Inazuma Eleven AC

Inazuma Eleven AC

Inazuma Eleven AC (イナズマイレブンＡＣ(アーケード), Inazuma Irebun Ākēdo, lit. Lightning Eleven Arcade) is a single player arcade cabinet videogame using interactive NFC cards to play. The game released under 2 installments: Inazuma Eleven AC: Dream Battle (イナズマイレブンＡＣ(アーケード)　ドリームバトル, Inazuma Irebun Ākēdo: Dorīmu Batoru, lit. Lightning Eleven Arcade: Dream Battle) and Inazuma Eleven AC: All Stars (イナズマイレブンＡＣ(アーケード)　オールスターズ, Inazuma Irebun Ākēdo: Ōru Sutāzu, lit. Lightning Eleven Arcade: All Stars).

On July 2nd, 2020, it was announced that the game would be discontinued and phased out of arcades overtime.

Information[]

Inazuma Eleven AC uses several NFC features to play the game. A Club Card (クラブカード, Kurabu Kādo) is used record game information, like game history and the player's own custom player avatar, which can be customized upon scanning the Captain Card (キャプテンカード, Kyaputen Kādo) on the Card Scan Area (カードスキャンエリア, Kādo Sukyan Area) of the arcade cabinet, although players can play without these cards. Eleven Bands and Eleven License can also be used in the Card Scan Area, with its players and hissatsu techniques being more valuable than regular AC cards.

The game is divided into three modes: Battle Mode (バトルモード, Batoru Mōdo), Card Purchasing Mode (カード購入(こうにゅう)モード, Kādo Kōnyū Mōdo), and 2-Player Competition Mode (２人対戦モード, Futari Taisen Mōdo).

Battle Mode has the player face a computer-controlled opponent against a variety of different options of teams in each cup.
Card Purchasing Mode lets the player buy up to 10 AC cards directly from the arcade cabinet without having to play a match. Cards can also be bought in both the Battle and 2-Player Competition Modes, although they have a maximum limit of 6 cards.
2-Player Competition Mode was added in the Inazuma Eleven AC: All Stars update and lets the player play a match against another human opponent on a separate arcade cabinet.

Gameplay[]

In order to play the game, the player needs to insert a 100 yen coin in the arcade cabinet and place up to a total of six cards on the Card Scan Area of the arcade cabinet. The game is then played by taking turns in both offense and defense, with the player being randomly assigned what side they start on, moving their own cards strategically on the arcade cabinet.

The field is split into two halves: Energy Zone (エナジーゾーン, Enajī Zōn) and the Participation Zone (参加(さんか)ゾーン, Sanka Zōn).

The Energy Zone is the non-active half of the field, wherein characters placed will accumulate Energy for other characters to use, with the accumulated Energy being dependent on the card.
The Participation Zone is the active half of the field, wherein characters placed can either dribble up the field or block their opponents, depending on the player's turn. If the player is playing on their offensive turn, the Participation Zone will be their opponent's half, whereas if they're playing on their defensive turn, the Participation Zone will be the player's own half. The Participation Zone is split into three columns where the player must place their characters, dictating their pass course or which opponent they block.

Players can also place their characters in the penalty box, with the player's own penalty box being called the Goal Area (ゴールエリア, Gōru Eria), while the opponent's penalty box being called the Shoot Area (シュートエリア, Shūto Eria). Both Areas will have their own designated character using either a or hissatsu technique, if and when available.

Ball Impact Battles (ボールインパクトバトル, Bōru Inpakuto Batoru) occur when two opposing players meet. The player needs to press the red button at the right time when the gauge fills up, with a higher gauge guaranteeing victory. In the event of a tie, the player with the higher value will win. Winning a Ball Impact Battle accumulates Eleven Power, which makes shots more powerful. After a goalkeeper has used their technique, the player will be prompted to press in quick succession the red button in order to either catch or score, with the bar being over its midpoint guaranteeing the desired outcome.

As the game is played, various events may occur based on the player's playstyle, such as Extra Shoot Chance (エクストラシュートチャンス, Ekusutora Shūto Chansu) which allows the player to have consecutive shots on the goalkeeper and Counter Chance (カウンターチャンス, Kauntā Chansu), which allows the player to counterattack after defending the goal.

In the third update to Inazuma Eleven AC: Dream Battle, Player Substitutions (選手(せんしゅ)交代(こうたい), Senshu Kōtai) were implemented, allowing characters to be substituted for another when switching between offense and defense. This is only possible using AC cards which feature two characters in it.

Additional Battles[]

With the game's update to Inazuma Eleven AC: All Stars, the game received Additional Battles (ディショナルバトル, Adishonaru Batoru), which occur when the point difference is within 1. The player will be prompted to stop the hand of the stopwatch in the Chance Area. If successful, the player will receive an additional goal while if two players are successful, Additional Battles will continue until one is unsuccessful. The additional goals are scored to a theme song depending on the series the character is from, them being Teppen e Dash!, Chikyuu wo Kick!, Ten Made Todoke!, and Tachiagariyo (Reloaded Ver.).

Additional Abilities (アディショナルアビリティ, Adishonaru Abiriti) can be used to give the player an advantage in the Additional Battles. These are featured on the character's AC card from the All Stars sets and have six types:

Area Plus (エリアプラス, Eria Purasu): Expands the Chance Area size on the stopwatch.
Area Cut (エリアカット, Eria Katto): Narrows the opponent's Chance Area size on the stopwatch.
Retry (リトライ, Ritorai): Lets the player try again if they're unsuccessful on an Additional Battle.
Quick (クイック, Kuikku): Speeds up the movement of the opponent's stopwatch.
Slow (スロー, Surō): Slows down the movement of the player's stopwatch.
Reverse (リバース, Ribāsu): Makes the hand of the opponent's stopwatch spin counterclockwise.

Hissatsu Techniques[]

Hissatsu Techniques can be performed using Hissatsu Technique Energy (必殺(ひっさつ)技(わざ)エナジー, Hissatsu Waza Enajī). Hissatsu Technique Energy is obtained through the player's actions on the field. and techniques will only be performed once the player has acquired enough Hissatsu Technique Energy, while and techniques can also be performed if the player wins a Ball Impact Battle. Combination techniques can be performed when all players required for the technique are in the right zone, with the player being prompted to shake the cards in order to power up the techniques before they're used.

When techniques are performed, they're displayed in either 3D animation or 2D footage from the Inazuma Eleven Ares no Tenbin or Inazuma Eleven Orion no Kokuin anime. AC cards released for Inazuma Eleven AC: Dream Battle can also be retroactively used in Inazuma Eleven AC: All Stars.

AC cards[]

AC cards scan in the characters on them, with their placement on the game board also placing them in-game. There five rarities of cards: Common (コモン, Komon), Rare (レア, Rea), Super Rare (スーパーレア, Sūpā Rea), Ultimate Rare (アルティメットレア, Arutimetteo Rea), and Secret (シークレット, Shīkuretto). Campaign (キャンペーン, Kyanpēn) and SP (ＳＰ) are other types of card, but they are not featured with rarities.

AC cards come in 4 colors, which dictate the type of hissatsu technique they have, them being red for , blue for and , green for , and yellow for . These card colors do not include combination techniques, however.

In the third update to Inazuma Eleven AC: Dream Battle, cards using the the new Player Substitution mechanic were implemented. These cards feature two characters in it, switching out when swapping from offense to defense. The card does not allow free swapping of the players, with one of them always playing first regardless of offense or defense.

Components[]

AC cards have several pieces of information on them to dictate how they play in-game:

Card Front

Character name
Hissatsu technique: Activated when enough energy is accumulated.
Ability: Gives characters various effects in matches.
Offense: Power the character has when playing in offense.
Defense: Power the character has when playing in defense.
Energy: The amount of Energy gained at the start of the match.
Required Energy: The amount of Energy needed to perform a hissatsu technique.
Additional Ability: Ability used in Additional Battles, which were only added in Inazuma Eleven AC: All Stars.

Card Back
	Rarity Position Ability's effect and its activation condition Combination technique: Activated when both the required additional characters are in the Participation Zone and required Energy are met. Forte Areas: The area(s) where the character will be most useful. Additional Ability's effect

Video[]

Trivia[]

This was the first Inazuma Eleven game to have characters and techniques from Inazuma Eleven Ares no Tenbin and Inazuma Eleven Orion no Kokuin playable.