The PES series on Wii are really underrated

Premium97

Premium97

Non-League
11 December 2023
In case you didn't know, Konami released the Wii ports from the year 2008 to 2013 and they play and look like a weird mix of PS2-gen and PS3-gen games.

Overall, they lean towards the PS2 engine, however, there are a bunch of really interesting additional elements that are brought from the PS3 engine and also tweaked and different gameplay stuff compared to other consoles of that era which makes these series a really unique package. I'll recall a few:

- An additional and unique WiiMote-equiped gameplay. The usual control scheme is also still there.
- 360 degree movement (I think they implemented it in later games, probably starting from 2011)
- Noticeably slower gameplay than the PS2 games, which heavily reduces the arcadiness.
- Almost the same graphics of PS2, but everything looks cleaner, more colorful and vibrant. It has that "Remastered" feel compared to the PS2 games.
- Blur effect in cut scenes and replays.
- Reduced amount of "fade to black" before transitioning to the next scene. On a lot of occasions, the PES or UCL logos pop up in a fashion similar to the PS3 games.
- Champions League is there starting from the 2009 installment. On PS2, They added it from 2010.
- Totally different menus and sound effects.
- And much more stuff that you'll notice while watching videos on YouTube or playing for yourself.

In case you're looking for a series of PES games with different gameplay and elements than what you've already experienced, look no further than these underrated Wii ports.
 
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I've decided to try the Wii games and give a brief review for those looking to play.

PES 2008 doesn't have an edit mode (you can only change player names and number) and doesn't support classic control, so I've ignored this one.

PES 2009 First video highlights Liverpool (me) vs Auxerre (CPU), second video highlights Japan (me) vs Argentina (CPU)
  • The graphics are a HD version of PS2, you can clearly see the difference in LOD, player faces and kits, looks really good, and has no slowdowns like when playing on PCSX2, an overall more enjoyable experience IMO. The match presentation is the same as PS2 though.
  • Gameplay feels a little different from the PS2, there's more fluidity, and I've seen quite a few new animations. Definitely seemed better than PS2 PES, but I didn't play much.
  • There's a new mode called Champions Road. Seems to be an alternative Master League, where you create a new team and them you can upgrade your team facilities and aquire other team's players after beating them in competitions. You can also upgrade your players with new skills. Doesn't seem to be too complex, but looks kinda fun.
  • There's also the Champions League mode, as mentioned by Premium97. Master League is the same as PS2, only with an different menu.
  • Difficulty seems balanced, you can see that I've dominated my match with Liverpool against Auxerre, but suffered with Japan against Argentina.
  • OST is composed of instrumental tracks, like the PS2 games.
  • 16 stadiums in total.

PES 2010 First video highlights Brazil (me) vs Angola (CPU), second video highlights Scotland (me) vs Netherlands (CPU)
  • Didn't notice much difference in graphics, except the lightning on the kits that resembles next-gen PES 2010.
  • Gameplay feels very PS3-like, they really managed to port next-gen PES 2010's gameplay to the PS2 engine as much as possible, the ball physics feels very different, and there's many new animations.
  • Master League is now different, more like next-gen. Unlike the previous with the PS2 random Divisions system, now when choosing your team you're placed in the actual league (English League, Spanish League, etc) and can qualify to the Champions League. Champions League is simulated in full detail, even including play-offs. A pretty big change, but other than that it's the same as PS2.
  • Difficulty is harder but still balanced, I won easily with Brazil against Angola, but as Scotland Netherlands destroyed me.
  • OST features songs from the next-gen PES 2010.
  • A whopping 10 new stadiums for 26 in total.

Now, that's pretty much it for the Wii games. From PES 2011 onward the only two new features are a hd texture for the supporters (which looks worse IMO, too out of place) and the Copa Libertadores mode (you can't use their teams in any other mode, which sucks). The gameplay stagnates, and with each game there's less stadiums. Worse of all, there's a game-breaking bug where the through pass button won't work most of the time. Don't know why this happens as it worked fine on 2009 and 2010, so I assume it's a bug from the game itself. I don't recommend them.

It's sad that the devs didn't even try to port the gameplay features of 2011-13. I would say for those looking for one to play to focus on 2010 for the most advanced gameplay and more content, or play 2009 if you prefer the classic Master League mode.
 
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I've noticed there's an Wii version of the game Winning Eleven 2010: Aoki Samurai no Chousen, which features the mode where you can take Japan to the World Cup. I went to test it excited that it would be just PES 2010 but with more content, but to my surprise the game is based on PES 2011, so it features the through pass bug. That really sucks, if someone else managed to test the games please tell me if the bug occurs to you aswell.

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I noticed that through pass bug when I tried PES 2013 on Dolphin the other day. I didn't realise it was a bug, I thought it was my controller playing up!
 
Billy Jov said:
What are the gameplay differences between PES 2009 and PES 2010?
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There are more new animations ported from the PS3 games, and the game feels slower. Can't say much more because I've only played a couple of matches, but the gameplay seemed better to me.
 
yes they are , i wish one day someone can figure out something to run them on pc without emulator with pc control it gonna be insane . there is also a another version of pes thats looks like wii u version but better i dont remeber wich device was on
 
Had PES2012 and FIFA11 on wii when I was a kid and playing PES felt like watching a real match. I remember that the first game I played was an "El Clásico" and I freaked out when saw Messi's face 😁
 
Completely agree. I did use a classic controller when I played it on wii and not the other ways. I found it to be a lot of fun. I think it was 2010 and 2011 the ones I played before getting a different system.
 
Finally the wii games are getting some love ... if your playing any you got to try the Champions Road mode (wii exclusive) I played the pes 2008 one although the most simple version of the mode it was the best ...
 
Randomsh1t1471 said:
Finally the wii games are getting some love ... if your playing any you got to try the Champions Road mode (wii exclusive) I played the pes 2008 one although the most simple version of the mode it was the best ...
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I starting playing some wii games months ago, and I really like it. Motion control is the main reason.
 
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