Pro Evolution Soccer 2011

There is a football rivalry that transcends the pitch itself, and in the first decade of the new millennium it played out between two brands: FIFA from Electronic Arts and Pro Evolution Soccer from Konami. PES long built a reputation as football for connoisseurs, football played not with the eyes but with the feet and a feel for pace. Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 in its handheld version for the PSP brought this legacy into your palm and promised full matches you could start on the tram, on a park bench or during a break at school.

Mechanically the PES series always rests on the feel of moving the ball. A pass is not just a button press but a matter of timing, weighting and anticipation; defending demands patience and reading the opponent rather than blind rushing in. It was precisely this depth that made PES a title rewarding players willing to invest dozens of hours into understanding the game's rhythm. On the PSP the development team naturally had to trim the demands on the portable hardware, yet it strove to preserve the essence of the brand, including various game modes, leagues and cups that gave players reason to return.

Konami developed the series at its Japanese football studio, and this brand was their flagship outside the Metal Gear series. PES was enormously popular in Europe and Latin America, and in some markets it long outweighed FIFA thanks precisely to its more authentic feel of on-pitch action. The series came out every year like a sports annual, so the number in the title denoted the season for which the game was updated. The mobile versions let fans take their favorite football everywhere with them, which in the era before full-fledged smartphones was no small luxury.

Culturally, PES embodied the idea that a football video game can be both a simulator and a toy at once. For many players, evenings at the neighbors', dorm tournaments and endless league battles were the duels that defined whole years. The rivalry between the PES and FIFA camps was almost religious, and everyone had clear arguments for why their series was the right one. The handheld release carried this passion into a lonelier but all the more accessible format, where you could raise your team anywhere.

The PSP was, at the same time, an exceptionally capable console that could render decent three-dimensional stadiums and animated players, impressive for its day. The widescreen display gave the on-pitch shots a cinematic touch and quality sound added the atmosphere of a packed stadium. Football titles belonged to the console's diligent repertoire, because the sport is ideal for the short, repeatable play sessions that handheld gaming demands, while at the same time offering almost endless replayability.

It is precisely in this union of depth and accessibility that the charm of the handheld PES lies. It offers serious, technical football in a form that requires neither a television nor a dedicated evening, just a moment of time and the urge to test your strength.

Why play: If football simulation is about the feel of the ball to you more than about polish, the handheld PES offers the brand's depth anywhere and anytime.