eFootball 2022 was the last Konami football game I had played prior to this review. I’m sure the game is in a much better state nowadays, but back when it first launched, it stank. It was a disaster, the kind of game that completely tarnished the reputation of a once flawless sports franchise. When I first heard of Konami deciding to release an eFootball entry for the Switch 2, I just thought it was going to be a port of their current F2P offering. Upon finding out that eFootball Kick-Off was actually focused on offline play (but it does feature online multiplayer), with exclusive modes, and a completely different structure, curiosity took over. I gave the game a go, and I’m glad I did. It’s still a bit flawed, but this felt like an older Winning Eleven game from back in the day. And that is some high praise.

Looks passable, runs like a dream, controls are smooth.

Mechanics-wise, it is a fixed version of the original iteration of the “modern” eFootball released a few years ago. It’s a lot more fluid and responsive, less heavy, a bit more arcadey. I’d say it more closely resembles the gameplay of older Winning Eleven / Pro Evolution Soccer, with better physics and realism, of course. It’s not a visually impressive game, but it runs at a sublime 60fps at all times on the Switch 2. Granted, the overall lack of licences in nearly all teams reduces visual fidelity and realism, but that is something that has always plagued Konami’s football games. There’s nothing new in this front… with the exception of the lack of an editor to let me, at the very least, fix the stupid team names in question. But all in all, it’s a solid foundation, gameplay-wise.

Legends.

eFootball Kick-Off has online modes, quick play options and some extra competitions to play, but its main mode is a really neat invention that is exclusive to this version. In essence, you start off with a slightly mediocre team comprised of the classic Winning Eleven Master League players: folks such as Minanda, Ivarov, Huylens, and the legendary Castolo. You select a competition, and start playing matches in it. For every single win, you can select a player from the losing side, and add it to your squad.

It’s not an exact copy of old-school Master League, but it certainly FEELS like it. Win matches, get new players, get extra currency to afford a plethora of additional players (some of them being players from the 90s and 2000s), turn your little scrappy team into an absolute powerhouse. In any other format, be it PC or console, eFootball Kick-Off would have been tremendously lame. But I tested the game whilst on vacation, playing the Switch 2 on nine hour long flights across the ocean. This specific mode, and this specific game, they were responsible for drastically shortening the duration of these flights. It’s a mode that works really well in short bursts, on a portable system.

“Pass to me! I won’t score a damn thing, but pass to me regardless!”

I don’t mind that eFootball Kick-Off is a smaller, slightly stripped-down version for the Switch 2, as it actually takes advantage of the system’s portability with more arcadey, “pick up and play” modes that feel like a match made in heaven for the console. It runs well, controls decently enough, and has enough content to keep you busy for a while, though this is the perfect case of a game that is best suited in smaller, twenty minute sessions at a time. Sure, it is a bummer that I can’t edit team names, and the lack of licences is still annoying after all these years, but the core elements of the game are great, and that’s what really matters. It’s one of the best sports titles available on the Switch 2 so far.

eFootball Kick-Off is available now on Switch 2.

Reviewed on Switch 2.

A copy of eFootball Kick-Off was provided by the publisher.