The biggest complaint about EA's FIFA franchise has been the absymal controls. Well, thanks to the Wii, those days are long over. Tricks and skills involve simple flicks of the controls instead of complicated late 80s Street Fighter type moves, and furthermore, things are no longer based on the perspective of the player in-game. Swinging the remote to the right ALWAYS means right, regardless of player facing or camera angle. Though Wii controls can be intimidating to those of us raised on control pads, everything is intuitive. Plus, FIFA 08 includes a nice tutorial / training feature that explains things so simply and easily that even an Xbox 360 fan could understand.
It is true that FIFA 08 on the Wii does not include a manager mode. The reason is quite simply that this game is meant to be PLAYED. The Wii has established itself as the ultimate party console, and now FIFA 08 is the ultimate footy arcade game. There are a number of highly sophisticated manager sims out there. This game is for those of us who want to dive on to the pitch and hear the roar of the crowd instead of sit in a boardroom and count our pounds or euros.
Structurally and gameplay-wise, this game is as close to perfection as EA Sports has produced for any sport. Since sports video games (on any console) tend to range from reasonable to enraging and seldom fantastic, FIFA 08's stratospheric quality and playability thanks to near perfect Wii controls could possibly make this the greatest sports video game ever. All it takes is a few minutes of immersion (and of course, a rudimentary knowledge of proper football tactics- which, by the way, you can customise!).
So what is missing? Other than manager mode, which is largely a non-factor, FIFA remains heavily Eurocentric. The only full CONMEBOL league is Brazil's Campeonato Série A (along with a handful of Série B clubs and one Série C club), with the much-demanded Argentine 1st division represented only by Boca Juniors and River Plate, with not even a whisper of high profile Copa Libertadores contenders such as Colo Colo of Chile, Millonarios of Colombia, Nacional of Uruguay, and so on.
Furthermore, there is still no J-League, nor are the Russian and Ukrainian leagues, which seems silly since bottom feeding Polish Ekstraklasa, the League of Ireland, and the Czech 1st division ARE included.
FIFA 08 contains a large battery of national sides, including Russia and Ukraine, but bizarrely Japan has been removed entirely, replaced by South Africa and near-dead last FIFA-ranked New Zealand. The only South American sides are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, the only African sides are Cameroon, Nigeria, and the aforementioned South Africa, and absolutely no Central Americans are represented, as the USA and Mexico are the only CONCACAF inclusions.
To conclude, despite the above mentioned head-scratching exclusions, FIFA 08 on the Wii features 621 clubs in 30 leagues. With online squad updates and absolutely sublime controls, this is a game that offers almost unlimited fun. An absolute must for the true football fan!