As somebody who is a huge fan of FIFA on the Xbox and Playstation, I was pretty excited when I saw FIFA 10 ($9.99, iTunes link) by EA Sport’s finally arrive in the App Store. After playing the game for a while, I think EA did a solid job translating the game and its features to the iPhone’s mobile platform. We are assigning FIFA 10 an overall rating of 7.8 out of 10, recommended.

FIFA 10 is an immense game that is fully licensed, which means it features over 12,620 real players from 30 leagues and 570 teams from around the world. They’ve managed to package in a lot from the console version for the mobile version, which is impressive.

The functionality of the game is quite strong. I did not think it would be, but the virtual joystick was easy to use and in many ways I felt like I could control the game just as if I was playing the Xbox version. Also the A and B buttons that reside on the right side are also responsive.

A feature that I really enjoyed with the Xbox version of the game was the multiplayer mode. EA did a good job including the same functionality for the iPhone, but unfortunately only over Wi-Fi. You have the option to join a game, host a match, and host a penalty shootout as long as a friend also has the game are on the same Wi-Fi network.

Additionally, another great feature of the game is the instant replay. You are able to zoom-in, rotate and fast-forward/rewind the play. This is an incredible feature and really shows off the games’ graphics.

With all of these features, the game is very customizable, and you can change the setting to all of your personal preferences.

Under the game settings you are allowed to modify the game in a variety of ways. You are able to change the game, display, environment (weather, time of day, and stadium), and sound (where you can also play music from your iPod music library). There are also 6 different viewing angles to choose from.

The sound effects are also quite similar to the traditional version of the game with the constant crowd roaring and the announcer calling the game.

A drawback of the game is that once you select the main team you will be using, it’s a slow process to switch to another team. So if you have a few favorite teams, it might take you some time to reselect a new team. Also since the screen is so small it is hard to control players while on defense (eg, tackling is difficult).

Conclusion:

Overall, we can recommend FIFA 10 and assign it a 7.8/10 rating. Whether you are a huge soccer fan or not, the graphics and playability of the game make it one of the better sports games on the iPhone.

Pros: Fully licensed gameplay, great graphics, and immense feature set.

Cons: Multiplayer only over the same WiFi network. Defense can be difficult because of screen size.

FIFA 10 is a $9.99 download from the iTunes App Store.