Mini-review: Bang Average Football

Bang Average Football
Platform: PC
Developer: ruairi dx
Publisher: Banana Life
Release date: May 10th, 2024
Availability: Digital
Price: $11.99 via Steam

FIFA 09’s Ultimate Team mode debuted in 2008, allowing online gamers to assemble their own all-star team. After this Pandora’s Box was opened, almost all of the big sports games came with an in-game economy powered by the purchase, sale, and auction of virtual cards. It makes sense that some gamers adore this feature, but I dislike having to pay exorbitant fees for digital goods. Playing Sensible Soccer/Championship Soccer ’94 is just good with me.

The creator of Bang Average Football, Ruairi Dorrity, appears to be in agreement as well.

Explore Bang Average, a slang term meaning mediocre, and discover a distinctly superior take on football or soccer. Given that the sprites are so small—just a few pixels tall—they may not have motion-captured animation. On the other hand, as you shoot, cross, make targeted or free passes, the four-button control scheme reduces offensive play to its most basic elements. Even easier is defense, where you can slide tackle or switch players’ positions.

Bang Average is an approachable football game that makes learning the basics exciting, despite its lack of complexity. If you set the AI difficulty to “easy,” you should be able to score your first goal against teams like Kingsborough Rovers or Stamford Athletic in about a minute. It’s not as satisfying to slip one past their goalie as it was in Sensible Soccer, Super Sidekicks, or Kick Off 2, even though those teams are made up.

When you play the game on Story mode, you’ll see that the title isn’t meant to be ironic. No, Bang Average is the football team that recently signed you; they are primarily known for a heartbreaking defeat from decades ago. You’ll find out through role-playing conversations that follow an RPG that the newly hired manager lost faith as soon as he saw the team, thus you’ll also be managing the staff. Yes, as you and the team advance through the ranks, Bang Average Football’s story of the underdog touches on sports clichés. However, it’s difficult to resist the allure of the game’s ensemble of characters and their charming British humor. If you win, the people here will think highly of you.

There are still a ton of goals to pursue even though Bang Average’s plot isn’t as intricate as the RPG elements in high-budget sports games. By completing drills, you can improve your own athlete by accruing points for eight distinct stats. On the other hand, management comprises everything from making calculated decisions to coming up with off-field concepts that impact your sponsors, income, and attendance. If you really want to get your hands dirty, you can play Bang Average, which allows you to modify formations, require players from teams you’ve played against, and change your home and away uniforms. The best part is that none of these elements, which bring back memories of the heyday of digital football, require actual money.

With delightfully infrequent slowdowns that are so minor you might not even notice them, Bang Average runs brilliantly. The game hasn’t received a Steam Deck verification as of this writing. However, since all input makes use of the controller and the text is readable, it most definitely merits one. Without a doubt, small touches like the ability to save a goal as a.gif make Bang Average Football a viable option for your next retro sports game.

On a PC, Bang Average Football was played using a review code that the publisher sent.

Review Overview

Gameplay – 80%

Controls – 80%

Aesthetics – 75%

Content – 85%

Accessibility – 85%

Value – 85%

82%

VERY GOOD

Summary : Contrary to what its name would imply, Bang Average Football is a far superior game. You get a very fun old version of the game for a small fee, along with a strong role-playing game where you can guide a player or team to victory.