Controls are responsive and don't take too long to master.
The graphics and animations do an excellent job of conveying a sense of realism to the game.
Having licensed teams such as the New Zealand All Blacks is a terrific addition.
Presentation is top notch and getting replays on key moments is greatly appreciated.
Its Just great that Mad Catz decided to bring this game to the United State, It an Must buy for any rugby fan Out there.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program "Subdue and penetrate"--Motto of the New Zealand All-Blacks Rugby Team.I was only passingly familiar with Rugby when I got my hands on Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge, but I had played a lot of sports games so I thought I would give it a try. I was happily surprised by the addictive gameplay, intuitive controls, and just plain fun that Rugby Challenge offers. If you don't know much about Rugby, imagine the violent unholy lovechild of a marriage between football and soccer. It's football without the armor. It's soccer with full-speed tackling. It's pretty awesome.
If you are familiar with xbox sports games, you will probably be able to skip the tutorials and dive right in. However, if you are not familiar with Rugby there is a lot to be gleaned from the tutorial levels. The tutorials are broken into basic, intermediate, advanced, and professional tiers, each with about 6-8 skills. These skills range from moving the ball down the field to rather complicated manuevers like rucks, scrums, and onside tossing. Unfamiliar with the basics of Rugby? The tutorials are also very useful for giving you a decent vocabulary and solid grasp for the mechanics of the game.
There are several game modes: single game, career, and multiplayer.
The single game allows you to select 2 teams and play as one of them against an AI opponent. Many rugby teams from around the world are assigned a score (100 point scale). I can't speak to the completeness of the offering, but I did find a lot of teams to choose between. I found this mode particularly useful to transition between tutorial and career because I could select a fairly robust team for myself (Crimson) and lesser team for the AI (Praetoria) and have a little wiggle room to try out what I learned in the tutorial. This wiggle room is not present in career on "normal"--it is a very challenging game.
The career mode starts you out as nobody and lets you rise to the ranks of superstar, if you're good. You'll need quick reflexes to beat a fairly smart AI. Theere are a few times when you want to shout at your AI teamates to get into a better position, or catch the ball, but for the most part friendly AI works well. There are no scripted "plays" or selcted offensive/defensive moves to assign to your team. Rugby involves a lot of tackling and short kicks to move the ball down field. As you earn money through your successes, you can unlock photos and features through an in-game shop.
Multiplayer works well. Finding a match was not a problem. Rugby Challenge should be well received in Europe (where Rugby is more popular), so I would think there will be a robust long-term community that builds up around this game.
I am not one to play a game with clunky or confusing controls (there are way too many great games out there): Rugby Challenge offers intuitive controls that let a newbie have fun immediately and at the same times gives players a deep experience that will challenge veterans for many hours of play.
The graphics are solid. I would say they are maybe not quite as glamorous as the latest Madden, but they are great looking locations, detailed stadiums, detailed players, neat presentation works well.
SUMMARY:
Whether you are new to Rugby or grew up playing it, Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge offers something to all fans of sports games. I rate this game 5-stars for "Fun" (very addicting, well paced game play). Overall I gave the game 4 stars because Rugby Challenge does lack some of the precise polish of major sports games. Additionally the lack of plays to call can also make coordinating your team a bit frustrating.
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I have only had this game for a little over 24 hours but I can say without a doubt that the developers have hit a homerun. It is so frustrating being a rugby fan in the United States because the availability for titles like this one are so limited. I finally got my hands on this game and it did not disappoint. The gameplay is fantastic, I love the trailing camera where it feels like you are in the line. I really think it is a huge imporvement over the old fashioned sideline camera. All the great teams are in it; the only teams and country that are not licensed is South Africa and their Super Rugby teams. As a southern hemisphere fan this should be the only title you pick up because on the other rugby game you can not play as the real All Black or Wallabies. The only problem I have with the game and why I gave it 4 stars is the passing can be glitchy at times. It seems like sometimes I need to push the pass button more than required.UPDATE: I found many more flaws with this game. The game play is simply not very realistic in regards to real rugby. I also find the career mode to be terribly boring after one season; you are given no opportunities to act like a true coach and add players, make plays etc.
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