FIFA 13

FIFA 13 was the most complete form of football PlayStation Vita ever offered, and for a long time it also remained the last one, since subsequent entries never made it to this platform in the same way. The game brought licensed competitions, clubs, and players, along with the usual set of modes led by manager career, quick matches, tournaments, and building your own team from collected cards. That collecting mode proved to be the most enduring, since it offers virtually endless motivation to improve your squad and look for chemistry between players of different leagues and nationalities.

The controls mirror the conventions of the big-console versions — short and long passes, crosses and shots split across buttons — while the console also added touch-based extras. You could send the ball to a specific spot by dragging a finger across the rear touch pad, and quick instructions could be entered on the front screen, an interesting though not essential option for everyone. The pace of the game is somewhat slower than on the big consoles and the opponent's defense less consistent, which keeps matches flowing briskly and makes it well suited for short sessions. Commentary, crowd voices, and club chants convey the stadium atmosphere surprisingly well. It's also worth noting that the game offers several levels of passing and aiming assistance, so it suits both someone who hasn't played a football game in years and a player used to fully manual controls.

Contemporary reviews rated the game as a decent but not particularly bold step forward from the previous year, noting that its main value lies in the amount of content and in the ability to have a complete football game in your pocket. Today the situation is different, the online features no longer run the way they used to, and the squads are long out of date. Still, FIFA 13 on Vita remains a good foundation for a quick match, and for fans of the console it's an obvious choice when they want to kick a ball around.