The first Pro Evolution Soccer reveals Konami's fresh PS2 direction. Refined ball touch, already clever AI and still lean modes. A solid foundation for everything that follows.
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Category
Sports4 players3+
Description
A Konami football game released in 2001 (Europe), the first entry in the European Pro Evolution Soccer branch. An improved port of the Japanese arcade World Soccer Winning Eleven 5 with UEFA licenses and European championships. Precise gameplay and realistic AI that immediately made it the European PS2 football reference.
Complete: box, manual and disc/cart very clean. Lightly handled.
Q1 damagedQ6 completeQ10 new
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Collector interest
The first European Pro Evolution Soccer, the birth certificate of the great on-pitch rival to a competing license. Like any annual football game, its collector interest stays limited, its rosters and feel quickly dated and its print runs huge. Its only real value lies in being the starting point of a series with a purist cult, best reserved for those documenting the full saga.
Better with friends
Football of recognized ball feel, where smooth passing and the freedom of feints make every two-player match a real tactical dialogue. The competition plays out in patience and a sense of positioning, where one luminous through-ball can flip the score in an instant. Easy to pick up yet deep to master, it lays the groundwork for a sharpening rivalry and impromptu derbies you keep retelling.
Is Pro Evolution Soccer still worth playing in 2026?
Released in 2001 on PS2, Konami's project lays the first stones of the Pro Evolution Soccer line on the console, favouring from the outset the finesse of simulation over spectacle. The weight of the ball, the freedom of movement and an already credible team intelligence offer a football more demanding and nuanced than its direct rivals. The Master League mode begins a lasting management dimension. The official licences are missing and the production shows its age. A founding stone of football video games, recommended for purists of the beautiful game curious about the origins of a cult series.
