Retro Goal review: Arcade soccer excellence

Retro Goal, despite its simplistic design and gameplay, left me enamored with its sheer quality. It's easily the most fun I've had on my Nintendo Switch since finishing Bayonetta 3. And that's saying a lot, considering how much I prefer going out of my comfort zone to try new games and genres. Retro Goal is a very simplistic arcade title that is very much like the old-school soccer games on NES.

As someone who has little to no knowledge of soccer, apart from its basic rules and regulations, I was pleasantly surprised by how good the game felt to play and how easily I got addicted to it.

That said, the title does have a few minor shortcomings. However, this is to be expected with any indie title that has a small development team behind it. Retro Goal is easily one of the best experiences I've had in 2022, along with Bayonetta 3 and Splatoon 3, two of Nintendo's flagship titles. Here are my thoughts on the title.

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Gameplay and aesthetics of Retro Goal are dripping with nostalgia of old NES classics

The gameplay in Retro Goal is fairly simple. You start by picking your team, managing the squad and formation, and getting ready to score a few goals. Due to the lack of officially licensed clubs, the title features fictional teams with some really wacky names, my personal favorite being "Blackpool," an obvious nod to Liverpool F.C.

The clubs on offer in the game (Image via New Star Games)

At the start of every match, the game also presents an optional squad management meta-game. This, while not everyone's cup of tea, is really fleshed-out and addictive. Though I never had any particular interest in Football Manager games, Retro Goal's implementation of the system has made me curious to check those games out.

Retro Goal also offers an admirable tutorial, which is about two to three minutes long. It teaches players the basics and controls of the title while also offering a taste of the game's really cool synthwave-like soundtrack.

What I really liked about the game is its intuitiveness and ease, which makes it a really great title to just pick up and play. Moreover, it requires no in-depth knowledge of soccer.

The simplistic yet visually striking art style. (Image via New Star Games)

While there aren't any multiplayer game modes to speak of in Retro Goal, the single-player campaign mode is pretty robust and offers a really fun, as well as addictive, loop of basic arcade soccer and club management meta-game.

It is very much reminiscent of the single-player campaign in Electronic Arts' FIFA games but much more simplified. Retro Goal also offers a lot of gameplay time, and most of it is really fun. This is surprising, considering the game's asking price.

Retro Goal's presentation, art style, and soundtrack feel straight out of NES days

Retro Goal, as its name suggests, goes for an old-school art style and gameplay presentation. I personally am not a big fan of vintage art styles in games, but I do appreciate it when developers give their own spin to it in their titles.

On the surface, the game looks like any other arcade soccer game you can find on your mobile or the Nintendo Switch eShop. However, the title distinguishes itself by virtue of its very smart use of the retro art style, which enhances the gameplay, in my opinion.

The game, despite featuring a very serious game of football, never takes itself "seriously," which is reflected in its art style. From humorous twists to club names to some really funny gameplay animations, Retro Goal never failed to get a laugh out of me.

The title feels very much like a relic of the old times. The very first time I booted up the game on my Switch, it reminded me of the classic arcade soccer games I used to play on the NES during the weekends. It is very much clear right from the get-go that Retro Goal takes obvious inspiration from offerings like Konami's Hyper Soccer or Nintendo's own Soccer (1985).

The art style and gameplay are very reminiscent of classic soccer games on the NES (Image via New Star Games)

The soundtrack of Retro Goal is no slouch, either. I would be lying if I said the synthwave-like soundtrack did not contribute to my enjoyment of the game. While it's nothing special to speak of, it does add a lot to the overall energy and fun factor of the gameplay.

Few shortcomings

While I thoroughly enjoyed the title, I do have a fair few complaints regarding its technical performance and inability to offer any significant challenge. Although the simplistic gameplay is something that I really appreciated during the first few hours, I was expecting the AI to pose some sort of threat as I progressed in the campaign; however, I was left disappointed.

On the technical front, the game is fairly stable. This is expected, given its simple and lightweight graphical style, which poses little to no stress on the Switch's hardware. I never faced a single instance of the game crashing or my console overheating, even after playing the title for more than three hours. The offering is also very light on battery usage, which is a boon for players who prefer to play their Switch in handheld mode.

That said, I did face a few micro-stutters during my gameplay, which were present in almost every other match that I played. The stutters lasted for just a few milliseconds, but that was enough to interfere with my enjoyment of the game. However, they disappeared during the later stages of the campaign, which makes me believe New Star Games can easily fix this issue with a future patch for the game.