Fond of weirdly obscure titles since childhood, Ivanir has been captivated by many Japanese games over the years. Some of his most passionate topics are the Dept. Heaven series, Summon Night Swordcraft Story, the Infinity series, Time Hollow. He's currently enjoying a ton of Switch and PC games.

Developer Tamsoft and publisher Bandai Namco are currently working together on Captain Tsubasa 2: World Fighters, a follow-up to 2020’s Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions. Now with more teams and techniques, the game promises to try to expand on the unique traits of its predecessor under the tagline “Kick Beyond Limits.”

The Classic Soccer Manga Reimagined as a Video Game

Captain Tsubasa is a classic soccer manga series created by Yoichi Takahashi back in 1981. It follows a young boy called Tsubasa Ozora who loves playing soccer and dedicates himself to becoming a great player while still a young child. In Captain Tsubasa 2: World Fighters, players will get to play through the events of the World Youth saga, which was published on Weekly Shonen Jump from 1994 to 1997. Under supervision by the original creator, the game will feature an expanded scenario reimagining the events of the story.

At the center of it is the coming of a new character created by the player to join the Japanese team during the championship and who will end up becoming a pillar of the group. This individual is a unique avatar that the player can customize with the classic art style of the mangaka at its base.

It’s possible to pick from a variety of hairstyles, including some that look particularly silly and some that are reminiscent of other characters. Different body builds and colors for skin, hair and eyes allow for some unique differentiation. More specific details, like adjusting the mouth size and position, however, feel a little too restricted in the early build to the point it was hard to see the difference without comparing pictures.

An interesting aspect is that the story mode has unique events that can show up when hitting specific conditions, giving more reasons to replay matches and see how things can play out differently. For instance, during the match between Japan and Thailand, it’s possible to see different scenes if the player is doing well or losing the match. More than just changing some dialogue lines, the situation can feel dramatically different. If this is part of the other story matches as well, it can add weight to how players play through the story mode and make the journey even more enjoyable.

There are also specific challenges tied to the story matches, asking players to try to make specific situations happen. By doing so, the game will unlock additional stories called Side Scenarios and Link Scenarios, expanding on what the characters are living during the tournament.

Beyond The Story

When it comes to soccer matches, players will have the chance to control the various characters of the team depending on factors such as team positioning and where the ball currently is. Taking the ball from the adversary, dribbling, passing and shooting are the main techniques to keep in mind as you try to score goals and all of these have special anime-like flair to them.

In Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions, the only special moves were shots, though dribbling well and doing other specific actions could have unique animations as well. This time, however, these can also have special skills to activate during battle. A character may come a long way towards the ball to intercept the adversary using one of those, for instance, or the goalkeeper may use a powerful technique to block.

Besides the story mode and all the side scenarios it holds, the full game will have versus modes and practice to get the hang of how it plays. Versus can be played against other people or the CPU and the difficulty level is customizable. The full game will feature 22 countries, which is double the number of playable teams in the previous title. Newcomers include Thailand, Saudi Arabia and China, all of which are important challengers to face during the story mode.

There’s still a lot to see when Captain Tsubasa 2: World Fighters hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam) and Switch on August 28. The original game was already a solid sports experience when it comes to enjoying soccer in an over-the-top anime fashion and the sequel seems to be following suit. It’s now a matter of waiting and seeing if it will live up to this opportunity to expand beyond the original’s limits or not.

Captain Tsubasa 2: World Fighters

Released August 27, 2026

ESRB Everyone / Mild Violence, Mild Language, In-Game Purchases

Developer(s) Tamsoft

Publisher(s) Bandai Namco Entertainment

Multiplayer Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer

Prequel(s) Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions

Number of Players 1-2 players

Steam Deck Compatibility Unknown