to be that Pro Evolution is the much better game, although ISS isn’t bad. Winning Eleven definitely felt different, with far smoother movement but less focus on passing. As I just crave the simplicity of FIFA 98, I can’t really tell the intricacies of these football systems, but it’s still a lot of fun.

Fun

Winning Eleven 6 Final Evolution is an stunning soccer game and an incredible improvement over WE6 and PES2 on which this is based. The finely-honed gameplay is the best it’s ever been. The improvements are small, but they are exactly the kind of ones that have required hundreds of hours worth of testing and feedback. Compare this to PES2 and you will be amazed at the many improvements. There’s very few niggles, but for experienced players, the game is a bit too easy in it’s Master League mode and in general, even at the highest difficulty setting. Still, great stuff from the development team.
Thomas, IGN

Remake or remaster?

Konami need to look back at this era of their football games.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Winning Eleven 6.