Pocket Foosball

Genre: Sports (Foosball)

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in 15 in 1 Family Games Mega Collection along with 2048 Battles, Adrenaline Rush – Miami Drive, Airborne Grannies, Bubble Cats Rescue, Classic Games Collection Vol. 1, Classic Games Collection Vol. 2, Flowlines VS, Go! Fish Go!, Go Kart Mania, Jet Ski Rush, Klondike Solitaire, Ludomania, Pet Shop Snacks, and Quick Golf.)

Pocket Foosball, released on Nintendo Switch in 2023, is a videogame that seeks to simulate the experience of playing Foosball, that tabletop game you’d see in bars, arcades, and other entertainment venues, where two players control a color-coded team of players on what is more or less a Soccer field using rods strewn throughout the table.

The presentation here is pretty poor, with 3D tables and backgrounds that are poorly-constructed and lacking in personality. The game gives players three choices of themes for their table (standard, cowboy-themed, and futuristic), but none of them feels especially inspired. These visuals are joined by a pretty generic rock soundtrack that’s completely forgettable.

Sadly, the gameplay doesn’t fare much better here – you move all of your rods with the same analog input, and have your “players” strike the ball by pressing left or right on the same analog stick. There’s no nuance here, no variety. You have little in the way of options. Heck, even the core gameplay seems to have some hit detection issues.

I’ve gotta’ be honest here, I think Foosball is a pretty terrible game even in real life, and even with that low bar, I have yet to find a videogame version of the sport that does a decent job representing the real-life game, and certainly nothing I’ve encountered has improved upon it. Pocket Foosball does not break with that trend – this is yet another pretty poor take on a pretty poor sport. Skip it, and if you want to play Foosball, just play the real thing.

tl;dr – Pocket Foosball is a version of the Sport with poor controls, ugly graphics, and little in the way of options. There’s no real skill or nuance to be found here. You’re better off skipping this game entirely, or if you really need to play Foosball, just find a real table.

Grade: D

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