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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------