It’s rather telling that the best soccer titles on handheld devices are the simplest. The reductionist approach of games such as New Star Soccer (Free) – where only a few elements of the sport such as scoring goals are focused on – fits mobile gaming so much better, as instead of trying to port a console experience which simply doesn’t fit on the iPhone, they play to the smartphone’s strengths. Pixel Cup Soccer 16 ($0.99) is another fantastic addition to the growing roster of soccer games, and focuses – for better and for worse – on the simplest arcade elements of the beautiful game to provide an extremely fun footballing experience that is easy to pick up, hard to master and even more difficult to put down.

Before you plunge into Pixel Cup Soccer 16, your expectations and assumptions of soccer games must be left at the door. Gone are staples of the genre, such as dash buttons, off the ball runs and custom tactics. Instead, the core gameplay boils down to move, pass, tackle and shoot. While Pixel Cup Soccer 16 allows for some variations on these mechanics, such as charging a pass to turn it into a lob, and power or finesse shooting options, it really does focus on the most entertaining elements of the sport in scoring goals. And it does this really well – the on screen controls seamlessly allow you to pass down the pitch with a surprising amount of tactical variation (you can choose to imitate the tiki-taka approach of Barcelona, lob through balls across the length of the pitch or attempt mazy solo runs and so on) and the arcade nature of the game eliminates the sluggish, cluttered feel of other football games on the App Store and just lets you have fun with the basics of the sport.

As you’d expect, however, this attempt to excel in these core soccer elements means there are limitations to what you can do in the game. When you find a tactic that seems to work for you, it’s quite easy to simply repeat it ad infinitum and win most games in ease, even on the hardest difficulty. For example, I found that simply dribbling around opposing players as they failed on their attempts to slide tackle my player was easy enough to set up a free shot on goal. Of course, it’s down to you on the approach you decide to take while playing Pixel Cup Soccer 16, but when some methods work better than others it’s difficult to force yourself to try other less successful ones, especially when all the teams in the game have very little variation between them. There are also a few other little quirks, such as an occasional fluke golazo from far out sneaking in while powerful shots from close range being saved by the superhuman goalkeeper AI, however these are generally accepted concessions from the basic, arcade nature of the game, and are a price worth paying when it’s so much fun to pick up and play.

Pixel Cup Soccer 16 is also surprisingly meaty in how many different options it has both in terms of tournaments you can take part in, but also how flexible and tweak-able the game engine is. Capitalising on the array of summer competitions, you can choose to play through Euro 2016, the Copa America Centenario as well as other tourneys such as the mens and women’s World Cup, complete with all the teams present and playable. The attention to detail is rather remarkable – the groups are exact replications of the actual real life ones (and are able to be randomised for even more variation), and while obviously there is no licenses in the game, all the players have their first names and so is surprisingly immersive – there truly is no better feeling scoring a last minute winner with Mesut Ozil, and this title allows such pipe dreams to happen. There are also other modes, such as the option for a friendly match, a penalty kick showdown, a practice mode and limited offline multiplayer on iPad. While there’s no online play which would have been a fantastic bonus, it’s all still really well done – even in the menus, the music and production values are outstanding in what is a labour of love from the developers, and will bring a big smile to even the most cynical soccer fan.

While the aforementioned strengths of the game should not be understated and this is a highly recommended title, the fact it is so much fun to play leaves me asking what more could be done to improve the experience more, and there is truly significant room for growth in a potential sequel. First and foremost, a career mode wouldn’t go amiss, and having the option to manage teams and take part in leagues to win promotion or titles would certainly add more to simply replaying the same tournaments. At the very least, having the option to customise and create your own tournament with specific teams would be a great addition. A bit more variation in the strengths, weaknesses and play style of the teams and perhaps even individual players would detract from the fact that, barring hair and shirt colour and sprint speeds, the teams are essentially reskins of each other. However, what we do have in Pixel Cup Soccer 16 is extremely enjoyable to play, and variables that can be altered such as the weather, the stadiums you play in (most of which are taken from replicas from Euro 2016 and Copa America), the game speed and difficulty mean that there is so much variation to the basic core gameplay that it’ll take a long while before you look at placing this soccer simulation on the transfer list.

It has been a long while since I’ve had as much fun playing any soccer game as I have with Pixel Cup Soccer 16. Despite a few teething issues, most of these are inherent consequences of the fast paced and streamlined design choice of the title, and the positives of such an approach more than make up for any potential limitations. The developers have also been extremely active in addressing issues and bugs in our forums, and the response there only reiterates how good a soccer game can be when it gets the basics right. Before the inevitable onslaught of soccer apps attempting to capitalise on the increased interest in the beautiful game this summer, make sure to give Pixel Cup Soccer 16 a shot – it doesn’t score an own goal in being a lesser version of a meatier console experience, but instead plays to the device’s strengths and limitations to produce a gratifying mobile game that shouldn’t be missed.